Association" Tradition - Innovation"

Association" Tradition - innovation" has been working with young volunteers for five years now. Our projects are being fulfilled now and the young people offer their enthusiasm, energy and creative thinking. Since 1.09.2007 we have had a furnished and well-equipped office in a new modern building in the centre of Smolian, with all sort sorts of communication.

Our experience with voluntary work on local basis is proved by the four approved projects within programme "Youth - Youth initiatives" young people worked on an ecological project, a social one with children living in a boarding school where they met other volunteers working within EVS from Italy, Ireland, Japan, the USA. This meeting made a great impact on our young people. The next summer our leader was sent within a project of Smolian municipality to Peskara, Italy as a volunteer in an archaeology project.

In the summer of 2006, young people taught informal ecological knowledge to their peers from Smilian.

In the summer of 2006 twelve young people worked for 15 days in Lyon, France together with French young people for the campaign "Sports make us stronger and cleaner". The visit was organized by our association and a Bulgarian - French association for support of Bulgarian students in France and socialization of French citizens.

This summer the French young people volunteered in our association for ten days
and we marked together 12 August, The International Day of Youth, and had a round table discussion on the problems of young people and they were included in the preparatory activities for the project - campaign "We are all different - we are all equal”.

2007 within a project of ours young people will take part in the campaign "We are all different - we are all equal" The idea of this campaign is to demonstrate tolerance between the ethnic groups living in The Cental Rhodopes.

Description of the organisation:

  • Directed towards young people / students and non-students / ;
  • Socialization of children and young people, providing interesting leisure activities - arts, extra-curriculum activities, sport and youth activities
  • Implementing youth initiatives; sport tournaments and celebrations
  • Stimulating and supporting public activity of young and middle-aged people
  • Psychological support of children and young people; civil education; training communicative skills
  • Developing voluntary movement in Smolian and abroad;
  • Realizing youth exchange with permanent and new partners
  • Informing and consulting young people on realizing youth exchange and
  • partnership;
  • Project proposals and management of youth projects
  • Studying the traditional crafts in the Rhodopes and their application nowadays
  • Preserving the uniqueness of the Rhodopes mountain


Successfully accomplished youth activities and initiatives during the last two years:

  • Youth initiative project "Let's clean our backyard", financed by Programme
  • Youth 2006 - ecology and education;
  • Youth campaign " All different, all equal", project financed by
  • Youth and Sport State Agency - 2007
  • Participation in youth exchange Varna - 2007
  • Participation in the National Youth Conference "Young people and the local
  • authorities" with a paper and presentation, published in the conference edition;
  • Reciprocal youth exchange France - Bulgaria 2006 - 2007 with the Bulgarian -
  • French association for socializing French citizens and Bulgarian students in Lyon;

The young volunteers in our association work on exchange basis with a Greek
youth organisation from Ksanti 2004 - 2005 for the cause of ecological thinking
and responsibility for our common Rhodope mountain with the project "Rhodope -
one mountain - two peoples''

Experience in managing financial resources for projects 2005 - 2006

  • Financial support within the European Commission Youth Program for project"Let's clean our backyard"

 

  • Financial support within campaign "All different - all equal" of Youth and Sport State Agency - project " My friend –that’s ME"
  • Volunteer project - without direct donor's financial support. In the summer of 2006 12 young volunteers from our association travelled to France on youth exchange financed by a Bulgarian - French association for support of Bulgarian students in Lyon and socialization of French citizens. The young volunteers stayed with host families and their activities were connected with the campaign "Sports make us stronger and cleaner"
  • Voluteer project - without direct donor's financial support accomplished in 
    Bulgaria. In the summer of 2007 French young people visited the Bulgarian
    host families and together with them marked the International Youth Day,
    12 August.
  • We had a round table discussion on the problems of young people
    and distributed advertising materials sent by YSSA for the campaign
    " All different - all equal"