Civic Education and Training Platform – Bulgaria (CET Bulgaria) is a voluntary, non-profit, non-governmental organization. It was established in July 2016 by a group of young, motivated and experienced youth workers who are active in the civil sector. We are part of the international youth network CET Platform which works in the field of civic education.

Our main activities are related to fostering young people’s participation in a variety of local and international activities and also encouraging them to contribute to projects under the European Commission's “Erasmus +” program.

Main goals of the Platform are:

1. To provide support, help, services and expert knowledge in the field of civil society
2. Development of democratic processes, civic values and non-formal education to all citizens, especially the youth.
3. Conducting activities related to advocacy issues of public policy as well as organizing various events – debates, trainings, seminars and workshops – in the field of civic education.
4. Promoting volunteering and exchange about human rights, development of local, regional and European relations and cooperation.
5. Another main goal is the encouragement of creativity, innovations, entrepreneurship and sustainable development in a civil society.
6. Насърчаване на доброволчеството и активното участие на гражданите в политическия и икономическия живот;

The means to achieve the objectives are:

1. Organization of specific program activities;
2. Implementation of joint projects and cooperation with local and foreign associations, foundations, local government units, state institutions and other organizations;
3. Organization of conferences, seminars, trainings, discussions, creative meetings, scientific meetings, counseling and other public activities and forms of education and training;
4. Organizing, conducting and providing support for professional and scientific research through realization of different projects and activities;
5. Publication of advertising materials and publications in accordance with the laws and the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria;
6. Organization of volunteer activities to raise awareness on issues of public importance, as well as actions for active participation of citizens in the decision-making process;
7. Creating expertise for individuals and other organizations that are within the scope of the Association's objectives;
8. Encourage the initiatives of the competent authorities and institutions in order to achieve the objectives of the Association and the public interest;
9. Perform other activities necessary to achieve the objectives of the Association, which are provided with this status and are in compliance with the laws and the constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria;

What are the activities and experience of the organization?

The experience includes the successful implementation of 3 Training Courses under “Erasmus+ KA1”:

1. "Creating of tomorrow's leaders" (2015-1-BG01-KA105-013495) took place 15/05 – 15/11/2015. Its aim was to encourage and improve the level of key competences for the development of leadership qualities in individuals working actively with young people and youth organisations. In this way their collaboration capacity, exchange of good practices and the quality of work between youth organisations was boosted. Building leaders with higher qualification, aware of the needs and problems in the youth sector, helps to see opportunities clearly and accomplish the goals. Main subjects in the Training course were: communication skills, teamwork, building trust in a group, presentation and rhetoric skills, planning and organising, time management, conflict tackling, building leadership skills, self-motivation, social commitment, positive attitude, flexibility and confidence.
2. "Creating of tomorrow's leaders 2" (2015-3-BG01-KA105-022779) took place 10/08-18/08/2016. Aimed to build up on the idea of the previous, but at a higher level this time. The project was targeting to develop the organizational capacity of partner organizations and their ability to undertake larger-scale and more effective activities on local, regional and international level. Unlike the first project – whose focus was personal development and gaining competences within the youth workers themselves, here we put an emphasis on a higher level – e.g. organizations and their ability to solve problems of youth on a larger scale and working in international partnerships. In this project we included a trainer from Cyprus. Last but not least this project was awarded the highest score among all project proposals submitted in October 2015.
3. “Unlock your learning potential through Coaching” aims to prepare participant to use the COACHING method to develop skills and competences that will help them

- discover and unlock their own potential

- increase their strive for learning, self-improvement and self-esteem

- acquire soft skills (e.g. self-management, active listening, communication and feedback skills

- attitude towards developing their organizational culture, team compatibility and satisfaction

- set goals in life and realize fundamental values

- develop entrepreneurial spirit, flexibility and being competitive in the labour market

Following the accumulated experience, we created the CET Bg platform. The experience and activities of the organization are limited to the successful implementation of 4 other Erasmus + projects:

1. Training course „Unlock your NGO's potential through Coaching” (2016-3-BG01-KA105-035204) - the project aims to prepare youth workers to use the method Organizational coaching to develop the capacity of NGOs in order for youth organizations: to become more effective in their work with young people, to clarify easily their strategic priorities, to plan and structure work activities and projects. As a result, young people will be more confident in taking concrete steps in realizing their ideas.
2. Youth exchange "You are different but seen through my eyes" (2017-1-BG01-KA105-036141) The aim of the exchange is to provide the young people with the main frame of an attitude of tolerance and solidarity as well as to stimulate the mutual understanding between people of different countries, having different religions, different preferences in their personal and professional life. This basic purpose is driven by the main topic of the project, namely - anti-discrimination and European self-consciousness as a form of behavior and attitude of the young people. The planned initiatives are combination of practical workshops, where the young people will be occupied with team work towards achieving the set goals, presentations, role playing and other methods within the project context.
3. Training course „Social Entrepreneurship Training“ (2017-1-BG01-KA105-035962) The project aims to prepare youth workers to apply the concept of social entrepreneurship in their organizations and communities by developing their entrepreneurial skills and competencies. Furthermore, the project aims to identify the entrepreneurial potential of people and organizations involved in the project to provide participants with examples of successful businesses developed by young social entrepreneurs, develop knowledge about the process of development of social enterprise. During the training, the participants will plan how to transfer entrepreneurial skills and practices to young people they work with. It will support young people in their personal and professional development, facilitate their social inclusion and full contribution to the community and its development.
4. Training course “Social Entrepreneurship Training 2” (Project 2018-1-BG01-KA105-047615”, September 2018. The project aims at developing the organizational and management capacity of partner organizations, which deal with and deploy social enterprises/youth centers. The focus, on one hand, aims at increasing the organizational capacity to create, develop and successfully manage and promote social entrepreneurship, and on the other hand to set up trained youth workers to work with marginalized and socially excluded young people. The main needs which the current project addresses are concentrated at increasing youth employment and social inclusion. Through this project the participants and the participating organizations will gain skills that could be implemented to specific business and entrepreneurial tools to solve social problems. The participants will also be informed about the opportunities offered for developing of Social enterprises and will increase their motivation for using innovative tools in their work.