The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Forum

by Andrei Stere, Year 12

The Romanian city of Cluj Napoca was chosen as the location to host The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Global Forum on the 13th of October, 2022. Every three years, the Forum brings together the world’s leading Youth and Education stakeholders from across the world to recognize the Gold Award recipients. Being an extremely important event, members of the Romanian and British Royal Families were in attendance to express their admiration for the perseverance and hard work of all those who have received the Gold Award, along with the worldwide directors, trustees, and the global administration team of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.

Liya Wachsler, Mr Tansley, Ms Croci and I were all present to congratulate Maria Sticlea and Lisa Puiu for achieving the Gold Award during the past three years. Before the event, however, we were invited by Transilvania College to an assembly, presenting the school’s achievements during their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, consisting of photos, pieces of art, and group projects, such as voluntary work and expeditions. Alongside the meeting, we also enjoyed a tour of the campus, which was a particularly enlightening experience for me having chance to talk to multiple students with various unique interests and different career paths. I am certain that it was an interesting and noteworthy experience for all of us.

On the night of the event, we all arrived at Auditorium Maximum, where the Forum took place. Before the prize giving ceremony, there were a couple of performances, including a musical performance and a flawlessly choreographed Romanian traditional dance. We were all delighted by the presence of HRH Prince Radu, HM Princess Margareta and HRH Prince Edward, but also astonished by their involvement and dedication to the programme. Personally, I believe that such events create countless memories, but also simultaneously help young adults develop the skill of communication and appropriate respectfulness required on such occasions. Furthermore, I believe that such skills such as these will be useful in everyone’s future, regardless of the career they wish to pursue, helping them become better listeners and improving cooperation.

In closing, I can say with confidence that we all had a great time exploring the city of Cluj and attending The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Global Forum, forming countless memories together along the way. I would encourage everyone to join The Duke of Edinburgh’s programme since it not only provides students with opportunities to discover new interests and talents , but also to develop essential life skills. Finally, I would like to congratulate the Gold Award winners once again and I wish them success with their future studies and careers.