NINE STEPS TOWARDS COMMON FUTURE

published on 08 June 2009

This project is funded by Balkan Trust for Democracy and will be implemented during the period March 2007 – March 2008

Main Goal:
Rising active interest and cooperation between citizens and authorities in the whole planning and development of the region of Devetaki plateau (3 municipalities with 9 villages: Brestovo, Devetaki, Kakrina and Tepava in Lovech municipality, Agatovo and Kramolin in Sevlievo municipality and Gorsko Slivovo, Karpachevo and Krushuna)

Sub Goals:
• Establish mechanisms and traditions of citizen participation and active collaboration with the authorities in the decision making and development processes;

• Create a database of the resources obtainable in the region;

• Provide the citizens with relevant information about the development plans of their municipalities and especially, about the activities planned for the development of the nine villages;

• Stimulate the participation of young people in generating ideas for the future development of their region;

• Introduce innovative practices and possibilities of alternative solutions for sustainable development;

• Prepare the community in this rural region for project development and applying to the EU structural funds for rural development;

• Prepare and promote the region as an attractive place of unique characteristics;

• Disseminate the experience of the applied methodology among other rural regions in Bulgaria.

Content and Encompass of the Project:
- Collect and analysis database for the natural, economic, cultural, tourist and other resources in the villages from the region of the Devetaki Plateau.
- Training tour for students from the region “Know Your Devetaki Plateau”.
- A competition “The Magnetism of the Devetaki Plateau”.
- Trainings for representatives of the local communities on the following topics:Local resources mobilization; Local economic development:
- Future Search Conference for the region of the Devetaki Plateau.

Partners of association "Balkan Assist":
Partners of Balkan Assist Association are Znanie Association, Youth Center (Sevlievo), Sevlievo 21st Century, Euro-Club (Letnitsa), Regional association of municipalities Central Stara Planina, Regional tourism association Stara Planina (RTA), Local and regional media, the local administrations, mayors of the municipalities, of the villages, and specialists from the three local administrations.
Our foreign partners are:
Grampus Heritage & Training (U.K), Sylviron (Ireland), Fattoria Biologica Patrice (Italy), Ipel Union (Slovakia).