SOFIA DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION was founded as non-profit organization with the decision 348
of the Sofia Municipal Council to work for the sustainable development of the capital.
INTEGRA IS A FINALIST IN THE CLARINET COMPETITION
“European Award for local authorities’ public communication campaigns on migration and integration” was launched in June 2019 in the framework of Clarinet project (https://www.clarinetproject.eu/en/home-page-en/). The organizers invited projects from all European countries to participate in an online public-vote competition. Fifty-three projects took part in the contest and only eight of them were selected as the most-voted finalists. We are glad to inform you that INTEGRA project was among them with over 16 000 individual votes.
We would like to thank all the people who supported us in this contested competition! This is a great recognition of the work of INTEGRA team and we are pleased to see one more acknowledgement of the efficiency and the success of the project campaign!
SOFIA ASKS
SOFIA ASKS Third Country Nationals
On September 17th, Bulgaria’s capital celebrates St. Sofia Day – the day on which the Orthodox church commemorates the Holy Martyrs Sofia and her three daughters Faith, Hope and Love. To celebrate its holiday, Sofia is taking an untraditional view of itself and asking third-country nationals how they see it.
Experience Sofia through the eyes of third country nationals that have chosen to study, work and live here - Sofia as a university center, as an international working place, as a cultural hive, as development opportunities and prospects. The video is produced by SDA INTEGRA project team.
Sofia supports CoR’s initiative “Cities and Regions for Integration”
"We are proud that Sofia is a lead partner of such a strong consortium," said Botyo Botev, Sofia Municipal Councilor at the opening of the briefing at the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels, organized by the Sofia Development Association, entitled "Sharing of challenges and creating solutions for the integration of third-country nationals at local level. "The event was attended by representatives of the European Committee of the Regions, the European Commission, directorates-general, institutions and non-governmental organizations. The basis of the briefing was the project INTEGRA, led by Sofia through Sofia Development Association, funded by AMIF and implemented by a consortium of the cities of Sofia, Prague, Kosice (Slovakia), Osijek (Croatia) and Rubano (Italy). Among the speakers were mayors and municipal councilors from the city-partners of Sofia, representatives of the DG HOME, EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the European Committee of the Regions.
The project manager Sevdalina Voynova emphasized that the biggest project strength is in the broad civic participation: the development and application of methods such as city walks, photovoice, scenario development, which allow many citizens to co-create integration policies and practices. More than 2,200 citizens in the five cities have joined the project activities so far, of which 80 local government representatives, 250 third-country nationals.
Laurent Thieule, CoR's Legislative Work Director, focused on the link between INTEGRA and the new initiative of the President of the CoR, entitled "Cities and Regions for Integration", as they both rely on urban networks integration models.
Laurent Aujean with DG Home expressed his appreciation of the results of the INTEGRA project, which take into account the local context of the specific region of Central and Eastern Europe. According to him, the public policy recommendations of the consortium are very good and profound, without being limited to access to the labor market.
Sabrina Doni, newly re-elected mayor of Rubano, Italy, pointed out the role of the project for a small town that has less resources and access to knowledge networks. "We have made Europe, now we have to make Europeans," she said.
Prague City Councilor Ondřej Mirovský said that the political will and leadership are key to counteracting nationalism.
Rayeiz Rahman, a migrant from Afghanistan living in Kosice, explained why he had joined the INTEGRA project and what it meant for people like him to have the opportunity to participate: "your voice be heard, to be able to say that foreigners also live here, to positively influence other migrants."
The briefing attracted more than 70 participants and it was highly appreciated. "Thanks for the interesting conference", "Very good, interesting and efficient project", "We rarely see something so innovative". This is a great recognition for Sofia and its leading role in making European policies.
The briefing materials can be found at: www.integra-eu.net
INTEGRA at the national conference “Funding opportunities for integration and urban development possibilities”
On June 11th, 2019 the Bulgarian Council for Refugees and Migrants, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Municipality of Plovdiv organized a national seminar "Funding opportunities for integration and urban development possibilities" on the occasion of the upcoming World Refugee Day on June 20th.
The event served as a forum of dialogue between the diverse stakeholders at national and local level, directly or indirectly engaged in the refugee integration process in Bulgaria.
Additionally, the seminar introduced good practices of partnership between municipalities, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in the context of the refugee integration process.
The director of Sofia Development Association Svetlana Lomeva was a panelist and presented the good practices of Sofia Municipality and Sofia Development Association in integration policies and practices. Mrs. Lomeva showcased INTEGRA - the project that SDA is a lead partner of at present, and promoted to other Bulgarian municipalities the methodologies, tools and resources developed by INTEGRA partners.