Platform AGORA – Active Communities for Development Alternatives

AGORA Platform is a voluntary association of individuals and legal entities sharing the mission of building active civil community development registered in 2008
 
AGORA Platform units than 100 community centers across the country, which believe in the potential and the role that modern community center can play in the community development process.

Efforts and resources are invested to elevate their role as a center for community development and a catalyst for active citizen participation.

The community centers of the platform have demonstrated the ability to be a bridge between the tradition and the modernity, to be authentic local organization that encourages communities to be active civic participation in isolated and rural areas.

AGORA Platform develops tests and introduces new ideas for community development, creates an environment for pilot practices sharing and learning and works for changing the environment which enables practical civic involvement at the local level.

Bulgarian school of politics “Dimitry Panitza” was established in 2001. It is part of the network of schools of political studies under the auspices of the Council of Europe, in which 21 organizations from Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and the South Mediterranean take part. The BSoP`s mission is to support the creation of a community of civic and political leaders with an active stand in national, European and global political and public life, devoted to contemporary democratic values of pluralism, tolerance and informed debate.
BSoP has extensive experience in several key areas. Through training programmes the School aims to encourage the process of democratization in Bulgaria and the countries from the Western Balkans, Black Sea region and the South Mediterranean.

In the National Programme “Governing Skills” public and political leaders from parliamentary represented parties, NGOs, central and local administration, trade unions and magistrates are trained. The aim of the trainings is to promote public debate on important topics such as principles of effective and ethical governance, human rights, gender equality, and supremacy of law and judiciary reform. The BSoP maintains a network of more than 650 alumni of the National programme, and supports their work on important public causes.

From 2003 to 2011 more than 200 young public and political leaders from Southeast European states went through the Regional Programme “Political Debate in Southeast Europe”. The goal of this programme was to promote a transnational constructive dialogue on common problems for the region.

The School also actively offers its know-how to the countries in North Africa. The Tunisian school of politics was founded with the support of BSoP. The main role of the Bulgarian school is to provide methodological assistance to the Tunisian School of Politics and to help in its capacity building. The Citizen School of Political Studies in Morocco and BSoP have a strategic agreement for cooperation and exchange of expertise. Due to the Bulgarian expertise, the establishment of the Civic and Political school in Yaoundé, Cameroon was supported.

The School supports the methodological and institutional development of Ukrainian and Moldovan Schools of Politics and shares its specific expertise in the field of the accession to NATO and EU. BSoP is contributing towards the creation of better training opportunities for politicians, government officials and leaders of non-governmental sector through the implementation of training of trainers’ projects.

The Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” also works for the promotion of civil participation in Bulgaria’s public life. The School does researches of the forms of institutional public control and supports means of informed choice for the citizens through various initiatives and on-line tools. Part of BSoP’s activities is also the topic about climate change and energy, as the realization of sustainable low-carbon growth both for the economies of Bulgaria and Europe and in the world is one of the biggest challenges ahead of the humanity today. The School has a long-standing tradition in the area of philanthropy. With numerous initiatives, it aims to revive the value of charity in the society and runs public debates on problems and challenges that philanthropy faces in Bulgaria.

The NGO Programme in Bulgaria is part of the implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism. It is worth €11.8 million provided by the donor states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Funds have been earmarked to provide funding to eligible NGOs, registered in Bulgaria with the aim to foster an enabling environment for the sector, strengthen its capacity and enhance its contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development of the country.
 
Fund Operator of the NGO Programme for Bulgaria is the Open Society Institute – Sofia – in partnership with the „Workshop for Civic Initiatives" Foundation.