Project: From ideas and actions to civic awareness at school
Implemented in: Lovech municipality
Program: Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria
Implementation period: 28.01.2022 – 27.04.2021
Project Promoter: Association Civil society initiatives – Lovech
Partners: Professional School of Economics Trade and Services – Lovech; Primary school St. St. Kiril and Metodi- Aleksandrovo village; Primary school “Panjot Pipkov”
Summary and results:
The project aimed to increase the level of civic participation of students from 5th to 12th grade by developing and integrating in school a tool for civic education and media literacy.
We defined the following goals:
– to increase the skills of students to seek objective information in the process of forming opinions and to increase their criticality to searched information;
– to increase their culture of communication based on mutual listening and openness to other people’s opinions;
– to recognize democratic values, including tolerance, pluralism, as well as a sense of authority and responsibility for the socio-political processes in the country;
– to offer new methods for interaction between school teachers and students.
Students were involved in many training activities related to increase civic education and media literacy. The project continued with initiated by the students and implemented by them small projects on specific topics. These activities created a real opportunity to students to be proactive, critical, with knowledge and position on current important social topics that stimulate civic their awareness.
Within the project we developed a specific tool – Methodology for creative and practical civic education of students who have completed their primary level of education.
We conducted 10 thematic trainings among 120 students of predominantly Roma origin, and instead of 3 schools, we reached 4. After the trainings we achieved we have increased the civic activity and initiative among the students and they implemented four small student projects instead of the planned three.
In the last 5 years the Association has worked with students from 5 local schools thus the developed project materials, including the methodology for civic education, were present the to all institutions and organizations in Lovech municipality and to expand the scope of activities. The inclusion of the fourth school as an associate partner was essential for the multiplier project’s effect.
The developed tool for civic education and media literacy will continue to be used in the activities of the Association as well as to work with young people from the town of Lovech and in other partner schools.
There is permanent access to the developed tool Methodology for creative, practical civic education of students who have completed their primary level of education as it is published on the website of the Association as follows: https: www.sgilovech.com in section resources / presentations. It allows a wide range of stakeholders to apply the methodology and to integrate it in their work with the young people, which will help to multiply the project results among the community as a whole.
Grant amount: 9 932 EUR
Contact: Vessela Tsankova
email: sgi_lovech@abv.bg
phone: +359 876552571
address: Bulgaria, Lovetch 5500, Stefan Karadzha str. 16
www.sgilovech.com
