Smolyan is a town that will make you dream – this is what we can read in tourist advertising brochures. Located in the heart of one of the most beautiful Bulgarian mountains, the Rhodopes, the town enchants its guests with green parks, mild climate, and a delicious cuisine. Surrounded by a beautiful scenery, clean air, and spectacular lakes, the people here are really endowed by God.
Yet, there is an unpleasant part of the picture - Smolyan tops the charts in unemployment in Bulgaria. The official statistics indicate a 19-percent rate of unemployment in the region. The lack of employment affects mostly on young people who are often forced to leave the town in search of work. So they start a family elsewhere and feel nostalgic about their life in the beautiful mountain town. Some of them still manage to remain there, either starting a family business or joining the national program entitled "From Social Welfare to Employment" - the largest employment initiative implemented by the Bulgarian Employment Agency. There is also interest towards some of the schemes under the EU Human Resources Operational Programme such as “I can” and "Back to work." An association called New Horizons has been active in the town for several years now. Created by young people and working to the benefit of young people, the association has set a goal to promote European values locally, including to assist young people in their desire to apply for EU funding for various programs and projects.
Nadezhda Miteva is Head of the Europe Direct EU Information Centre that works jointly with the New Horizons Association in Smolyan. She told a Radio Bulgaria reporter more.
"We started with a series of citizens' initiatives aimed at promoting European values locally. Our goal was to begin to promote the values and history of the EU in order to show people that European integration is much more than financial support only. The European Information Centre is part of the EU Europe Direct network financed by the Communication Directorate-General of the European Commission. The Smolyan-based center has been working since 2008 and it provides information on all matters relating to European integration and Bulgaria’s participation in the EU. Furthermore, we have informational materials that might be of interest to different groups of society - young people, teachers, journalists, local authorities, etc. We organize informational outdoor events devoted to environmental issues and encourage volunteerism in the European Year of Volunteering”.
"New Horizons" Association is open to everyone who stands behind its causes and objectives in the Smolyan region. 80 percent of its members, whose total number currently exceeds 120, are below 35 years of age. "We support young people in starting their projects and business ideas. We assist them in developing business plans," Nadezha Miteva said and added.
"What most excites young people here, and I believe most young people in the country, is their career development. We have found that little is done in the Bulgarian education in terms of career guidance for young people, so since 2010, we have started conducting seminars and workshops dedicated to career guidance for young people. Moreover, we help them in the selection of universities in Bulgaria and in Europe, using the contacts we have through the European Centre. Many young people are interested in the possibility of starting a business in Smolyan, because most of them would like to remain living in the Rhodope Mountains. Most young people choose to focus on ecology and opt for opportunities to develop projects and businesses that could support the sustainable development of the Rhodopes. Their interests are mainly in the sphere of services and tourism. However, we were recently surprised by several interesting projects in the field of information technology. This makes us happy and gives us new ideas for developing our association as well," Nadezhda Miteva, head of the Europe Direct Information Centre in the town of Smolyan, told Radio Bulgaria.
Translated by: Rossitsa Petcova
По публикацията работи: Diana Hristakieva
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