Investment Project 4 “Youth Centres”
Pillar 1: Innovative Bulgaria
Component 1 “Education and Skills”
Procedures for selection of project proposals BG-RRP-1.008 “A1 Youth Centres (in regional cities)” and BG-RRP-1.009 “A2 Establishment of Youth Centres (in non-regional towns)”
The procedures aim to establish and ensure the effective functioning in the early years of youth centres providing a variety of activities (including international activities) and comprehensive services to support the personal development and employability of students and young people up to the age of 29.
Youth Centres (in regional cities):
Eligible final beneficiaries are the municipalities of all regional cities, except for Dobrich, Gabrovo, Vratsa, Montana, Pernik, Burgas, Plovdiv, and Stara Zagora.
Eligible partners under the procedure are:
- Public authorities - municipalities, schools, community centres, social services, labour offices, etc;
- Non-governmental sector - organizations working in the fields of youth activities, protection against discrimination, digitalization, providing training for professional competencies, etc;
- Businesses - without spending project funds.
Applicant municipalities from the Northwest or Southeast planning regions are rated higher.
Applicant municipalities are required to commit to a minimum of five (5) years of sustainability of activities after the external funding is completed, including buildings, equipment, activities, measures and services delivered, and sustainability of staff training.
The total budget of the procedure is BGN 40 million.
Procedure “Building of youth centres (in non-regional towns)”:
Eligible final beneficiaries are the municipalities of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Svishtov, Sevlievo, Aitos, Karnobat, Nessebar, Pomorie, Nova Zagora, Kazanlak, Gotse Delchev, Petrich, Sandanski, Dupnitsa, Botevgrad, Ihtiman, Samokov, Velingrad, Peshtera, Asenovgrad, Karlovo, Dimitrovgrad, Svilengrad, Harmanli.
Under the procedure, it is also eligible to expand and modernize the work of the Centers for Support of Personal Development (under Art. 26 of the Vocational Education and Training Act) to turn them into modern centers offering a wide range of youth activities.
The activities eligible for support and the requirements for the projects are similar to those under the procedure for the regional centres, where 4 jobs should be created for at least 2 youth workers and at least 1 educational mediator, psychologist/social worker/educator, and other appropriate specialists to provide activities with students and young people in the centre.
The total budget of the procedure is 16 million BGN.
The duration of the projects should be at least 30 months and they should be completed no later than 30.06.2026.
