More information
Description
The proposed project is needed because the local people of the village of Benkovski lack knowledge and active involvement in communication with the competent authorities, do not know how to uphold their rights and hold the institutions accountable. A case in point is one of the most urgent issues in the village, namely environmental pollution. All the villagers complain but none is willing to take any steps. The project aims at setting the beginning of an active civil society in the village of Benkovski regarding one of the most urgent issues, provide the necessary knowledge and mobilize the citizens. The specific objective of the chosen priority is to organize educational activities. Following the outbreak of covid-19 environmental pollution has deteriorated manifold due to the high number of villagers who came back to their home village and the use of the beautiful natural sites as places to go out. While the crisis has had a positive impact on the environment in large cities and in the world in general, it has been the opposite in the village. Thus, a new breeding ground for viruses and diseases has emerged. The project will provide local people with knowledge and make them more active by involving them in the relevant steps to solve the issue. The project is expected to solve the issue by using a holistic approach with activities borrowed from Norway in 4 areas: the community, a training programme, the campus, i.e. the physical environment, and institutional culture. The project was developed following the methodology titled From Planning to Impact Assessment drafted by TERRAM PACIS.
Summary of project results
Local community has been engaged through volunteer activities (such as cleaning the shore of Maglene Dam, painting the Bulgarian flag in authorized places, placing signs with messages "From people to people", planting trees) and a Facebook group for citizens’ signals for the village of Benkovski. The group has over 2000 members A sustainable mechanism for civic interaction with the local authorities has been established through the Local Youth Council founded under the project. During the project the young people participated in 3 meetings of the Commissions of the Municipal Council and prepared a letter to the Mayor of the Municipality with proposals for measures on 3 main problems, identified jointly with the local community. The training activities in the kindergarten included the workshop "Separate waste collection", the situational game "Separate waste collection" and "Children''s discussion on the environment" borrowed from Norway and adapted for work with preschool children.
The training at the school also included a role-playing game "Environmental Law", provided by the partners TERRAM PACIS.
The project covers over 90 children and over 180 students, as well as the general public in the village of 665 inhabitants.
For more information:
Ø Video on the project - https://fb.watch/aHtwJMH7Lv/,
- https://www.facebook.com/CleanVillageBenkovski
Ø Website of the Association – https://youth-priorities.eu/%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3/
Ø Open Educational Resources - https://youth-priorities.eu/отворени-обучителни-ресурси-оор/
Summary of bilateral results
The project implements a 4C holistic transferred from Norway and the partner organization TERRAM PACIS. The activities focus on 4 areas - community, training program, campus - physical environment and institutional culture.