International Management Institute

IMI was established in 1993 as a public-private partnership among different types of organisations, united by the common goal of achieving sustainable regional development, increasing the qualifications of human resources, and providing equal access to education for young people, including young people with disabilities and young people from vulnerable groups and minorities. IMI has experience in organising international forums for youth initiatives, seminars and training for students, awareness-raising activities in the scope of youth leadership and information campaigns. In the course of these activities, IMI has successfully reached out to and mobilised various target groups and stakeholders (e.g. young people, elderly people, education providers, policymakers). The organisation has researched in several different fields, including youth activism, volunteering, social cohesion, sustainable development, partnerships between business and education, sustainable tourism, vocational education, validation of skills acquired through non-formal and informal learning, etc. The organisation has extensive experience in implementing EU-funded projects. IMI relies on a permanent staff of 10 employees, a pool of 50 part-time and external experts and over 150 volunteers - students in universities in cities Varna, Dobrich and Sofia. It can also mobilise researchers from a pool of experts from affiliated and partner institutions. To keep its operation and activities optimal and cost-effective, it hires researchers and additional staff in early career years with specific technical skills on a project basis. IMI has a long-lasting interest in issues related to corporate responsibility and social innovation-focused over the well-being of the youth (education, inclusion, empowerment), as well as to the growing importance of creating partnerships between education on the one hand, and relevant stakeholders from its broader environment on the other hand. Among these stakeholders are non-governmental organisations such as IMI itself, businesses and public authorities - municipalities’ departments of education, youth and sport, Governor administration - in the field of National Strategy of Youth, and Ministry of education local department in the field of youth activities. This project proposal is based on the rationale that corporate responsibility and business/economics education are strongly interrelated and synergies between business, education and civil society can be exploited to contribute to young people’s empowerment and employability. This would both make education more adequate to the needs of the society and the economy at the regional level.