MUNICIPALITY FOUNDATION “PLOVDIV 2019” - BULGARIA

Plovdiv is the first Bulgarian city chosen to be European Capital of Culture. In 2019, twenty years after the city was a host of the Month of Culture in 1999, we celebrate the most prestigious cultural initiative of the European Union. 10 years later, in 2024, the legacy of the European Capital of Culture confirmed Plovdiv's position as an active stage for art and culture on the contemporary European map. For 10 years, the Plovdiv 2019 Foundation has continued to support the creative impulse in the city under the motto "Together", an important aspect of the cultural and social life and a foundation for the entire team. European Capital of Culture is a unique project for Bulgaria that provides new opportunities for the development of the potential of the city new international visibility and a perspective on Bulgarian culture as a whole. The programme of Plovdiv European Capital of Culture 2019 also includes activities and events in the South Central Region of Bulgaria.

CLEARLY CULTURE KULTURVEREIN - VIENNA, AUSTRIA

Clearly Culture gathers under its umbrella international experts in arts & cultural management, literature, academia, intercultural communication, cultural diplomacy, architecture, urban development, social inclusion, fine arts, music, theatre and film, and community engagement. As an association for culture and education, it specialises in cultural and social projects and city-networking initiatives that serve different communities and audiences. The team develops curricula and conducts programs for universities and academies in Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Romania, U.S.A., for several European Ministries of Culture and Education, for municipalities and international organizations such as the I.O.M. Clearly Culture has developed and performed for ten years the Cultural Management program of the University of Vienna and for the Cultural Management Academy of the Goethe Institute Sofia-Bucharest-Thessaloniki. The organization participates in the mentoring program of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. It is founding member of Erasmus+ project CULTART: Cultural Management academy for young professionals with innovative focus on case studies, carried out with partners since four years in Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia.

INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - IOANNINA, GREECE

International Centre for Sustainable Development (ICSD) is a Non-profit Organization established in Ioannina, Greece. ICSD guides and prepares business plans for the social enterprises of the Region of Epirus. The promotion of ICSD objectives is performed through activities associated with the development of actions for economic development, entrepreneurship, regional planning, social development and prosperity, reduction of economic and social inequalities and discrimination against poverty, and support for vulnerable social groups. The team works on a large number of research projects with both national and European partners; Launches a variety of awareness-raising activities, training seminars, and events in the field of sustainable development and education; Disseminates publications and studies and issues press regarding sustainable development; Promotes products and services, publication and circulation of information leaflets, and the development and utilization of any kind of media.

CONFEDERAZIONE NAZIONALE ARTIGIANATO - LECCE, ITALY

The CNA – National Confederation of Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises of Lecce is one of the largest associations in the South. CNA is the national general system and unified representation of small businesses, their entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises, and their associated forms. The CNA formulates strategies for the artisan sector and SMEs, recognizing the centrality of the market in a modern economic system where the quality, identity, and values of artisan entrepreneurship, are affirmed in a modern culture of know-how. It also has experience with the development of ICT-based learning solutions concerning youth unemployment: with a new pedagogical model that focuses on the labor, crafts, and entrepreneurship, and forms of learning related to it.

EDUCENTER – SKOPJE, NORTH MACEDONIA

The Association ‘EduCenter’ is a non-profit organization from the Republic of North Macedonia, the city of Skopje. The Association is a voluntary, self-governed, community-based organization whose main goal is to promote, encourage and support the sustainable development of individuals and communities through solidarity and collective action for social change, inclusion, and innovative educational approaches by using all types of innovations, formal, non-formal and informal methods empowering individuals, marginalized groups and other social collectives; supporting and empowering young people from different communities to develop new ideas and tackle the challenges in the field of education, innovation, and entrepreneurship; developing the capacity for collective action toward social change and social inclusion; conducting advanced sociological research by applying innovative approaches

The Alliance of Innovative Practices (A.I.P.) - Bulgaria

The Alliance of Innovative Practices (A.I.P.) is a follower of the Youth Alliance Association, which was created in 1995 as a non-formal youth group to realize the ideas of students. The organization worked with Bonn Youth Association and collaborated with a representative of the Federal Ministry of Family, Youth and Seniors and from 1998 to 2004 has realized annual youth exchanges, youth camps in Germany. In 2001 the nonformal group become registered as an NGO and worked actively till 2004. After that, the active initiatives stopped because any teacher wanted to continue the activities and the organization slept. Since the legal changes concerning the reregistration process of associations and foundations were in force, the organization was re-registered, and other aims and priorities were set. Now A.I.P. works in the field of educational innovations, non-formal training, and cultural management.