Programme & action: ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: Training Course
Venue: Uzana, Bulgaria
Dates: 9-17 October 2017
Participants: Zuzana Vojteková, Barbora Kořánová, Kristýna Spěváková
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Participating countries: Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Spain
Hosting organisation: CET Bulgaria
Project report:
Bulgaria is said to be the country of roses, but from our experience it was an autumn fairy-tale. Right at the airport we met the majority of the participants from other countries and got into a bus heading to Uzana. We were welcomed by the first snow. Our hotel was situated in the middle of mountains and a stunning view was everywhere we looked. It got even more magical when we learnt that the hotel had a domestic fox, which came over every evening to get fed. Unbelievable!
The agenda of our topic “Social Entrepreneurship” was full of interactive discussions and challenging tasks. The best day, I would say, was when we met Maya, who established Tea House in Varna. She had been running this social business for almost 2 years and explained us how to handle the whole process, from creating business plan to dealing with everyday problems. Such an inspiring story! At the end we had one day to create our own social enterprises. To come up with a business model that would not only be profiting but also targeting and solving a social problem was a challenge! We had to take in considerations a lot of factors and try to make it sustainable. However, I have to admit, that the final presentations of the group projects were very interesting and everybody did a good job.
Beside non-formal education we went to explore the surrounding nature. We visited the geographical middle of Bulgaria and hiked a Sněžka-size mountain. 🙂 For one day off we went together to Gabrovo – city that is considered to be the capital of Bulgarian humour. We even visited the Museum of Humour. In the evenings we had cultural nights – presentations of the countries and its typical drinks and food. Macedonian ajvar with Croatian rakia, Estonian cheese with Czech Becherovka or Spanish salmorejo with … the party never lacked diversity!
We had great time and learnt a lot about social entrepreneurship. Maybe even more importantly we made friends with Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Croatians, Serbians, Macedonians, Spanish, Greeks and Bulgarians.
Zuzana Vojteková
