We face apathy for social issues spreading among most people. We want to challenge the once losing faith in their own power to change our environment. With the first edition of the platform "Silistra in my dreams" we didn't set age limits and entrants age was between 10 and 56 years old, which was our aim to escape the stereotype that ideas come only from young people. We challenge people's thinking in a direction that helps them visualize their ideas and motivates them to work to achieve them.

Silistra, Bulgaria

The lack of feeling and understanding that the future depends on the citizens. Most people don't believe that their ideas and actions could lead to a better lot in specific directions. 40% of the people living in our region are other nationalities - Roma, Turks, and others. Currently, every group is living in almost separated communities. People separate them into "the youngs' and "the others." This means that blacks develop more significant and more influential projects that combine the people with more experience and more energy. There is a lack of projects where the citizens, the municipality, and the local business are working together with clear goals to develop specific special projects and challenges.

The first target is Young people between 16 and 19 years old (10th and 12th grade) in Silistra. They have the energy and more precise vision for the future, and most believe we can achieve it.
Target 2:
People between 20 and 28 years old in Silistra who are working in our city or studying remotely. They already have more experience, and they have more achievable dreams for specific projects.
Target 3:
People between 28 and 45 years who live in Silistra. They already have broad experience in their specific area. Then, know how to develop and lead particular projects. They could be at the heart of more significant projects involving people from every other group.
Target 4:
People who currently are not living in our city but believe that you could help or lead a project remotely.

- This will be our 2nd edition of the project, so we plan on following most of the steps we have established with last year’s edition:
- Planning and choosing the areas in which we will be taking project-ideas
- Preparing our communication strategy and visual materials
- Prepare our online presence
- Reach out to businesses and local municipality to seek further support for the project
- Announcing the project to the public
- Start the discussion and involve as many people as possible.
- Collecting the ideas
- Judging the received ideas
- Announcing the winners
- Initial meetings with the winners to get to know them and start working on developing their projects
- Organizing 6 training sessions with the winners about key skills needed in project development
- Work on and finish the projects
- Help the best ideas to attract enough funding.

With this 2nd edition, we expect at least 40 ideas to participate and ~ 25% to become real and sustainable organisations. We will start a local community to continue monthly meetings, extend their motivation, and continue developing projects through educating them. In our 1st edition, we supported 7 projects, focused on: online platform for blood donations; the infrastructure around the river to make it accessible for disabled people; a dance program for disabled children; a recycling student-based company to communicate fashion sustainability; sport&health weekend promoting healthy/active lifestyles, have fun and help others; a "Clinic for laughs" that will bring joy to the people in hospitals. We strongly believe we have shown that our citizens have ideas worth hearing.

Our organization creates courses and lectures to help the participants learn project development from scratch. This gives them confidence, knowledge and supports them in the practical work of creating the impact preferred. We want to involve the inhabitants of the region in acting towards their desired vision for the surroundings. We will start monthly
community events where people with ideas and more knowledge can contribute and create projects together. We will help the people from our community better connect with the political people from our region and national organizations, funds, and NGOs.

We are a group of 5 people, born and raised in Silistra. People that want to give something back to their hometown and see it grow (we will include 3 new people in the next 2 months). Even though most of us live outside the region, we all want to be part of the change we believe Silistra deserves. Growing up in a small town often makes people give up on their ideas and dreams, thinking no one will hear them. This project allowed us to empower our citizens and show them that we are here to listen and support their visions. It was incredible to receive ideas from people from different paths in their lives. The youngest was 11 years old, and the oldest participant was 56. We believe that the only strategy to build the city of our dreams is to inspire more people to work together for this.

Website and design materials - 1 500 E
Rent for event spaces - promo events and whole education program - 3 000 E
Honorarium and accommodation for speakers from other cities - 2 500 E
Advertisement - online and offline – 1 500 euro
General Fund (to use for the winners' ideas) – 10,000 euro from Civic Europe & 5,000 euro from local businesses
1 500 E
Final event 1 500 E
Materials for the training, etc, 1000 E
Project manager 4.000

We are open to ideas and suggestions for a better realization of the project.