Consolidated and vital democracies require the presence of critical mass of active, engaged and enlightened citizens. However, in the past decades the Bulgarian state have been hardly doing anything to empower its own citizens with the basic knowledge about their constitutional rights and freedoms, as well as with the respective tools for their protection. For that reason, in Bulgaria, the citizens’ fight for their state already seems lost, and the winner – the local oligarchy, claims to be the state’s only possible future. The endless reforms in the educational system have given one of the most valuable resources for the state capturing in Bulgaria – alliterated and politically alienated young generation. With the presented project, we do not pretend to replace the state in its missing role in education of students from socially vulnerable communities. We want to promote a model for teaching students in critical thinking, political emancipation and the rising of self-dignity of the young citizens and future voters.

1) The project prepares a positive ground for the future grass root-activism in the country, by stimulating active and demanding attitude among young people and especially among pupils, towards the state and municipal administrations.

2) The project empowers local communities in rural areas and ghettoized city districts.

3) The project fosters the cooperation of already established partnerships between NGOs and individual activists and opens the door for a broader network building.

Duration: 2017 - 2019 (18 months) 

Funding: OSIFE