OUR PROJECTS

We build and develop our future environment for working, living and evolving. We take on projects with the intention of finding smart, new solutions to problems, large and small.

Here are some recent examples of how we have worked in a variety of areas to create high-impact drivers of change.

RITUAL GATHERINGS

"Ritual Gatherings: Traditional Rituals and Interactive Contemporary Art - Mechanisms for Building Communities and Achieving Sustainable Cultural Ecosystems" is an interdisciplinary cultural project implemented with the support of the EEA Grants and the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, consisting of a series of regional micro-events in the municipalities of Kyustendil, Troyan and Shumen, followed by an annual interdisciplinary festival on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

The Ritual Gatherings festival has 5 pillars - nature, music, food, art and rituals - through which it explores the closely related concepts of values and identity. The themes of our personal, but also collective values and identity, the festival addresses through the prism of current social, cultural, economic and environmental changes and issues.

The Ritual Gatherings festival consists of a two-day professional forum and a three-day cultural program that includes events in music, contemporary art, interactive installations, land art and performance art.

The main focus of the two-day professional forum is a specialised cultural entrepreneurship training by the Museum of Living Art - Iceland and a workshop with the Norwegian artist collective Pikene på Broen, focused on exploring the concept and practice of rituals in the field of contemporary art.

A highlight of the cultural programme of the festival and a focus of the project is the development of new cultural events presenting traditional Bulgarian rituals refracted through the prism of contemporary art. Talks with artists, trainings and workshops are also organized.

The project BGCULTURE-2.001-0117-C01 "Ritual Gatherings: Traditional Rituals and Interactive Contemporary Art - Mechanisms for Building Communities and Achieving Sustainable Cultural Ecosystems" is implemented with financial support of 199 984 EUR provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The project is part of OP Cultural Enterprise, Heritage and Cooperation, Outcome 2 "Improved Access to Arts and Culture".

The main objective of the project is to apply a holistic approach to the revitalisation of small cultural ecosystems through events and activities targeting key actors and focusing on the exchange of experiences and artistic events with experts from the cultural sector in Iceland and Norway. On the one hand, the project aims to improve access to culture in small localities through a series of regional micro-events followed by an annual, interdisciplinary festival. On the other hand, the project aims to increase the capacity of local cultural operators and artists through seminars, lectures, workshops and an annual professional forum.

The beneficiary of the project is ASORI Association, and partners in the implementation of the project are the municipalities of Kyustendil, Troyan and Shumen, the Museum of Folk Arts Crafts and Applied Arts - Troyan, the Norwegian artistic collective Pikene på Broen and The Living Art Museum - Reykjavik, Iceland.

Associated partners of the Ritual Gatherings Festival are the National Art Gallery, HRC Culinary Academy and Talents Restaurant, Kitchen59 Hotel, Sound Ninja Academy for Music Technology Studies, Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation, GLAAS Foundation and the House of Humour and Satire Museum - Gabrovo.

FOR CLEAN AIR IN KYUSTENDIL

The project aims to increase civil engagement, stimulate proactivity and produce a positive change in the behavior of citizens and businesses of Kyustendil Municipality in order to improve air quality.

The main objective of the project is to build partnerships between institutions, businesses, academia and citizens for joint initiatives that aim to improve the quality of air in the municipality. At the same time, the project focuses on changing citizens' attitudes and inspiring a recognition of the personal responsibility and contribution to the protection of the air in Kyustendil. The involvement of the College for Green Development (HGUt) Norway is crucial in adapting Norwegian experience and know-how in sustainable development of local communities, through citizen participation.

One of the most important activities that citizens of the municipality should participate in is the process of formulating and implementing the municipal environmental policies. In order to maximize the efficiency of this process, measures are being taken to change consumer habits against the use of solid fuels for heating purposes, as they are one of the leading causes for air pollution and respiratory diseases.

The project is funded by the by the EEA GRANTS 2014-2021 through the ACTIVE CITIZENS FUND and is implemented together with the Municipality of Kyustendil and the College for Green Development (HGUt) Norway.

NEW GENERATION ENTREPRENEURS

The project „New Generation Entrepreneurs - Digital Tools for Building up and Expanding Business” is focused on young people in Bulgaria between the age of 15 to 29, who want to develop their entrepreneurial skills or with a specific business idea that they want to develop. Through the trainings that will be carried out within the project, young people will have the opportunity to acquire the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for starting and developing their own business in a digital environment. There are 4 practical modules, in which can participate up to 20 young people, selected according to specific needs and desires. Selection of participants will be done by filling out an online application form, published on the ASORI website.

The selected candidates will attend training in digital entrepreneurship in an interactive environment, with experienced young lecturers, specialists in the field of IT, digital marketing and entrepreneurship. After the completion of the training modules, there will be an organized meeting of 100 young people with successful young entrepreneurs. During this event there will be a competition for innovative business idea among the participants in the training modules and 30 of the most prominent young people will have the opportunity for one month internship in a digital company.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Bulgaria) and is part of the National Youth Program (2016-2020), with the total funding amounting to BGN 12,000. The project started on 08.10.2019. and has a performance period of 6 months. ASORI is the leading organization and it will partner with the Association for Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development and Innovation (IPURI)

VIDIN E-ACTIVE

The main objective of the project “Citizens - active participants in the improvement of air quality (AQ), energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources (RES) for heating in overcoming energy poverty in Vidin Municipality, with acronym: VIDIN E-ACTIVE” is to increase the engagement and participation of citizens, businesses and their organizations in the stages of municipal policy development, affecting important financial, health and social aspects of the present and future development of Vidin Municipality. More effective involvement of citizens and businesses in the process of amending, improving and enforcing regulations will contribute to generating successful, innovative business ideas and building lasting partnerships with local institutions, organizations and associations. The project envisages active involvement of young people in Vidin Municipality in the project activities through educational institutions, NGOs, business and administration.

Type of activities implemented: Studies, analyzes, consultations, extensive information campaign, development of a mechanism and tools for feedback and evaluation, training of the employees of Vidin municipality related to improving the civic participation in the processes of updating, implementation and monitoring of policies and legislation.

The duration of the project is from January 2019 - November 2020. The project is funded by the Operational Program Good Management (OPGM), amounting to BGN 84 029.14.

ASORI is Partner in this project together with  and the Municipality of Vidin. The leading organization is the Association of Energy Agencies in Bulgaria / ABEA /.

MAPPING AND ASSESSMENT OF THE SHRUBS ECOSYSTEMS IN BULGARIA

ASORI conducted  public consultations in 5 cities in Bulgaria to assess the awareness and preservation practices of the natural ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. All public meetings gathered representatives of the project partners, universities, regional agencies, farmers’ organizations, NGOs and municipal authorities. Opinions and feedback have been collected, analyzed and reported to the project partners. At the end of the project a closing conference was organized in Sofa with participation of all stakeholders. Press-release and media coverage were ensured. ASORI was also responsible for the development of the project web-site.

RESEARCH ON ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE 

ASORI has conducted a survey on the development of the road infrastructure in Bulgaria for the period 2010-2020. The research includes historical data concerning the establishment of the linked national structures, the implementation of legal regulations and supporting the modernization of the road network. There was made a review of the existing roads with auction proceedings to the new construction of high-speed roads and rehabilitation of national 1st , 2nd and 3rd class roads. Legal frameworks, including the Concessions Act, the Law on public procurement and public-private partnerships were analyzed. A major part of the analysis are the existing funding via ISPA program , the structural funds of the European Union and the national budget, along with projects under implementation and planning by 2013. The auction procedure for the construction of the highway "Trakia" for all four lots, three of which have already been assigned, are discussed. The prognosis for the development of road construction for the programming period 2014-2020, funded by the Operational Programme "Transport" and "Regional Development" shows that Bulgaria's priorities are to adapt the road infrastructure in the country to the EU standards and to link it to the pan-European transport corridors.

#ДАЙНАКИРИЛИЦА

The #ДайНаКирилица (SwichToCyrillic) initiative is a national campaign aiming to encourage the use of the Cyrillic alphabet amongst the young generation when communicating in Bulgarian language online or via digital tools. Launched in 2015, the initiative has organized a series of activities including several exhibitions of 26 thematic posters in Betahaus (Sofia), New Bulgarian University – Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo University, The National Parliament of Bulgaria and other locations around the country.#ДайНаКирилица  also participated in the largest festival for urban culture in Bulgaria - “Sofia breaths” – in the art section and in the children’s section in partnership with ESPA schools, hosting a series of creative workshops.

One of the most important achievements of the campaign is a round table "The place of the Cyrillic alphabet in the digital age", organized by ASORI in partnership with the Faculty of Philology of the Veliko Tarnovo University, hosted in Veliko Tarnovo. The event has brought together the academic elite of the faculties of History and Philology of the most prominent universities in Bulgaria, representatives of teachers' associations, journalists, public figures and others. The round table ended with the signing of a petition consistent of concrete requirements for legal resolution of any technological or other type of problems, that might hinder the use of the Cyrillic alphabet online and in software applications for public and private usage. The petition has already reached the Bulgarian parliament (September 2016) and was signed by the deputies after the opening of our traditional exhibition dedicated to the Cyrillic alphabet in May 2017.  The petition will be submitted to the European Parliament.

Partners of the campaign are Veliko Tarnovo University, New Bulgarian University – Sofia, various companies and organizations from the public and private sector. It has a wide media coverage by the leading national and regional media channels. In June 2017 ASORI was invited to organize a second edition of the round table "The Place of the Cyrillic Alphabet in the Digital Age" in the National Parliament of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Study on the establishment of a National Standard for Bulgarian Cyrillic and development of free Bulgarian Cyrillic fonts adapted to the needs of the professional and academic circles enabling the communication through Bulgarian Cyrillic in the digital space.  Cooperating with artists, designers and calligraphists, with the coaching and professional consultancy by Bulgarian artists from the initiative “For the Bulgarian Cyrillic” (www.cyrillic.bg).