The project puts Sofia on the world map by including it in a global visual initiative - creating a collection of covers of the imaginary magazine The Sofianer as a tribute to the iconic covers of The New Yorker magazine. The cities that have so far created their own visual interpretations are Paris, Tokyo, Montreal, Shanghai, Brussels and Milan. The project envisages involving the best artists in Bulgaria through an open invitation on how they see Sofia, presenting their work in an exhibition in physical and online environments and initiating a public debate on the past, present and future of the capital.

Project website

Open invitation for artists and illustrators (deadline: 10 July)

Timeline: February - December 2022 г.
Partners: Credo Bonum Foundation, Studio Komplekt, Association GID (City ideas and Design), Multi Kulti Collective
Funding: Sofia Municipality, Programme Culture and Bulgarian-American Credit Bank.

The project Preventing Racism and Discrimination – Enabling the Effective Implementation of the EU Anti-Racist Legal Framework (PERSERVERE) is concerned with fighting intolerance, racism, xenophobia and discrimination against vulnerable ethnic and racial groups and, in particular, Roma, Jews, Muslims and people of African descent. Starting from the premise that any system tasked with protecting the vulnerable from discrimination must, first and foremost, rely on an effective legal framework, the project implements activities concerned with the better enforcement of the law. It undertakes research in 7 partner countries and develops educational material and tools that will be used to educate legal professionals (judges, lawyers, prosecutors) and frontline workers (legal officers in prisons, the police, social services, reception asylum centres and border control authorities etc) on how to use the nationally transposed European framework on anti-racism. Relying on desktop and fieldwork research, the project will produce a series of deliverables that meet this objective, including:

• an e-book identifying any gaps in the law and legal practice in both the European level and national levels of the 7 partner countries;

• a training toolkit that will be used to educate at least 210 legal professionals and 210 frontline workers, while also reach at least 70 trainers/educators in the 7 partner countries; and

• a series of white papers recommending changes to the European and national laws and procedures to ensure that these are fit for the purpose of fighting racism and protecting members of victimised ethnic and racial groups.

News and project developments:

• Flyer February 2023 (in English and Bulgarian)

• Comparative report The implementation of the EU anti-racism legal framework in 6 European states: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, and the Netherlands 

• National report Transposition and implementation of the EU anti-racism legal framework in Bulgaria 

• All national reports (Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Greece, Netherlands)

• Flyer February 2022 (in English and Bulgarian)

• Facebook page

Time frame: February 2022 - January 2024
Partners: Cooperativa Sociale San Saturnino Onlus (Italy) - leading partner, UClan Cyprus (Cyprus), Lai-Momo Societa' Cooperativa Sociale (Italy), Kentro Evropaikou Syntagmatikou Dikaio Idryma Themistokli Kai Dimitri Tsatsou (Greece), CSI Center For Social Innovation (Cyprus), The People for Change Foundation (Malta), Stichting Hogeschool Van Amsterdam (Netherlands), Multi Kulti Collective (Bulgaria)
Funding: European Commission, Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme (CERV)

The main objective of the project Youth Debating the Future of Europe is to encourage democratic and civic participation of young citizens and give them an opportunity to express their concerns and vision towards common challenges related to European identity, diversity and the future of Europe.

In the twenty-first century, Europe has reached a crisis point in the construction of European identity. The last years a number of events that took place across Europe have challenged the main idea and the founding values of the European Union: the Eurozone crisis, the migration crisis and Brexit have led to an increase of Euroscepticism. As a consequence of the harsh situations that Europe faces, it is time for European citizens and especially for younger ones who soon will have to face the consequences of today’s situation, to get actively involved in the process of strengthening the European consciousness regarding the European Union and its future and realize that only through cross-border cooperation achievements can be reached towards that direction.

The future of Europe and the assurance of the European societies’ well-being are highly connected with the development of common objective and stronger participation in the EU public sphere between the member-states.  The first step towards this direction has been done by the European Commission which has launched an open debate with the White Paper on the Future of Europe in order to provide opportunities to the citizens to discuss their concerns and their views for the future of Europe. Following this initiative, the project tends to give voice to young people from nine different European countries and provide them with the opportunity to express their concerns to the public sphere, to exchange their ideas, to produce their own suggestions and to generate a multicultural community dialogue concerning the future of Europe.

News and project developments:

• Final publication (June 2022)
• Sofia workshop (June 2022)
• Newsletter #3 (June 2022)
• Newsletter #2 (November 2021)
• Newsletter #1 (May 2020)

Time frame: March 2020 – August 2022
Partners: Athens Network of Collaborating Experts (Greece) – leading partner), NOUS (Italy), Clube Intercultural Europeu (Portugal), Cross Cultural Bridges (Netherlands), Collegium for the Management and Design of Sustainable Development (KMGNE) (Germany), UNITED for Intercultural Action (Hungary), Young European Leadership (Belgium), Teleduca (Spain), Multi Kulti Collective (Bulgaria)
Funding: European Commission, Europe for Citizens Programme