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Over 300 Participants Engaged in the Information Campaign under the “Partnership” Fund

10.07.2025

The information campaign supporting applications under the “Partnership” Fund of the PACT project successfully engaged more than 300 representatives of civil society organizations through a series of six information days and seven webinars. The sessions...

Diverse Opinions, Shared Dialogue: Citizens in Kurtovo Konare Discuss Euro Adoption

25.06.2025

Media Resilience Grant Competition Closes with 87 Proposals Submitted

08.04.2025

Webinar IV: Innovative approaches to multimedia production

18.03.2025

Webinar III: Improving Audience Engagement

11.03.2025

On Focus

Apply for the Partnership fund of project PACT

15.04.2025

If you are a civil society organisation or a community centre working to strengthen and promote the values of the European Union, you can apply for the Partnership Fund's call for proposals, part of the...

Facts and Figures

Foreign students in Bulgaria – where they come from and what they study

Bulgarian Universities Witness Surge in Scientific Publications

The share of Bulgarians who prefer an alliance with NATO and the EU to an alliance with Russia and Belarus is increasing

Covid-19: vaccination, mortality and vulnerability to fake news

Top 10 Higher Education Institutions in Bulgaria by H-Index

New report of the Open Society Institute - Sofia

Perceptions of Foreign Influence in Bulgarian Elections

23.01.2025

The analysis explores public perceptions of foreign influence in Bulgarian elections, focusing on responses from a nationally representative survey. The field work was carried out by Alpha Research in late 2024 based on a methodology developed by Boyan Zahariev from...

Zoom: Summer School focused on Precarious Housing in Europe

The topic of informal housing and policies to improve the housing conditions of vulnerable groups brought together 50 students and teachers from 7 European universities in Bulgaria. In the photo: View from the "Fakulteta" neighborhood in Sofia.
This is how the summer school started, organized by the Open Society Institute - Sofia under the project „PusH – Precarious housing in Europe“, funded by the EU through the „Erasmus +“ program.
Questions were raised on the topic …
... doubts, disputes and debates.
Lawyer Daniela Mihailova from "Equal Opportunities" Association disclosed that 90% of the orders to remove informal single-family dwellings were issued for residents of Roma neighborhoods.
View of informal housing on the way to fieldwork in the capital's neighborhood "Fakulteta".
In "Fakulteta" neighborhood Dr. Elena Kabakchieva from HESED presented a vision for sustainable change through integrated measures and work for early childhood development together with parents and the entire community.
Arch. Violeta Zlatinova said that the park, common green spaces and playgrounds are symbolic of a better living environment and they should be created with the active participation of the local community.
The summer school continued with field work in the Roma neighborhood "Iztok" in Kyustendil. The informal buildings on its periphery are adjacent to and even on the Banshtitsa river and an overhanging dump.
Maria Metodieva from TSA shared with the students that the zoning plan is a prerequisite for improving living conditions in areas with informal housing, but funds are needed for its implementation.
Discussions on the detailed zoning plan of the Roma neighborhood in Kyustendil continued with the chief architect of the municipality Stoyana Chavdarova.
Sasho Kovachev from LARGO Association said that the social housing in "Iztok" neighborhood was built with the labour of its residents, the municipality provided land, the business – materials, and NGOs – access to services.
In the center of the neighborhood, the famous orchestra "Three Stars" greeted the students. Despite the summer heat, the young people couldn't resist the rhythms and rush into stormy dances, and then applauded the orchestra for a long time.
And at the end of the summer school – a family picture in the ruins of the thousand-year-old historical heritage of Kyustendil in the Forest Park "Hisarlaka" and …
… farewell smiles.