Establishment of Youth International Center Burgas

About this project

<p style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif">The main objective of the project is to improve the quality of life of young people in Burgas, including those at risk and socially disadvantaged, by establishing an International Youth Center that will meet the high standards of the Council of Europe for youth work and providing quality, diverse and complex services for the youth sector, and also a modern and efficient cultural infrastructure.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif">The Center activities will be aimed at supporting and improving the quality of life of young people aged 15-29 by conducting informal cultural and educational activities, providing quality services to young people in accordance with their needs, promoting activity and creativity of young people and improving international youth cooperation.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif">The services to be provided will be available to all young people, including representatives of low-income families, people with disabilities, youth from ethnic minorities, as well as those living in small and remote settlements around the city of Burgas.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif">Specific objectives: create appropriate conditions for an informal environment, infrastructure and capacity building to provide modern, innovative, cultural and educational activities and to establish an educational partnership between young people and professionals meeting the needs of the youth sector in Burgas region; provide opportunities for non-formal education in the areas of democratic values, human rights, youth participation and social rights of young people, including those from vulnerable groups, by creating a local model of an active and dynamic youth society in the region; provide educational support to young people who are still in the education system, who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out; promote national and international cooperation and exchange of good practices in the youth sector between youth centers and their stakeholders.</span></span></p>

Bilateral cooperation results

The implementation of the project contributed to the creation of sustainable partnership relations with the Municipality of Reykjavik, Iceland, with over 50 participants participating in the exchanges from the donor country and the beneficiary country.A total of five exchanges of experience were carried out, two in Reykjavik and three in Burgas. Representatives from the donor country participated in two exchanges in Bulgaria, where young people from Iceland and Bulgaria exchanged experiences in the fields of culture, art, food. In the last exchange in Bulgaria, the partners took part in the opening ceremony of the new Youth Center building on 19.12.2024. 26 representatives of the beneficiary (management team, youth workers, Roma educational mediators and young people) participated in two exchanges in Iceland, where they visited different youth centers and got acquainted with the ideology and work practice, group activites and methods used in youth work in youth centres in Reykjavik.

Project partners

• Municipality of Reykjavik Donor project partner· Iceland