RuralYouthFuture Interregional study visits focused on good practice cases in Bulgaria
Interregional study visits focused on good practice cases, part of RuralYouthFuture project, was held between 03.04.2024 and 04.04.2024 in Peshtera the first day, and Province of Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, the second day. Representatives of all partner organisations and some of their stakeholders from Spain, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Latvia, Portugal, Estonia, and Belgium attended the event. The first day, the event was opened by the Mayor of Peshtera Municipality – Mr. Yordan Mladenov, who welcomed all guests. After his speech, a number of good practices and projects targeting youths in the rural regions were presented. These were presented by the following esteemed organizations:
- Bulgarian Association of young psychologists “Fourth of April”, presenting interesting initiatives for youth employment and entrepreneurship in rural areas;
- Business Foundation for Education, presenting project CRAFT: Co-working in Rural Areas to prepare young people for Future Trends, as well as a number of other interesting projects implemented or currently being implemented by them;
- Centre for Sustainability and Economic Growth (CSEG), presenting the project My Virtual Town: youths as active citizens of our society;
- David Bayona from Dideas, presenting the RuralLAB 3.0 Project
A local strategy and some initiatives for sustainable youth development on the territory of Peshtera Municipality were also presented by local experts. The second half of the day continued with Steering Group and Technical group meetings to discuss the progress of activities and to plan the next tasks and upcoming events.
On 4th of April, “on-site” study visits were organized where guests visited youth center in the Municipality of Peshtera. Then the visits continued in the Municipality of Bratsigovo, a typical Bulgarian small rural municipality, where all the partners and stakeholders visited the Community Centre “Vasil Petleshkov”. There they learned about the ongoing municipal strategies, projects and programmes for youth development. In the afternoon a municipal youth office in the Municipality of Velingrad was visited, where all the classes such as national folklore dances, modern dances, singing, arts, etc. were presented by youths and their trainers.
Presentations:
- Projects and good practices by the Bulgarian Association of young psychologists “Fourth of April” – youth employment and entrepreneurship in rural areas. Presenter: Marina Grancharova
- CRAFT: Co-working in Rural Areas to prepare young people for Future Trends. Gergana Rakovska, Business Foundation for Education
- Project “My Virtual Town” – youths as active citizens of our society. Association CSEG, Mr. Martin Ivanov
- RuralLAB 3.0 Project – David Bayona, Dideas
- Peshtera Municipal Youth Plan 2021-2030, Galina Stoyanova, Peshtera Municipality
- Health Mediator in Peshtera Municipality, Asya Kamberova and Ramadan Abazov, Health mediators in Peshtera Municipality
