Project Announcements
PATHFINDER
In April 2026, we are embarking on a new international project PATHFINDER - Unlocking the Potential of Youth on AI Learning for active transition to employment through democratic participation.
The project addresses youth unemployment in the EU by examining the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) as both a challenge and an opportunity for future jobs.
PATHFINDER will combine research, dialogue, training activities, and policy advocacy to support young people (18–29) in navigating the changing labour market and to strengthen their participation in discussions on AI and employment at European level.
Consortium The PATHFINDER consortium consists of six partner organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Serbia.
The project is funded under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme and will be implemented between April 2026 and March 2028.
LISTEN
We are thrilled to announce that the Observatory has joined the new European project LISTEN, Learning and Inclusion for Sustainable Community Engagement.
The consortium includes organizations from Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, as well as local partners. We are very pleased that the Municipality of Topolovgrad is our local partner.
COST NeTSec
Networking European Security Knowledge
We are excited to announce that the Observatory has joined the new COST project Networking European Security Knowledge (CA24154).
The proposer is Sciences Po, Center for International Studies (CERI), Paris, France.
The consortium includes organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Türkiye, United Kingdom.
Prof. Anna Krasteva is member of the Management Committee.
Youth Activism
We are thrilled to announce our new initiative, “Creative Youth Activism for Democracy and Participation in Small and Big Cities.”
We will be implementing it in partnership with Chitalishte “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” – Topolovgrad. The participants will be young people from Sofia and Topolovgrad, who will be part of creative workshops, exchange visits, and a youth-led festival.
This initiative is carried out within the framework of the “Rights and Values” programme and is co-funded by the European Union and the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation (WCIF).
ValuesML Project
The Values Machine Learning Project is managed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission's science and knowledge service. The project's main goal is to establish a gold standard to train and evaluate a machine learning model that would detect references to values, as codified in the Personal Values theory of Schwartz (1992), in (at least) 24 EU official languages.
Highlights
Living Lab Topolovgrad
22-23 November 2025
A second intercity exchange took place in Topolovgrad, Bulgaria, on 22–23 November. Students from Sofia and Topolovgrad met again for joint activities focused on community dialogue and civic participation. The programme included workshops, meetings with local government representatives, a youth festival, and a public exhibition of student-created artworks.
Migration
Digitalization
