site.btaThree Projects Awarded under Replication Challenge: Training For Changemakers

The projects Dean to green, So cafe and Rent cycle were awarded on Tuesday under the project Replication Challenge: Training For Changemakers. 

The ceremony was held at the French Institute in Sofia under the patronage of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event was attended by French Ambassador to Bulgaria Joël Meyer and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Gabriel.

The Replication Challenge is a three-day intensive training course on social entrepreneurship. Open to all with no previous experience required, it was primarily aimed at young people and took place for the first time in Bulgaria on October 6, 7 and 8, 2023, near Plovdiv. The course provides participants with exposure to over 40 different social entrepreneurship activities applied in other countries to solve social, educational or environmental problems that can be quickly replicated and reproduced locally, organisers said.

A total of 18 participants with an average age of 26 took part in the event. Divided into five teams, they brainstormed how to replicate social enterprises in the following areas: promoting a circular economy by reusing and repairing objects and tools; recycling waste and ecological farming; solidarity between generations - young and old; helping children in homes growing up without their parents; and children's mental health.

The aim of the initiative is to enable people who want to change the world to connect with people who are already changing it, the French ambassador said during the ceremony.

Gabriel said that the initiative gives young people the chance to meet experts and mentors from both Bulgaria and France. She urged participants to always keep their passion and motivation to bring positive social change and provide solutions for the challenges of today.