The representatives of the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation stayed in Plovdiv last week, within the ‘Citizens & Culture: Fuse. Transform. Revive!’ regional conference where they had the opportunity to present the work of the Foundation, as well as the ‘European Youth Engagement Network – EYE-Net’ project funded by the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme. On the second day of the conference, the representative of the Foundation moderated the ‘Transform’ session with the topic on the revival of forgotten and abandoned urban spaces. The aim of this workshop was to discuss and exchange views on important historical events, their impact on the local community and the bridge that combines historical heritage with the challenges of today. 

Cooperation between Plovdiv, as the European Capital of Culture 2019, and Novi Sad, as the European Capital of Culture 2021, as well as the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme, was promoted at the conference. Within this programme the participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with successful projects in the field of culture and exchange ideas for future project proposals with potential partners from Serbia and Bulgaria at the two-day conference in this Bulgarian city.

The ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme aims to enable citizens to understand the European Union, its history and diversity, and to promote European citizenship and civil and democratic participation at the EU level. Special priorities of the programme are raising awareness in terms of memory, common history and values, as well as the goals of the Union that promote peace, its values ​​and the welfare of its people by encouraging discussion, thinking and network development. Particular emphasis is given to encouraging democratic and civil participation at the European Union level, developing a civil understanding of the process of adopting the Union policies and fostering the possibility of social and intercultural engagement and volunteering at the European Union level.

The ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme is the program of the European Union implemented by the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria.