Description
The project addresses the abuse of the disabled parking permit system in Bulgaria whereby drivers without disabilities obtain the “blue badge” from people with disabilities and park their cars within dedicated disabled parking spaces without paying street-parking charges. The project aims at raising the awareness of both people with disabilities and the public in general about the implications of the abuse of the disabled parking permit system. First, an awareness raising campaign will be held. Supporters and volunteers will gather to disseminate information among the public. Second, 2-3 media partnerships will be arranged to address the issue in depth. The project will benefit people with disabilities, drivers as well as all the citizens living in Sofia City. The project partner will support the organization of the information events with its expertise.
Summary of project results
The European practice of reserving certain parking spaces for people with disabilities has been embraced for several years already in Sofia City. However, the rules of preferential parking spaces for people with disabilities are often violated in Bulgaria which is also a violation of the citizens’ rights of people with disabilities. The project aimed at raising awareness that preferential parking is just a mechanism to guarantee the fundamental human right of free movement and that it is just as dishonest to hand over your blue card for preferential parking as it is to park at a blue parking space if the car is not used by a person with a disability. An approach was used during the project implementation which ensured sustainability of the results targeted at achieving new policies for people with disabilities with the participation of such people from both Sofia City and the country. The Facebook platform was used to share posts and comments and involve young people as the natural envoys of integrity and obeying the rules in the future. The Facebook page has continued to generate likes and be an active platform for discussion even after the project end. The project had the following outputs: a logo, 20 000 leaflets, 5000 mirror devices, a 30-second video and a 30-second audio, broadcast in public transportation means for 325 days in total, 5 internet banners for 201 days, a Facebook page with 409 supporters and 102 453 likes, 3 public events and 2 press conferences, 14 established partnerships and 133 media materials. For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/NeUvrezhdayPravilata/?ref=hl
Summary of bilateral results