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International interest to the RoBulUs initiative and outputs

The RoBulUs ` team was invited by the EU-wide professional network Border Focal Point Network to share its achievements in the work with young people and in encouraging their civic participation.

The ‘Beyond Borders: Breakfast Debates’ series has been designed to highlight ways in which cross-border regions can be supported in tackling specific problems, building on their many assets. Central point in the sixth issue of the debates is 2022 European Year of Youth. It was held on February 3rd and the RoBulus project was one of the only 2 presented good practices in the youth work.

With deep appreciation for the invitation and the interest we are sharing the record of the debate here:

https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/news/watch-again-beyond-borders-breakfast-debate-6-european-youth-cross-border-cooperation 

Final conference `Vision for Cohesion` closed the implementation of RoBulUs project

More than 50 participants from Bulgaria and Romania took part in the `Vision for Cohesion` conference which was held on 21st of December in the framework of RoBulUs `Tools for enhancing youth engagement in Romania – Bulgaria cross-border cooperation. The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union.

The conference was organized as a hybrid event, enabling both online and in-presence participation, and thus ensured opportunity for participation of all interested parties from the Bulgaria – Romania cross-border area.

The main aim of the event was to empower young people in the creation of economic and social change for the local community and the region by informing them about the opportunity to get involved in the strategic planning and decision-making, as well as to motivate the initiative and participation in the processes of design and implementation of the programmes supported by the Cohesion policy in the period 2021 – 2027.

Lecturers in the event were representatives of public and private organizations, of local authorities and active citizens. They gathered together to present the civic engagement in the prism of the Cohesion policy and the operational/cross-border programmes. 

In the first part of the event, the experts of Regional Information Center – Dobrich presented Cohesion Policy 2021 – 2027, the Partnership agreement and the Bulgarian programmes in the next 7 years. After that, the Managing authority of programme INTERREG VI-A Romania – Bulgaria outlined the programmes`s vision for supporting the development of the cross-border area between the 2 Member states.

The presentation given in the next panel defined the opportunities for citizens’ involvement in the processes of strategic planning on local and regional level and based on the example of the elaboration of the plan for integrated development of Dobrich explained the pathways for such engagement. At the end, representatives of one of the most active civic organizations in the region of Dobrich shared its motivation for initialization and realization of actions contributing to the local growth.

Active citizens, local authorities` representatives, private entities and NGOs are reported to be among the event auditory. This is particularly a sign for all parties` interest regarding the topic, as well as their readiness for common cooperation and achievement of more sustainable results of public policies.

At the end of the event, the project team presented the developed project pilot tools that are designed to facilitate civic participation and interaction between local authorities and people.

The RoBulUs` Final Conference `Vision for Cohesion` will be held on December 21st

During the last almost 12 months the RoBulUs team worked on the theme of civic participation and the opportunities for involvement in the planning, design and implementation of operational programmes of Romania and Bulgaria and the programme for cross-border cooperation  INTERREG VI-A

In that period, the project team surveyed the Bulgarian and the Romanian legislation, developed an Outlines and a Guide that support the utilization of the mechanisms for civic engagement, video-shot and presented 6 good practices for realization of own ideas in support of regional growth, proposed mobile app, which tested and experimented with its potential users.

Today, the same team organizes the project`s final conference `Vision for Cohesion`, in order to:

  • present our achievements;
  • Outline on practice the planning process of local development;
  • Present the national programmes of Bulgaria for the period 2021 – 2027 that are supported by the Cohesion Policy;
  • Encourage civic engagement and utilization of the capital of ideas, resources and motivation of young people for achieving local and regional development.
  • Create settings and pathways for discussing ideas and potential cooperation between citizens and local authorities.

 

The event themes are based on real-life practice and are considered useful for all young people, youth workers and leaders, who want to participate more actively in the processes of planning and implementation of the operational programmes of Bulgaria and Romania as well as the cross-border cooperation programme of the states Romania – Bulgaria.

The event is organize in hybrid form which enables all stakeholders to participate online or in presence in accordance with the current recommendations of the Ministry of Health.

The places are limited, so please request your participation before 17th of December.

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Experimental sessions for testing of the RoBulUs pilot tools

In the framework of the RoBulUs initiative we have developed an Interactive Guide `Vision for Cohesion` and a mobile app. These are designed to serve young people from Bulgaria and Romania by facilitating their involvement as citizens in the planning and implementation of the EU Cohesion policy for 2021 – 2027 in the perspective of national and regional programmes.

During the last month 3 experimental sessions were organized, during which we met some of the prospective users of our products:

  • Students from Varna University of Management, on 23rd of November 2021;
  • Young entrepreneurs and youth leaders, online on 26th of November 2021;
  • Pupils from PPHS `Rayko Tsonchev` on 10th of December, 2021

In the framework of Agenda we discussed with the young people the essence and purpose of the Cohesion policy and the role of their involvement in the decision-making processes related to its planning and implementation. Further on, the content of the Interactive Guide `Vision for Cohesion` was reviewed in details, which enabled the participating young people to orient in the pool of responsibilities of the parties, involved in the processes of planning and implementation of the Cohesion policy at European, national and regional level. This review also provided preconditions for acquisition of skills and knowledge, necessary for practicing civic participation in the field of local and regional development.

Next in each event, the participants were given (group and individual) practical tasks related to the exploitation of the mobile application which aimed testing its speed and accessibility, as well as the comprehence of the information presented therein.

Each event was closed by an evaluation on behalf of the participants. The majority of the participants (87%) considers the RoBulUs pilot tools as useful means for civic engagement in the field of the Cohesion policy and supposes that they will improve the youth civic engagement in the debating and designing of decisions on local and regional levels.

RoBulUs` tools were presented to more than 50 Bulgarian municipalities

Project RoBulUS `Tools for enhancing youth engagement in Romania – Bulgaria cross-border cooperation` were presented during the `conference Closer Europe – open platform for civic engagement` which was held online on November 30th.

The conference was organized by Association for Social Responsibility and Development through Innovations (ASORI and more than 70 participants took part in it – including representatives from more that 50 municipalities.

Within our short introduction, we managed to present all project outputs but  logically, the focus was put on the mobile application. The representatives of the participating local authorities were informed about the possibility to be included in the mobile app`s communication channel for ease interaction with their citizens on the topic of local development and project ideas.

All interested municipal and district administrations may submit their interest for being included in the list of receivers of communications from the citizens by just connecting with our team.

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Discussion with focus groups in Bulgaria – overview of the event

A pro-active discussion with the Bulgarian youth community was held on June 7th in the framework of the organized discussion with focus groups.

In this online meeting were involved about 20 people with interests in the Cohesion policy and the CBC Romania – Bulgaria programme, respectively – from their priorities for the upcoming 2021 – 2027 programing period. 

In the framework of this interactive event, the RoBulUs team discussed with the participants part of the outputs developed within the project and namely: (a) practical outlines for the mechanisms of civic participation in the planning and implementation of (operational and cross-border) programmes and (b) videos with successful initiatives implemented in the framework of INTERREG Romania – Bulgaria Programme. 

Based on the feedback received, the project team shall fine-tune the presented outputs and will make them accessible for the general public.  

Informational materials for the meeting can be found here and here, while the final project outputs will be listed in the Publications section of our website.

BUILDING UP OUR REGION!

Call for participants in 2 on-line Focus group discussions

Are you interested in the future of your region? Would you like to participate in its change? Are you ready to be more active citizen and to use the existing mechanisms for participation in the design and implementation of operational and cross-border programs? 

If your answer is YES, then join us in one of our focus group discussion events that are organized in the next 2 weeks – on June 7th (10H) for Bulgarians and on June 14th (14H) for Romanians. 

The events Agenda includes: 

 –  Presentation of the Cohesion Policy and its priorities for the period  2021 – 2027 ;

– discussion on the Cross-border cooperation programme Romania – Bulgaria – its achievements and future opportunities for local and regional development; 

– overview of the existing mechanisms for civic participation in the planning and implementation of operational and cross-border prgrammes;

Main objective of these events is to popularize the topics listed above, but also to present and discuss with the youth community part of the products developed in the framework of the project so to foster more active participation in the local and regional development. 

BUILDING UP OUR REGION !

The events are free o charge and open to all interested parties – youth workers and youth leaders, young people that have participated in the implementation of different projects, etc. The events will be held online through ZOOM. A preliminary registration is required. 

For more information – please contact the organizers. 

The European Commission’s support for the production of this website does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

RoBulUs stands for Tools for Enhancing Youth Engagement in Romania-Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation. It is an initiative that supports youth in becoming more aware and involved in decision making processes. 

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