A JOB FAIR FOR BULGARIAN EMPLOYERS AND FEMALE MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES WILL BE HELD IN SOFIA IN NOVEMBER

The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with the Bureau for Information and Services for Third Country Nationals, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Caritas Sofia, the #ForGood Foundation, the Humans in the Loop Foundation and KATRO Bulgaria are organizing a youth exchange for Bulgarian employers and migrant women and refugees. The event is part of the activities of the European RIDE project.

The event will be held on November 17, 2022 /Thursday/ from 10:00 a.m. on 9 Iskar Street, Hall A, as well and online on the Zoom platform. The aim is to develop connections between employers and employees that are female migrants and refugees.

During the event, cooperation will be offered from Bulgarian companies willing to hire women from other countries, including migrants and refugees. The employers will be from different sectors, with employees working in the field of digital skills and services, the veterinary-medical branch, spinners, sorting, machine operators, both in Sofia and in the country.

If you are a migrant or refugee woman looking for work, you can register to participate in the labor exchange by filling out an online form. The working language of the event will be Bulgarian, and translation will be provided depending on the participating women migrants and refugees.

CONNECTION project: CONNEcting Cities Towards Integration action, is co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

IN THE UPCOMING WEEK AN INTERNATIONAL TRAINING ON THE SUBJECT OF COUNTERING HATE SPEECH ONLINE WILL BE HELD IN VIENNA

Between 14^th and 16^th November an international training under the name of "Digital Gardening: Applying Strategies to Counter Hate Speech Online through Real Case Scenarios" will be held in Vienna, Austria.

The training is a part of the LEAD – Online project, which aims to counter hate speech through education of students and teachers on different ways of adequately respond to hate speech online. It will bring together teachers and trainers from 7 European countries, as well as specialists from 7 organizations and institutions with experience and skills in combating hate speech online. Denitza Lozanova and Snezhina Gabova are representing SDA during the training. Educators from all over Europe will be participants of the event, among which 4 representatives of the Bulgarian formal and informal education system.

The event will be an interactive one with a main goal to create a script for an online game for teachers and students alike, that aims to enrich the ways to recognize and respond to hate speech.

The project is funded by the EU’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme.

INNOAIR PRESENTED AT THE NATIONAL CYCLING CONFERENCE

The Innoair project was presented at the National Cycling Conference on November 3rd, 2022, in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The forum presented the first National bicycle plan in Bulgaria. The event was organized by the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism and brought together cycling development and tourism stakeholders from all over the country. It was attended by experts with the Civic Initiative for bicycle transport, the Tourism Ministry, the Ministry for Regional Development, mayors and representatives of municipalities, citizens.

The conference showcased the achievements and the ambitions for development of cycling in several main areas – national network of bike routes, municipal policies and actions, routes and transborder cooperation, cycling events and tours, civic initiatives and bike economy. Sevdalina Voynova presented the developments and achievements of INOAIR in support of active transport and biking in Sofia – the mobile application SofiaCain that rewards walking and biking and helps define priorities for urban infrastructure development, the cameras for counting bikers, designed by universities and installed by the bike lanes on Tsar Boris III blvd. and Bulgaria blvd., the INOAIR hackathons, one of which will take place in a few days, on November 11.

INNOAIR is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative.

RECOGNITION FOR TEACHERS WHO WORK WITH REFUGEE CHILDREN IN SOFIA

Teachers have a critical role to support refugee children. This role is more than teaching, especially when the kids are still in the adaptation phase. How these children see education, what is their school experience is of utmost importance to overcome the trauma of they suffered in their own country, leaving the environment they know, travelling and settling in a new place.

On November 2-nd, on the occasion of the Day of the National Revival Leaders, Sofia Development Association, Sofia Municipality and UNHCR awarded 45 educators – experts from the Regional Governance of Education and teachers from Sofia schools, who have created welcoming classrooms to all children and their parents, who help refugee and migrant kids feel at home, develop self-confidence and skills important for overcoming the toxic stress.

Education is human right of every refugee in any country. It is also the basis on which many migrant kids and their families can rebuild their life. Mrs. Malina Edreva, chairperson of Sofia Municipal Council committee on education, culture and diversity, and Mrs. Petya Karayaneva, protection officer at UNHCR representation in Sofia, expressed the community gratitude to the educations for their contribution to the future of the city.

SDA and UNHCR will continue to provide support to school, headmasters and teachers throughout the academic year.

CONNECTION project: CONNEcting Cities Towards Integration action, is co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

AeroSolfd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The AeroSolfd partners gathered for their general assembly hybrid meeting on November 2-3, 2022 – physically in the Institute for Energy and Environmental Technology. V. (IUTA) in Duisburg, Germany, and online. AeroSolfd is an EU-funded project that will deliver affordable, adaptable, and environmentally friendly retrofit solutions to reduce tailpipe and brake emissions and pollution in (semi-) closed environments. This will allow a quick transition towards cleaner mobility and a healthier environment.

The consortium meeting reviewed the implemented activities, though in progress, as well as the upcoming activities by tasks and work packages. The status update was accompanied with discussions on the objectives, sustainability, and the innovative aspect of each relevant task.

SDA is a project partner on behalf of Sofia Municipality as a demo site for one of the innovative solutions being developed and tested – the retrofit solutions for air purification for semi-closed urban environments (tunnels). Sofia will test air purifiers that do not require installation investment, measure their effectiveness, and contribute to their adaptation to reach market entry level.

The general assembly also selected the project Advisory Board with well-known European scientists and experts to validate the concepts, outputs ,and results.

AeroSolfd is co-funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme.