Sharing experiences: stakeholder group meeting in Bulgaria

Gabrovo Municipality, conducted the first Regional stakeholder group meeting under URBANCOOP
project.
Representatives of national and regional authorities as well as experts from the local contact points of European institutions took part in the first meeting of the regional stakeholders group, which was held in Gabrovo on 20 th September 2023.

The meeting was organized to discuss the partnership characteristics of Gabrovo Municipality with the Ministry of regional development and public works, Regional Council of North Central Region, Regional governor of Gabrovo Region, Regional Road Administration, Regional Environment and Water Inspection, Europe direct, Enterprise Europe network, etc.
 

The participants got acquainted with the URBANCOOP project goals, activities and results. They confirmed the involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making process was very important for the successful realization of urban development policies.

The project team raised a discussion about the state-of-the-art of the partnerships and future opportunities for improvement. The participants filled in a questionnaire, which made them analyse and discuss information about their cooperation with Gabrovo municipality: common activities, initiatives, ways of communication, formal and informal contacts and support, future plans, etc. The secretary general of the municipality and project manager Polina Tihova informed the audience that Gabrovo municipality had started drafting two concepts for integrated territorial development under a call for proposals with deadline 27 September. One of them is related to urban development and concerns the construction of “Christo and Jeanne-Claude” Museum, as well as the renovation of the city sports hall and river-side area. The project is envisaged in the Municipal Integrated Development Plan.
 

All the lessons learnt and the experience acquired during the Regioanl stakeholder meeting will be discussed and shared with all project partners during the Interregional partnership meeting that will take place in Turin next November.