The Minister of Education and Science Krassimir Valchev and the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar", Prof. Anna Nedyalkova, D.Sc. will participate in the third forum of the Institute for Integrated Management of Municipalities of Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" and the Regional Administration - Smolyan.
This third forum is an expression of Varna Free University's strategy, the institutes it creates, to be in harmony with the most up-to-date issues of society and to help increase the administrative capacity of municipalities on key issues of the Cohesion Policy, to cooperate for improvement of the quality of life and the requirements of the labour market in Bulgaria. The ambition of the University, in partnership with the Regional governor of Smolyan - Nedyalko Slavov and the mayors from the region and the country, is to present at this forum a new educational model based on a working partnership between education, business and local authorities.
With the participation of scientists, business people, and local government officials, it is important to make sense of the practice and to enrich it with new solutions for the formation of competences and skills, for higher creativity and entrepreneurship of young people.
In the discussion, the participants in the forum - more than 150 mayors, representatives of higher and secondary education, representatives of businesses from the Smolyan region and the country will comment on the good practices and new ideas for adequate response to the local authorities, the European and national vision for the role of education in the context of the challenges of Era 4.0. More than two years ago, Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar", with which the Smolyan Regional Administration actively co-sponsored, established an Institute for Integrated Municipal Management.
Last year in Pamporovo was held the second partner seminar of the Institute and the Regional Administration - Smolyan on environmental issues and perspectives of the circular economy with the participation of more than 100 mayors of municipalities in the country and Mr Neno Dimov - Minister of Environment and Water and Ms Ivelina Vasileva - Chairperson of the Parliamentary Commission on Environment and Water. One of the significant results of the forum was the launch in Smolyan and Varna of the master's degree programme in Circular Economy under the auspices of the EC and Mr George Kremlis, Honorary Director of the Environment Directorate General, with the participation of European lecturers in Smolyan and Varna.