Project “Active Youth for a Sustainable Future – the NGO Sector as an Opportunity for Development”

Funded by: Municipality of Varna “Youth Projects 2021”
Implementation period: 01.07-15.10.2021
Contact person: Darina Raykova
+359 52 302 518
draykova@karindom.org

Project goal:
Through a series of trainings, practical workshops and events we will open to 20 young people aged 15-29 from Varna the opportunities for realization of ideas, initiatives and campaigns within the non-governmental sector. The aim of the project is for young people to see in the non-governmental sector opportunities for personal and professional growth, for changing attitudes, for improving the environment, for advocacy and active citizenship position. We would like to focus on social entrepreneurship, as it has been identified at EU policy level as a key tool for innovation and tackling social exclusion.

Sub-goals of the project are:
• Making sense of the free time of young people.
• Acquisition of valuable knowledge and skills for the functioning of a non-governmental organization and why the role of the NGO sector in our country is important.
• Dissemination among them of the philosophy of social entrepreneurship and environmentally friendly thinking and their combination in useful long-term and sustainable activities, with a positive effect on the environment and society. Strengthening the entrepreneurial spirit.
• Encouraging creative and innovative thinking and activity.
• Acquisition of decision-making skills, teamwork, adaptability, social skills, skills to develop continuously.
• Support for the creation of start-ups for social purposes.
• Reducing the unemployment rate among young people.
• Increasing tolerance and promoting social responsibility in young people.
• Development of philanthropy and volunteering to increase tolerance and social responsibility of civil society.

Activities:
Information about the upcoming project activities will be uploaded on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/karindom.org and the website of Karin Dom https://karindom.org/proekti/

1. Conducting an online survey and competition for participation – will be held in the period 07-20.07.2021 through the Application Form
2. Selection of participants – in the period 21 – 23.07.2021
3. Planning, preparation and conducting of trainings, workshops, meetings and events on various topics – 26.07-15.10.2021
4. The activities will be held 2-3 times a month for several hours outdoors in the garden of Karin Dom. We will be happy if candidates will be able to participate in all meetings, because we guarantee that they will be useful and interesting.

We will meet participants with experts with experience in areas such as social entrepreneurship, product design and creative writing, product photography, NGO funding, planning, organizing and reporting on a donation / charity campaign / initiative, as well as the presence of NGOs in social networks. They will be able to directly acquire knowledge.

Expected results:
At the end of the project, we believe that we will have more confident, autonomous young people, with sustainable moral and ethical values, able to make important and informed decisions and with a good set of professional, social and civic knowledge and skills to manage an idea in the non-governmental sector.

Specific expected results:
• Increasing the capacity for thinking “outside the box” and the so-called “conventional thinking”.
• Ability of young people to observe their environment and to initiate changes through various projects / programs / initiatives, taking advantage of the endless opportunities that the NGO sector offers not only in Bulgaria but also abroad.
• Increased sensitivity to topics and problems in society and striving for their solution.
• Increased skills and knowledge of young people in various fields.
• Increased social sensitivity of young people.
• Increased readiness for involvement in activities of non-governmental organizations and realization of own ideas in the sector.
• Generated ideas for future social events.
• Changed attitudes of young people towards people from vulnerable groups.
• Fruitful teamwork and teamwork of people from different backgrounds, with different social status.
• Increased motivation for developing such volunteer ideas and initiatives and youth start-ups.
• Promoting the importance of the topic of civic education, philanthropy, volunteering and philanthropy as a key social and educational element and an indicator of a stable socially responsible society among children, adolescents and adults

Photo: Yordanka Marinova