Our society is facing unprecedented health, economic and social challenges requiring innovative approaches and collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to find effective solutions to support people at risk, threatened by social exclusion. The situation requires urgent measures to improve awareness of potential employment, training opportunities, freelance work and entrepreneurship development to reduce time spent in search of work, better understanding of the necessary competencies and skills.

The project will take place nationally in Bulgaria.

The project will initiate the dialog between citizens, institutions and NGO sector on challenges faced specifically in career guidance, but will improve the understanding and lead the road to changes in educational and vocational training systems. The career guidance is the lacking point in Bulgaria and it’s importance is highly underestimated even by the institution and experts working in the educational system.
The indirect goals of a systematic approach in career guidance are also to develop the so-called horizontal skills: confidence, self-esteem, determination, including the ability to take of decisions and flexibility in taking action in the citizens.

The activities in the project include all the groups and institutions affected by the lack and underestimation of career guidance services, thus youngsters who are about to decide on their future, women and men in active or in pre-retirement age, disadvantaged groups and specifically those in risk of drop out from schools or long-term unemployed , business owners with their feedback on needed changes to make in the field, institutions as the National agency for vocational education and training, indirectly The Social Ministry, Ministry of education, NGOs in the field of education and vocational training and stakeholders in the 6 planning regions in Bulgaria involved in educational and vocational system and decision making.

1. Collection of data on the scope of career guidance services and on the opportunities and challenges in providing them to citizens and their analysis is fundamental to the success of the project. We also will consider data from other European countries that have effective national systems to formulate new policies and ideas to improve existing ones. The prepared analysis will be submitted to the Ministries of Education and Social Politics to outline follow-up activities.
2. Development of mechanisms and proposals for the implementation of a systematic approach and improvement of the environment for civic participation in the management of the process of providing vocational guidance for citizens in Bulgaria.
3. We plan to organize 5 regional round tables in the districts of Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo and Vidin on "The career guidance system as an ally for a more prosperous society and a stable economy" to draw up a roadmap for joint action of stakeholders - business, citizens, social partners, experts, responsible institutions and administrations for implementation of public policies and to disclose the results of the study, the analysis developed and the content of the proposed mechanism.
4. We plan to hold a final conference in the city of Sofia with the participation of media and representatives of all stakeholders to present the activities and results.

The successful implementation of the project will lead to increased interaction between the administration, citizens, business, and the active participation of NGOs in the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of policies; a specific proposal to the institutions defining the policies for expanding the access to vocational guidance and improving the quality of the existing services. Citizens will make optimal good decisions and manage their progress in education and work. Possible solutions included in the proposed mechanism will include remote services through modern ICT tools. Achieving institutional capacity and efficiency of public administrations and services at national, regional, and local levels to implement reforms and achieve better regulation and good governance.

This project aims to identify and evaluate career guidance services available to citizens through data collection, analysis, a round table, four conferences and a blog, to identify issues that require attention and to make a proposal to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of career guidance policies in Bulgaria, as well as to develop a mechanism for systematic participation of consumers in the process of improving and expanding the scope and quality of services by implementing career guidance in the education system; creation of a network of public centers for vocational guidance; combining public and private career guidance services, etc.

Petya Nedyalkova - She has many years of experience as a company manager, PR and marketing specialist and after graduating from two social academies works for the promotion and development of social entrepreneurship in Bulgaria.
Slavyanka Stoykova – president of the AWEB-Selena, she has experience in project management of different projects of the association in the field of trainings and vocational education
Ivelina Vasileva – phycologist, she has experience in career guidance projects and also expertise in leadership and business trainings
Desislava Avdzhieva – vice president of the AWEB-Selena, PR and marketing specialist with wide experience in strategies development and formulation of analyzes strategies.

3000 euro - office expenses linked with the project
7500 euro – conference, logistics and accommodation costs for conducting the round tables with stakeholders
5000 euro - dissemination costs (pubblicity + public relations)
7500 euro - interviews, gathering and summarizing data
7000 euro – analysis of data received and writing recommendations report
4000 euro - project management cost (accounting and management)

We will be grateful for comments and advices that would improve the quality and impact of the project