This section of the Visible Value aims to provide a quick overview of the state of the affairs about the recognition of youth work in the countries covered by EU-CoE Youth Partnership. In total it covers 53 country profiles (including 3 profiles for Belgium and 4 profiles for the UK).

The content in this section is based on several sources, including:

The sources of information are indicated at the end of each profile.

Back Bulgaria

In the text of the National Youth Strategy, youth workers are defined as a “necessary resource for implementation of the strategy. These are the specialists, prepared to support personal, social and economic development and stimulating the young people to fully participate in society, in a way appropriate for their age. They (the youth workers) fulfil the duties of professional consultants for the young people, resp onding to their needs and interests and are present at youth, therapeutic and consulting centres, schools, etc., helping by providing advice and directing the youngsters to solve various issues. The role of youth workers is particularly important for assuring special support for personal, social and economic development and empowerment of young people to assure their full participation in society, in accordance with their age.” Since 2015, “youth worker” has been included in the Official List of the Professions in Bulgaria. It is therefore an official profession and labour contracts for this position can be signed by employees. This is a very important step, as those youth workers who are employed and get paid for this job usually have the position of “project co-ordinator” or “specialist/expert”. In addition, there are activities undertaken by the National Youth Forum (an umbrella organisation of youth organisations in Bulgaria) in order to make the profession of youth worker more recognised, both by the government and society. One example of this, the seventh annual National Meeting of the Youth Organisations in Bulgaria, which took place in Varna from 24- 28 June 2015, which was dedicated to this matter (youth work and youth workers). There was even a Facebook campaign “I am a Youth Worker” –youth workers from all over Bulgaria were invited to upload a photo of themselves on the official Facebook page of the event, so they could show who youth workers are and where they work. Some European initiatives to support youth work are present in Bulgaria. For instance, the Bulgarian city of Varna was the European Youth Capital for 2017, which had a great influence on the development of youth work in the whole country.

Bulgaria has an Erasmus+ National Agency and there is a variety of youth projects, funded by Erasmus+. According to the statistics of the Human Resources Development Centre, the total numbers of youth workers who have received Youthpass certificates upon their participation in projects, funded by the Erasmus+ programme, each year are, as follows: in 2014 – 1170 youth workers, in 2015 – 511 youth workers and 2016 –758 youth workers.

The Veliko Tarnovo University “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” is among the first educational institutions in Bulgaria to offer a qualification program for a new profession – Youth Worker. In the academic 2016/2017, the Faculty in Pedagogy of the VTU “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” opened a Master’s Program in Youth Work. There are not training for continuous professional development, either directly organised or funded by public authorities, available to youth workers – volunteers and/or professionals – to reinforce and expand their competences. 

Even though there is no official legal procedure for the validation of skills and competences gained by youth workers through non-formal and informal learning, In the context of the National Youth Strategy, special attention is given also to the introduction and exploitation of European tools (such as Europass, EKP, ECVET).

In Bulgaria, there are four youth centres under the programme“Children and Youth at Risk”, which is financed through the financial mechanism of the European Economic Area 2009-2014. Two of the centres –in the cities of Plovdiv and Stara Zagora –hold the Council of Europe Quality Label. Those youth centres are the places where young people are the driving force that leads to social change; that work towards establishing international co-operation in the youth sector and foster intercultural dialogue while respecting the Council of Europe’s values –human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Together the four centres created a National Network of Youth Centres in October 2016 by signing a co-operation agreement between the managers of the four Bulgarian youth centres –Vratsa, Dobrich, Plovdiv and Stara Zagora. The main goal of the network is to advocate for the recognition of youth work at the national level and to work towards common quality standards. A number of joint activities have taken place, including a nationwide training programme on the topic of human rights and an international youth expo entitled “Create Your Future”.

 

(from the EKCYP Country report on youth work in Bulgaria, complemented by data from the Youth Wiki)