Short Term EVS Project in BULGARIA

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1 CALL for EVS volunteers frombelgium, CROATIA, GREAT BRITAIN and SPAIN Short Term EVS Project in BULGARIA YOUNG SUSTAINOPRENEURS: Active Citizenship through Wind and Sunshine ApplicationDeadline: 10 th of February 2015 Start: 01/05/2015 End: 30/06/2015 Institute for Creative Civil Strategies ICCS search for volunteers for EVS SHORT-TERM group EVS project (1th of May 30th of June 2015)Location: Village of Ostritsa, Bulgaria About the Project YOUNG SUSTAINOPRENEURS: Active Citizenship through Wind and Sunshine: is a short-term EVS project designed for two (2) months and will be implemented in OSTRITSA village which is a rural setting in the Natural Park Rusenskilom. This project will host sixteen (16) volunteers from four (4) different EU countries: Belgium, Croatia, Great Britain, and Spain. The short term EVS volunteers will take a part in eco-building activities of a small center, which holds non-formal educational projects in the village of Ostritsa (North Eastern Bulgaria). The educational center will work as a showcase example for an off-grid ecological settlement, built out of natural materials with a minimum carbon footprint. Participation in the development of the settlement will provide volunteers with knowledge and practical skills in ecobuilding, renewable energy resources and will introduce them to the practical challenges of combining them and developing a fully off-grid establishment. During the short term EVS project, volunteering will be the method whereby young people learn new skills while they contribute their time and effort to support the local community. The project will be implemented under the supervision of ICCS members and in collaboration with Bulgarian students in architecture and who are interested in sustainable living, these students have already built one small eco building as an example, under the frame of Youth in Action international youth exchange. The volunteers will work 40 hours per week having two days free of activities. The volunteer s accommodation will be provided by the host organization. The volunteers will live in shared rooms /2 or 3 volunteers in a shared room/ in rented houses in the Ostritsa village. Each volunteer will receive 70 Euro for pocket money per month. During the activities each volunteer will have three meals per day. For their free days each volunteer will receive 35 Euro monthly for food. PROJECT AIMS The project aims to raise awareness on sustainable living and other environmental subjects involving young volunteers in the eco-building activities of the building of small youth educational center. The project is designed also to encourage young people from different backgrounds and with very different skill levels to participate in international projects emphasizing the development of the volunteers soft skills, attitudes and personal growth. The center developed within the volunteer training program will serve as an informational center on youth and environmental issues in which we will carry out educational and consulting services in the field of environmental studies, permaculture, eco-building, off-grid developments and renewable energy sources for youth groups and training programs for volunteers in the field of Environment, Sense of Entrepreneurship, Urban/rural Development, European Awareness, Art and Culture and others.

2 METHODOLOGY: All the above will be carried out through learning by doing (informal learning) via the supervision and the guidance of ICCS team and experts in the particular activities. EVS ACTIVITIES The Short term EVS placement activities involve learning and using techniques in the field of eco-building, off-grid developments, renewable energy sources and small permaculture garden. Special care will be taken to ensure the learning dimension and the social components of the Short Term EVS program. In sum the voluntary tasks during the EVS project could be described in the next points: EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES To the volunteers will be presented several lectures and workshops that will introduce the Natural Park and the local bio diversity. Volunteers will be involved in the specifics of natural building techniques, wooden timber construction and strawbale wall infill and how to combine modern power supply technologies, such as solar panels and bio gas. The participants will have visits to several different building sites in different stages and will have the opportunity to examine and improve their skills participating in the process; The volunteers that are interested can attend also short trainings about basic decoupage skills small objects or old furniture and other creative recycling techniques. The training will also include practical activities in compost, creative recycling, biogas system and solar showers and lagoon waste water cleansing systems and water harvesting. PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES in eco-building and renewable energy sources building. The volunteers will work: Together with local natural builders, students in architecture and with peers from different parts of the Europe. Collecting natural materials from the area river shells, river stones, old Tree-roots etc The volunteers will work on tasks related to natural building techniques (Timber construction; Clay plastering, straw bale construction) Tasks related to temporary power supply during the training process similar to ancient techniques for water distribution and construction of small biogas system. TEAM-BUILDINGS ACTIVITIES- Outings to scenic spots in the nearby tourist locations. Along with teaching fundamental and practical skills in ecological construction the project will provide intercultural experience by meeting the volunteers with the local community and by introducing them to traditional building methods, Bulgarian cuisine and local traditions. ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES: Tasks related to logistics and assistance in the kitchen. More experienced volunteers will coordinate smaller voluntary groups working on different tasks assigned to each part of the voluntary technical and building project. Make evaluation and youth pass. Participating in group discussions. CREATIVE ACTIVITIES: Tasks related to photographing and documenting the development of the project. Tasks related to developing a web-blog and/or making off movie or other visual/ printing material about the project. Tasks related to interior design and decoration of the eco-buildings, built during the EVS project. Decoupage and other types of creative recycling of old furniture and sewing activities. Some of the tasks will be sometimes physically hard so the volunteers will work in smaller groups on different indoor and outdoor projects according to their personal condition. The different group tasks will be based on the following examples:

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4 SELECTION PROCEDURE and CRITERIA YOUNG SUSTAINOPRENEURS: Active Citizenship through Wind and Sunshine is EVS Short Term project designed as non-formal intercultural learning experience aimed at young people with or without experience in travelling abroad. The volunteers should be years old, able to work as part of a team and passionate about the environment. We expect the volunteers to want to work mostly with their hands, and who are ready to live in intercultural context in a small village in the Natural Park Rusenski Lom. Experience with youth work camps or rural context are not required, but will increase the possibility of a positive experience for the volunteer considerably. The EVS Short Term project targets young people with the following needs and capacities: - The volunteers should want to spend time in the rural area and to develop their social and organizational skills- The project is open to young people who would also like to develop in particular their: team work ability, creativity, selfconfidence and to increase their sense of initiative and employability. - The volunteer should be ready to offer their time and effort to the project in exchange for the chance to learn practice skills and take part in an intercultural work experience. - We welcome youngsters who live in isolated regions or in economically disadvantaged areas, youngsters from immigrant cultures, early-school leavers, or those with social problems.

5 - We find the proposed voluntary activities as relevant also to application of candidate volunteers interested in environmental topics, interior design, sculpture, graffiti, handcrafts and architecture. If there are candidates with previous experience and/or education /in field of sculpture, architecture, graffiti writing etc... anything considered relevant to the project they are welcome to send also their portfolio; APPLICATION DEADLINE: Interested volunteers have to send us a CV, a project related motivation letter and photo to iccs.bulgaria@gmail.combefore the 10 th of February 2015.We won t consider the applications sent after that date! Project ENVIROMENT OSTRITSA is a small village located in North-Central planting region of Bulgaria a part of Dvemogili municipality, Rousse district. The village is situated in the valley of the Rusenski Lom River, in North East Bulgaria, 45km away from Rousse. The village is close to the main regional cities - VelikoTarnovo (80km) as well as the main Bulgarian city on the Black Sea coast Varna (200km). Although the whole area around the Natural Park is largely agricultural, the village is 19 km away from the main road Rousse-VelikoTurnovo-Sofia and 130 km away from the Romanian capital city Bucharest. Ostritsa village is one of the dozen villages located in the Natural Park Rusenski Lom where the canyon of the rivers Beli and Cherni Lom creates the valley of the Rusenski Lom River the last right-side tributary of the Danube River.The canyon-like relief of Rusenski Lom River is famous for its beautiful landscape. It is called a mountain in the plain and it is known for its incredible diversity of orchids, birds, bats and butterflies. Rusenski Lom NATURAL PARKis named after Rusenski Lom River.It s is located 20 km south of Ruse, takes up a territory of 3408 hectares and has been a protected area since Nowadays it is part of two Natural 2000 sites and an Important Bird Area with about 200 nesting bird species. The Park is a member of the DANUBEPARKS-Danube River NETWORK of Protected Areas Nature Park Rusenskilom (No 6) on the map of DANUBEPARKS - Network Of Protected Areas The World Wide Fund for Nature -WWF considers the vicinity of Rusenski Lom Nature Park as an area of high conservation value because with its four rivers features unique nature, history and traditions. The combination of rocks, forests, rivers, and caves with meadows is reason for the great biological diversity on the territory of the park.

6 There are different marked routes in the park that allow volunteers to observe its biological diversity in their free time. On area of 3408 ha only, can be found 900 plant species (23% of Bulgaria s flora), 200 bird species are nesting, 76% of Bulgaria s mammal species use the area and 22 fish species swim in it s waters. The fauna represented in the park are Egyptian vulture, Black stork, the European ground squirrel, or Crexcrex. The rock monasteries in the river valley offer the visitors of the park the possibility for cycling, cave visiting, walking tours, rock climbing and canoeing. All routes are well-marked and do not require special training.

7 Rusenskilom Natural Park is also famous for its rich cultural and historical heritage. On the territory of the park are situated the Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo included into the UNESCO s list of the world cultural heritages, the Medieval Town of Cherven considered as national archaeological reserve since 1965 as well as theonly active rock monastery in Bulgaria, Basarbovo rock monastery. The park s territory includes also the second largest cave in Bulgaria OrlovaChuka. Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo -12thcentury Rock Monastery of St. DimitarBasarbovski - 15th century

8 Archeological Reserve Medieval Town of Cherven12-14 centuryorlovachukacave CITY of RUSE (ROUSSE) and Ruse REGION The CITY ofrousse(ruse) Over the course of centuries, the city of ROUSSE has been a place of vibrant cultural development, hence one of the main Bulgarian cultural centers. The city is situated on the highest bank of the Danube river, at a distance of 320 km from Sofia, 200 km from Varna and about 300 km from Plovdiv. The close proximity of the river Danube has always had a great significance for the development of the city from antiquity to the present day. The major local cultural destinations were established as early as the late 19th and the early 20th century: the Regional Library, the Ruse Art Gallery, the Ruse Regional Museum of History, the Ruse Theatre, the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rousse State Opera and the Puppet Theatre. More than 260 buildings in Rousse are on the cultural heritage list. European Heritage Labels were recently put on the facades of about 20 of them. ROUSSE (RUSE) REGIONis situated in the North-Eastern part of Bulgaria and is one of the medium sized regions in the country, concerning Bulgaria s territory and population. The northern boundary of Rousse region goes along the Danube river valley and coincides with the state boundary of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Romania. The town of Rousse is located near the capital of Romania - Bucharest /45 miles/. The geographical situation of Rousse region characterizes the region as a major republican transport crossroad. Two of the main Pan-European transport corridors cross on the territory of the region - transport corridor VІІ and transport corridor ІХ, added by the possibilities given by the corridor "river - sea". The town occupies a strategic place hence the existence of well-developed transport system - automobile and railway, border checkpoints, duty free area, river transport, a bridge over the Danube River. The density of the road network is approximately 0,370 km per sq.m on the region territory, which is considerably higher compared to the average for the country. There is constructed and well-developed railway infrastructure on the territory of Rousse region Rousse PORT/Rousse East & Rousse West/ is the biggest Bulgarian port on the Danube river, a part of the important transport crossway of the trans-european transport corridors 7, 9 and the TRASEKA corridor - Europe -Caucasus- Asia. The distance from BUCHAREST International Airport to Rousse is80 km. The distance from VARNA International Airport to Rousse is210 km. The distance from SOFIA International Airport to Rousse is370 km.

9 ABOUT the HOST ORGANISATION: INSTITUTE FOR CREATIVE CIVIL STRATEGIES ICCS was founded in 2010 with the aim to assist the successful personal development, social integration and professional realization of young people who work with, developing their creativity as a model for active participation in the civil, social and cultural dimensions of society and promoting the European youth and lifelong learning policies.

10 The organization is based in Rousse but works also on national and international level. The ICCS s long-term strategy is to mix the boundaries between creative industries and youth civic participation, implementing on this base different educational and cultural projects focused on youth cultural participation. All our projects should be built on three major pillars creativity, sustainability and employability encouraging the youth entrepreneurship. OUR TEAM consists of young university professors, PhD and MA students in Cultural studies, Media and Communication and Social work who also have EVS and other non-formal education experiences. We also work actively with more than 15 Bulgarian volunteers from different Bulgarian universities Sofia University St. KlimentOhridski, South-West University NeophitRilski and National Art Academy. EVS EXPERIENCE: In 2013 the organization received EVS accreditation (h-s-c EVS Acr. No 2013-BG-35) and started sending Bulgarian EVS volunteers abroad on vacancies in the field of Cultural heritage, Arts & Culture, Media & Youth information, environmental protection, Active citizenship & Human rights. In 2014 ICCS started implementation of the long term host EVS project Art Reporters Without Borders which objectivity is to increase the national & international visibility of young generation Bulgarian visual artist who often remain outside the focus of the cultural institutions as well as the mainstream media. ICCS is currently hosting two EVS volunteers for our yearlong project. More about the organization find on our website, our weblog and on our FB Fan Page: (BG) (EN)