Project Idea

The project is financed by the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

Beginning of the project: 12/15/2004

End of the project: 06/15/2006

The name of the project itself reveals to a large extent the main goal of the project. With Bulgaria’s EU accession, our country takes on various responsibilities and tasks. It will become a full member of the European Community but for most young people this process is not clear and obvious. To a large extent this is due to young people’s lack of interest in their own future, as well as due to the lack of complete and accessible information concerning the integration processes. That is why we thought that we could change things on a local level by creating a club, where young people can discuss the European-integration-related issues and start feeling as a part of Europe’s big family. During the project young people will have the opportunity to meet the professionals, who deal with the integration process. This will lead to a better understanding of the Community and its values and will also guarantee the young participants better development.

As of 2004, very few young people living in Sofia have basic knowledge regarding the integration processes and the events that will determine their future. A survey, carried out by Association Tsiolkovsky, showed that 8.5 out of 10 young people are not completely aware of the changing environment they live in. This convinced us how important it is to create European clubs and organize discussions and lectures in secondary schools on a local level. We devised a detailed plan to organize various lectures and seminars with the students from a local high school. Thanks to this project, the local community will have the opportunity to take part in program organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The project’s target group is all students in the high schools as well as young people from the region. Their foreign language knowledge will contribute to the better understanding of the subject and to the successful completion of the project.

Association Tsiolkovsky gathered a professional team, which was to prepare the strategy for the realization of the given aims. A schedule of activities was elaborated, which was completely in conformity with the subject and the conditions of the Ministry’s program. After the project was approved, several professors from Sofia University were invited as consultants. They had discussions with the young people from high schools and this proved to be helpful for the students’ future career development.

We hope that, through this project, we have helped a great number of young people to acquire a realistic idea about the European Union and to realize that they are an inseparable part of European Community. We believe that the goals that were set at the beginning were achieved. The final aim was the awakening of a European consciousness within the young people from the region and their future work will prove the effectiveness of the non-formal educational program that we have created. We are proud of the achieved – we will create a network of qualified and competent young people who will have their influence among their peers and thus spread the experience they have acquired through the project beyond the limits of the high schools. Many young people took part in this project and we hope that the lectures, seminars and discussions had a positive effect on them.