First Stakeholder Meeting in Bulgaria

On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, the 2 Bulgarian partners, Association Centre for Sustainability and Economic Growth/CSEG and Municipality of Peshtera organized the First stakeholder group meeting in Bulgaria within the frame of RuralYouthFuture project, co-funded by the Interreg Europe Programme 2021-2027.

Mr. Georgi Simeonov, expert in Association CSEG, presented the project in front of the participants – its main objectives and upcoming activities on interregional study visits, exchanges of experience and best practices identification. Representatives of Peshtera municipality made a short summary of the priorities set out within the Bulgarian policy document, the Plan for Integrated Development of Peshtera Municipality 2021-2027, with focus on unemployment issues and trends among young citizens of the municipality.

The challenges of promoting entrepreneurial activity and fostering high quality education which will lead to a lower drop-out rate of students leaving the school at an early age were discussed, along with the development and marketing of local resources and the involvement of youth.

Within this initial stakeholder meeting, the Bulgarian partners also focused on identifying needs, finding solutions, and highlighting the advantages, challenges, and opportunities at local and regional level, i.e. at municipal level in Peshtera Municipality and at regional level in Pazardzhik Province, in the new programming period from 2021 to 2027.

There were various stakeholders who took part in the event like representatives of public administrations and educational authorities, social workers, representatives of NGOs, energy agencies, and SMEs association. Most of these organizations comprise high-quality experts in specific sectors like education, environment protection, sustainable energy, entrepreneurship, and policy making.