More than 90 participants gathered for the first annual meeting on the project “Rights and Values” on May 15, 2024. Centered around the theme “Community in Action,” the event brought together organizations funded under the project to share initial results, foster collaboration, and enhance the impact of their initiatives
The executive directors of the three organizations implementing the “Rights and Values” project opened the annual meeting: Georgi Stoytchev from the Open Society Institute – Sofia, Iliana Nikolova from the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation, and Assya Kavrakova from the European Citizens Action Service (ECAS).
A key focus of the event was on fostering effective communication and collaboration among the supported organizations. Participants, divided into four groups, engaged in discussions on how to communicate effectively, achieve synergy between individual initiatives, and collaborate at both regional and national levels. From these discussions, important principles were derived to enhance cooperation and maximize the project’s impact.
“Themes are the first thing that unites us. Everyone has expertise in a specific area and has accumulated useful practices that others can use and build upon. Synergy is for us to learn from others and for them to learn from us”, said Petar Bodurov, Podobri Foundation.
During the discussions, participants outlined the main ways to expand the circle of people supporting European values.
“We will motivate people to recognize European values slowly and with a lot of effort. Building trust and sharing personal experience is the way to change attitudes”, shared Mila Mineva from the Centre for Liberal Strategies.
The interactive sessions were particularly useful, during which representatives of supported organizations shared the results of their initiatives. A total of 11 interactive meetings were held, in the form of workshops and living libraries, where representatives from funded organizations shared their experiences and sparked debates among participants.
The “Rights and Values” project (ProEUvaluesBG) is being implemented by the Open Society Institute – Sofia in partnership with the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation and the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) with the support of the European Union through the Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values Program (CERV).
