Programme: Science and Education for Smart Growth

The project idea includes the creation of a working practical model to ensure civil participation and in particular the active involvement of young people in the formulation, development and implementation and monitoring of regional and municipal policies, regulations and activities in the Kyustendil region.

Citizen participation in decision-making processes is achieved by creating conditions for civil monitoring of the actions, decisions and policies carried out by the state and the local authorities at regional and local level. In this way, the ideas and needs of society are taken into account, the decisions taken on activities and policies are valid and conditions for long term sustainability are created.

The planned model performs two functions:
1. Encourages civil participation through better awareness of the functioning of the state and municipal administration, which often creates barriers to effective and efficient citizen participation in policy-making and decision-making;
2. Establishes a practical mechanism for carrying out civil monitoring on the actions, decisions and policies pursued by the state and the local authorities at regional and local level.

The expected results from the implementation of the project are:
1. Study, establishing the information base of the issues of active participation of citizens and young people in the processes of formulation, implementation and monitoring of local policies in Kyustendil region;
2. Increased capacity of the target groups to participate in the processes of formulation, implementation and monitoring of local policies;
3. Developed and applied on a pilot scale model for active participation of young people in local development, which can be multiplied in other regions of the country;
4. Established web-platform as a mechanism for realisation of the civil participation in the local development.