Peer-to-peer workshops Bulgaria (April 2024)
In April, the Bulgarian participants of the project „Vote, please!” developed a series of peer-to-peer workshops. These workshops were presented to nearly 300 young people from various high schools in the cities of Varna and Veliko Tarnovo, as well as at the Technical University of Varna.
During the sessions, the youngsters had the opportunity to work in groups, which helped them develop their teamwork skills. They gained basic knowledge on key topics such as democracy, fake news, and opportunities offered by the Erasmus+ program. The participants acquired new insights and skills that will be valuable for their personal and professional development.
“The voice of Youth” event with decision-makers (18th of April)
On April 18th, an event titled „The Voice of Youth” took place in Varna, bringing together around 50 of the city’s youth and 20 decision-makers, such as university professors in political science, municipal councilors, and other representatives of the authorities as well as representatives of different political parties.
During the event, the participants were divided into several working groups, where they discussed important topics such as low voter turnout among young people, how to encourage youth to vote, and how to better inform them about the voting process and political issues.
The youngsters gained new skills in critical thinking, public speaking, and group collaboration. They learned how to formulate and defend their ideas, engage in constructive debates, and propose solutions to increase youth participation in the democratic process.
Youth exchange in Varna (27 April – 1 May)
The youth exchange gathered together all 30 youth who took part in the 1st youth exchange in Bucharest (15 youth from Bulgaria and 15 youth from Romania). We explored different methods that can be used to create campaigns to encourage young people to vote for the EU elections – video, photovoice and storytelling (including digital storytelling). We had a guest speaker with expertised in PR and media who took the group through the basics when developing campaigns and creating press releases. Youth learned various methods to influence an audience and visual tools that attract attention and provoke action. In teams, they created several campaigns and gathered feedback from their peers. During the youth exchange, the group visited the Euxinograd castle near Varna.
Second event with decision-makers “Young people and the European elections”
The event took place on 31st of May and included 50 youth and 10 decision-makers. We invited the same members of the institutions that participated in the first event (members of the Electoral Commission, sociologists, people from the Municipality in charge of youth programs, university professors). The young people presented their campaigns and the results of their efforts to activate their peers. We voted for the best video and best photo campaign created by the young people and debated about the different approaches – to focus on the positive sides of voting or the negative effects of not voting (both explored in the youth campaigns). A discussion was held on the opportunities to renew the Youth consultation body, supporting the Varna Municipality efforts to plan events and education opportunities for youth (in light of the need for Youth media, more awareness on fake news etc).