The four-day inspiring training organized by Ideas Factory at the school museum “St. George” in Asenovgrad, gathered at one place all approved candidates for “Baba Residence “ for the first time!

Dobrich, Varna, Popovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Ruse, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Karlovo, Burgas, Sofia, Vienna, Berlin – these are some of the cities that are associated with our 20 motivated participants.

Only a month before heading to the villages, the enterprising young people gained skills in areas such as emotional and social intelligence, ethnological fieldwork, local economy, met the representatives of the Luki Municipality and the Municipal Foundation “Plovdiv 2019”. During the training, the future residents found supporters and mentors for the accomplishment of their ideas, linking traditional knowledge and resources of the village with the contemporary possibilities of marketing and production. The lecturers from the Ongal Association introduced the young people into the specifics of communication and lifestyle of the local people in Luki Municipality, and economist Dimitar Subev gave practical examples of the variety of activities offered by the villages, as resources and opportunities for business development.

The frightening statistics is that Bulgaria is among the most urbanized countries in the Balkans – 73% of the population lives in the cities, which leads to the release of a huge market niche and somewhat explains the new trend of increasing rate of resettlement from the towns to the villages in the past year.

There is another challenge before the young participants and the local residents – to organize events, together, in mid-August, in each of the villages – Manastir, Yugovo, Drianovo and Dzhurkovo. This way friends and fans of the cause “Baba Residence” will be able to meet in person with the participants, visit the villages and taste the fruit of the joint efforts of urban children and Rhodope elderly people.

The project “Baba Residence” is financed through the “NGO Programme in Bulgaria under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2009-2014”. Our partners are Association for Anthropology, Ethnology and Folklore studies “Ongal” and Foundation “Plovdiv 2019”.