After the completion of the first two courses in which twenty-five managers from public cultural institutes, NGOs and festivals took part, there’s more than one answer to this question:

- Because we already succeeded in structurally changing the management of two cultural institutes in Blagoevgrad, so that they became more flexible and independent, targeting the public needs. “Because you either have to change or to adapt to the change. We all here are the ones that deal with the creation of change”, said Trevor Davies, who has won the title European Capital of Culture twice, for Copenhagen in 1995 and for Aarhus in 2007.

- Because we create new partnerships and projects which go beyond the Bulgarian boundaries. Professor PierreLuigi Saco, Director of Siena 2019, discussed with the cultural managers in training the possibilities for creating joint projects with Siena and other European partners. After the working visit in the art gallery “Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora” in Kuistendil, he said “This is a world-class artist and together we can get the European society acquainted with his masterpieces”.

- Because we work together with experts such as Prof. Alexander Kiosev, Prof. Gredi Assa, Prof. Plamen Dzhurov, who would otherwise be difficult to meet at the same time and share their knowledge and experience. As Prof. Kiosev has said, “Culture is all that we live in. These are notional worlds. And when we create a cultural good, we have to first analyze the spontaneous public interests, as they are what we have presently”.

- Because the Academy is highly appreciated in the report of the international jury for European Capital of Culture; it is cited as an example for a sustainable project. Only Sofia’s application was praised so highly.

- Because we were able to identify successful practices in the management of cultural institutes such as the Kuistendil Municipal Theatre; thanks to its devoted manager and the municipality’s support, the theatre has transformed in several years’ time from a shabby building with empty halls into a place with 3 new stages: one for puppet shows, a cinema hall and a theatre. The municipal theatre had over 20 000 visitors just in 2013.

- Because as the participants say: “We were skeptical in the beginning and thought that this would be yet another boring seminar. However, just one course was enough to change our views, as we got new skills and knowledge and managed to put them into practice”.

The regional academy for managers in the field of culture is organized by Sofia Municipality, in cooperation with Sofia Development Association and Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” in support of the application of Sofia and the South-Western region for European Capital of Culture 2019. The participants who have successfully completed the four training courses, taking place in the partnering cities from the South-Western region (Blagoevgrad, Kuistendil, Pernik and Sofia) will receive a certificate for professional qualification.