Karina Poptraikova and Malena Petrova – student ombudsman and deputy ombudsman, students at PPMG “Acad. Nikola Obreshkov”, took part in the National Meeting of Youth Councils and Parliaments, which was held in Gabrovo from September 9 to 12. The event is part of the calendar of the National Network of Youth Centers and nearly 40 young people from Dobrich, Ruse, Montana, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Karlovo, Sofia, Burgas, Pernik and Shumen took part in it. The event was opened by the mayor of the city and other representatives of the local government and closed by the deputy regional governor. The meeting under the title “Together to Success” is the 23rd edition of the meeting of active young people with different functions – presidents and members of youth parliaments and councils, young ombudsmen and young mayors, student and advisory councils.
The focus of the meeting was on youth organizations and positions, their structure, good practices, successes and difficulties. It turns out that young people in different parts the country are in radically different situations – some of them are supported by the local authorities, while others are neglected by them. They exchanged experiences, made acquaintances (the organizers tried to help the groups from all cities to get to know each other and get closer through various techniques of coming together and learning names). Karina confirmed this by sharing: “For these few days we were able to exchange experiences, learn important lessons and create new friendships!”
The topics of the national meeting were diverse – how to make youth organizations more visible, legitimize themselves, support and work in the network, for example European organizations such as Erasmus+ served.
The program also included several training sessions – on personal development through youth organizations, on attracting financial resources, both on European programs and on management by local and public sponsors, other topic was obtaining real information and distinguishing fake news , as well as defending the independence and ideals of youth activity in front of the media.
In the program of the meeting, there is also a time for the hosts to show the guests their city and the inspiring historical examples of entrepreneurship and humanism. Forum participants visit REMO “Eter”, Museum “House of Humor and Satire” and interactive museum of the industrialization of the city.
The participation of young people from Burgas in the National meeting took place with the help of the International Youth Center – Burgas. Our mission is to support young people in the process of building critical thinking and civic participation.
