Shtastlivetsa Sofia Civil Association was founded in the beginning of 2006 as a spontaneous civil initiative (initially known as the Initiative Committee for Cleanness and Legality) in response to the problems of the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
The name Shtastlivetsa (”The Happy One” in Bulgarian) pithily expresses the values uniting the association. It combines the byname of our most famous citizen and environmentalist - the great democrat and life-affirming writer Aleko Konstantinov; the most popular region in the Vitosha mountain; and happiness: the state of mind that one enters when participating in the public processes actively and with a pure heart.
The association was originally founded with the idea to connect people from various professional and social spheres and coordinate their actions on issues of vital public interest.
Our main goal today is to build social networks for practical education on civic participation, sustainable development and ecology in the broadest sense. We’ve become convinced that only real experience, joint work and active communication are capable of turning our ideas for the future into a true example of future human activities. And to achieve this, we still have much to learn…
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History and structure of the association:
We came up with the idea to create Shtastlivetsa in late 2005 during a spontaneous civil initiative about the problems of the capital of Bulgaria, and we implemented it in early 2006 at the height of the campaign to protect the Bulgarian coast.
Shtastlivetsa Sofia Civil Association was registered as an association serving the public interest in the Sofia City Court on June 1, 2006
The Association is governed by a General Assembly of all its members and managed by a Board of three people:
- Radosveta Trendafilova Krastanova, lecturer at New Bulgarian University - Chair
- Petar Kanev Dobrinov - CEO
- Lyudmila Ivanova Rosenova - Administrative and Financial Manager
Since then, Shtastlivetsa has initiated and participated in numerous civic, environmental and educational activities - public hearings, press conferences, media appearances, meetings with representatives of institutions, rallies, petitions, debates and discussions, lectures, happenings and performances, exhibitions and workshops.
Currently, 22 people are members of the association, with new members joining at regular intervals. Shtastlivetsa has over 80 supporters and volunteers and over 20 permanent partners: environmental organizations, educational and public institutions and civic groups. The core team of the Place for Future campaign consists of about a dozen people with different professional and civic experience.
The association operates on free volunteer work, membership dues, donations, and funds from project grants and additional activities - consulting, publishing and more.
In January 2007, Shtastlivetsa became one of the first members of the most influential civil environmental coalition in the country - For the Nature in Bulgaria (http://forthenature.org)
Experience:
- Citizen representation on the Committee on Environment and Water at the Sofia Municipal Council;
- Participation in public discussions of the Comprehensive Master Plan of Sofia;
- Participation in the Zero Waste civic coalition seeking for an integral solution to the waste crisis in Sofia;
- Participation in the campaign for Irakli and the Black Sea coast;
- Participation in the campaign to protect the full scope of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria;
- Participation in the activities of For the Nature Environmental Coalition;
- Initiating and successfully carrying out Place For Future, an ambitious academic project;
- Implementation of educational courses and programs related to environmental practices of the future, which attract students from two leading universities in Bulgaria - Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski and New Bulgarian University.
Current activities:
- Our Place for Future University Campaign upholds the principles of civic participation and sustainable development in Bulgaria through public actions and university seminars, regular lectures and educational programs related to ecology as a model of awareness and action, as well as student training, internships and fieldwork. Its two major branches are:
- Open-air University, organized jointly with the Directorate of Vitosha Nature Park and New Bulgarian University
and
- Culture of the Future, held jointly with Faculty of Philosophy, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski and the Chiprovtsi Municipality.
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Excerpts from the Stastlivetsa Statute
Scope of activities
Art. 5. The association performs activities for the benefit of the public, namely, actions directed at the expansion of civil control over the work and decisions of all state and municipal authorities; participation in the making and implementation of their decisions.
Chief goals of the association
Art. 6. The chief goals of the association are:
1. Achieving a genuine and effective civil control over the work and decisions of all state and municipal authorities; participation in the making and implementation of their decisions.
2. Improving the living environment of Sofia’s citizens.
3. Achieving transparency and a high level of citizens’ awareness with regard to the actions of state and municipal authorities.
Means to accomplish the goals of the association
Art. 7. The means used by the association to accomplish its goals are:
1. Contacts with governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations.
2. Publications, media appearances.
3. Organizing rallies, demonstrations, protests and other activities not prohibited by law.
4. Organizing seminars, conferences, round tables, etc.
5. Organizing exhibitions, literary readings, performances, happenings and other cultural events.
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Current team and new members
During its most recent general meeting in February 2009, Shtastlivetsa admitted the following new members:
Gergana Kosturkova, Violeta Krusteva, Gabriela Petrova, Yuliana Naskova, Dimitar Dimov, Georgi Stefanov, Rostislav Kandilarov, Kalin Nenov, Teodor Vasilev, Lora Abadzhieva, Ivan Popov - Ivo, Stoil Tsitselkov, Simova Tseneva, Yordanka Zamfirova, Trendafil Krastanov, Petar Shurulinkov, Svetoslav Penchev
The people who are part of the Place for Future team but are not members of Shtastlivetsa are:
Martin Mikush, Neli Stankova
The project has also benefitted from the active help of:
Yordanka Dineva, Nadezhda Maksimova, Galina Slavova, Borislav Sandov
