The goal of the project is to improve the knowledge and skills of local leaders for developing public policies at local level, to help them create a mechanism for solving local problems and through this, to increase civic participation in decision making processes.

The project is focused on local communities, which will identify the most pressing problems and will select local leaders, who will be trained and propose solutions for these problems. The solutions will be discussed back with local communities. The aims of these discussions are first – the trained leaders to transfer their knowledge and skills to the other members of the community, and second – to involve the community in practical resolve of the problems using the mechanisms of active citizenship.

Within the project, 12 communities and non-formal civic groups at local level, including young people and representatives of ethnic groups, will be activated. Each community will select two local leaders, who will attend a three-module training programme. Twenty-four community discussions will be organised and all local stakeholders will be invited and actively involved in the discussions. The project will create conditions local stakeholders to participate in resolving local problems and will stimulate active citizenship.

The project is implemented by Platform AGORA – Active Communities for Development Alternatives and Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” and is financed by the NGO Programme under the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism.

For more about this project, please click here