SOFIA DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION was founded as non-profit organization with the decision 348
of the Sofia Municipal Council to work for the sustainable development of the capital.
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INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A DISCUSSION ON “INTEGRATION OF THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONALS IN THE LABOR MARKET IN SOFIA – NEW CHALLENGES”
Sofia Municipality and the Sofia Development Association (SDA) invite you to join a discussion on the integration of third-country nationals (TCNs) in the labor market, which will be held on March 14, 2022 from 13:00 – at SofiaLab (1 Serdika str., 3rd fl.) and online, through the ZOOM platform – HERE.
The event is another step taken by local authorities, together with civil society organizations and public institutions, in order to improve the employment opportunities of the TCNs, as well as to facilitate employers who want and have the opportunity to hire migrants. Within the CONNECTION and UMN projects, and together with CITUB, UNHCR, Caritas, BRC, SDA and Sofia Municipality, they implement various initiatives – trainings, information and advocacy campaigns – to prepare the city to more effectively manage the integration of migrants. In view of the emerging (unexpected) wave of refugees from Ukraine, it is necessary for the capital to plan measures that will allow normal living and working conditions not only for Ukrainian citizens but also for foreigners already residing in the city now and in the future.
We invite you to take part in discussion with Ms. Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia, Mr. Svetoslav Andreev, European Committee of the Regions, Ms. Malina Edreva, Chairperson of the Committee on Education, Culture, Science and Cultural Diversity of the Sofia Municipal Council, Mr. Nikolay Stoynev, Chairperson of the Committee on Economy, Property and Digital transformation of the Sofia Municipal Council, BCCI, CITUB, UNHCR, Caritas, non-governmental organizations, employers, employers’ organizations, etc.
The discussion aims to hear the views of all stakeholders on how local authorities could contribute to the labor integration process. Let’s set our clocks and plan our next steps together. You will have the opportunity to hear brief analyzes of the unemployment rate and labor market trends, shared experiences from companies that hire migrants, training and qualification opportunities, etc.
We encourage you to take part online via the following link, as places in the SofiaLab are limited.
For confirmation and questions, you may contact:
Sanya Raeva, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Snezhina Atanasova, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CONNECTION project: CONNEcting Cities Towards Integration action, and UMN project are co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
THE BUREAU FOR INFORMATION AND SERVICES FOR THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONALS PRESENTED AS GOOD PRACTICE BY SDA AT A DISCUSSION ON CIVIC PARTICIPATION
The Sofia Development Association presented the Bureau for Information and Services for third-country nationals during a discussion on civic participation organized by the Sofia Security Forum. The bureau was presented by Svetlana Lomeva, Executive director of SDA, as a good practice of Sofia Municipality in involving people to solve municipal problems.
To simplify foreigners’ access to services Sofia has joined forces with the Bulgarian Red Cross and UNHCR, and 13 NGOs active in the area of third-country nationals’ integration and set up a Bureau for Information and Services for TCN, which opened its doors in September 2021 and since then it works as a single point of reference, overcoming complexity. Moreover, the Bureau being a joint effort, allows for sharing resources, expertise, responsibilities, and vision between a broad variety of stakeholders.
During the event, the normative frameworks of civic participation at national and European levels were presented and discussed, and in addition to good practices from Sofia, the participants also got acquainted with achievements on the topic by the European Parliament.
CONNECTION project: CONNEcting Cities Towards Integration action, is co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
First Policy Learning Workshop of the RRI Leaders Project
The first policy learning workshop of the RRI Leaders project took place online on March 1, 2022. The event was hosted by the territorial partners of Greece, the University of Western Macedonia and the Local Government Association of Western Macedonia. This is the first of four workshops that will take place till the end of the project. SDA will host the final workshop in the beginning of 2023. The purpose of the workshops is the dissemination of activities, good practices and policies that maximize the impact of RRI Leaders through transfer and exchange of knowledge. The first event brought together the whole spectrum of relevant territorial stakeholders from each partner country, i.e. academia, civil society, business, policymakers that play a key role for possible RRI-AIRR integration in future policy and development actions. The featured presentations focused on an innovation zone/innovation ecosystem in Greece; a district heating network in Thalwil (Switzerland), a women’s network and business innovation system in Sabadell (Spain). Veronica Manova, an expert at Sofia Municipal Council, presented the development of Vision for Sofia 2050; this practice was considered an excellent example of holistically integrating several keys of responsible research and innovation, most notably, public engagement and participatory process, open access, inclusiveness, forward-planning.
INNOAIR joins the event "Digital Transformation - Smart Cities"
The discussion on "Digital Transformation - Smart Cities" will be held on March 8, 2022 at 10:00 and INNOAIR will be a part of it. The event is organized by BNR-Radio Sofia within the project "Our Europe" and will be held in a hybrid - in Sofia Tech Park, The Venue Hall, Incubator Building and online at ZOOM.
The full program of the event can be viewed HERE.
If you want to learn more about the INNOAIR project, the transformation of Sofia into a smart city and to ask questions to experts in the field, you can get involved via the following link.
MARCH CALENDAR WITH ACTIVITIES IN THE BUREAU FOR INFORMATION AND SERVICES FOR THIRD COUNTRY NATIONALS
Since the opening of the Bureau in September 2021. until February 2022 over 430 third-country nationals have benefited from the services provided for protection, health, legal aid, and specialized services. In February alone, almost 80 people received a variety of assistance, most of whom sought housing assistance. Other frequently sought services are access to the labor market, accompaniment to various institutions with translation, and humanitarian aid. A full list of services offered by the relevant organizations, days and hours of visit, opportunities to participate in useful events, and other details can be found in the Program for March.
The program and the services provided by the Bureau are in several languages.
You can find the program for February in Bulgarian HERE.
You can find the program for March in Ukrainian HERE.
You can find the program for March in English HERE.
You can find the program for March in French HERE.
You can find the program for March in Arabic HERE.
You can find the program for March in Farsi HERE.
https://infobureau.bcrm-bg.org/en
The Bureau for Information and Services for third country national is established under the #CONNECTION project and is funded by a European grant.
CONNECTION project: CONNECTING Cities Towards Integration action, is co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
IMPROVING THE ACCESS OF THIRD COUNTRY NATIONALS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES
SDA has joined the international consortium of the project PLOUTOS, which is focused on improving the provision of financial services to third country nationals. The kick-off meeting of the 3-year project took place in a hybrid format on Feb. 3-4, hosted by the coordinator, Halmstad University (Sweden). The partner organizations will design and implement courses in financial literacy and business development, community interpreting with a focus on business language, and a pilot “practice business” program which will train selected TCNs to run their own businesses. Sоfia is one of the pilot cities, together with cities in Greece, Croatia, and Italy. With the support of language experts and financial mentors, project partners aim to improve the conditions for migrant entrepreneurship and access to financial services in their countries. PLOUTOS is a valuable opportunity for SDA to expand its portfolio in the field of integration and to solidify the results we have already achieved in our past projects on the topic.
This project is funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
