Ecoworld Rhodopes Association

The "Ecoworld Rhodopes" Association was founded in 1997 by students of ecology and citizens concerned about the environment in order to promote specific initiatives and activities for strengthening civil society in solving environmental problems and environmental protection. The association expanded its objectives, as they are no longer limited to the environmental issues only, but also to support to the process of creating an informed public opinion; education of society in the spirit of democracy and acceleration of the democratic changes in the country; promotion and support of the education and the creative development of children, adolescents and young people on a personal level, in the fields of art, sports, culture; providing access to information; deveopment of civil society in all aspects, etc. Our mission has grown into the development of human values in young people and civil society and work for active citizenship. Assessment of the achievements motivate us to continue upgrading and improving ourselves in the future.Our mission has grown into the development of human values in young people and civil society and work for active citizenship. Since its inception, the association works with a wide range of beneficiaries especially in the field of the environment - in ecological shares - up to 250 participants - students and citizens. We focused our efforts on the work with young people in the last years. Now the main priority in the work of the association is building capacity of young people, NGOs and civil groups in the field of youth policies and strengthening the citizen participation for stronger local influence. We have been managing the Youth Information- Consulting Center in Smolyan for three years. We advise young people with different social status, including youth at risk, from the two major religions in the Rhodopes, support youth initiatives, etc. We train young people to acquire key competences, as we developed together with them the 2020 Vision for youth policies in the Municipality of Smolyan.