Description
The project addresses the lack of transparency and public debates in the work of Sofia Municipal Council and its decisions on territorial development in particular. The project aims at boosting transparency and involvement of the public in decision-making through regular monitoring of the municipal council. First, 40 sessions of the Territorial Development Committee with Sofia Municipality will be monitored to collect data and present it to the stakeholders. Second, the collected data will be analyzed, translated into a clear, user-friendly language and presented to the public and NGOs. Finally, an informal network of about 30 active NGOs and informal groups will be set up. The capacity of the network members will be boosted in order to engage them actively in the decision-making process together with local authorities. The project will benefit the relevant NGOs, civil associations, informal groups and the public in general.
Summary of project results
The process of making official decisions related to the public priorities for urban development of Sofia Municipality has been taking place in a non-transparent environment without a real public dialogue. The decisions made have been so far presented to the stakeholders in the last minute or post-factum via the media without the necessary analysis and rationale. Thus the project aimed at promoting and supporting the efforts and participation of civil groups and NGOs in the process of advising and decision—making related to the issues of urban development in Sofia City Municipality and the work of the Standing Committee for Spatial Development, Architecture and Housing Policy of Sofia Municipal Council (SMC). The analyses of the issues put forward by the Committee stirred public debate and response of the municipal councilors. The news bulletin regularly released under the project became a document which stirred response in the NGO sector, SMC and Architecture and Urban Development Division of Sofia Municipality. The project has the following outcomes: (1) Regular monitoring of 49 sessions of 3 committees of SMC was carried out; (2) 12 news bulletins with an expert analysis of the information and issues addressed by the committees were posted online; (3) an informal network of active representatives of the civil society committed to the development of Sofia City was set up. The network continues to meet and work on common initiatives after the end of the project. For more information:
http://forum-bg.org/?cid=13&NewsId=67 and
https://www.facebook.com Активен-граждански-сектор-за-по-прозрачна-работа-на-СОС-393307627513916
Summary of bilateral results