Closing Press Conference on the Project Economic Education in Bulgaria 2030

Closing Press Conference on the project BG05M2OP001-2.016-0004-CO1 - Economic Education in Bulgaria 2030 was held at the UNWE. The project is funded by the Operational Programme Science and Education for Smart Growth co-financed by the European Union through the European Structural and Investment Funds.

The Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov Head of the Project, opened the Press Conference and presented the results. He expressed thankfulness to the Coordinators Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosen Kirillov and Prof. D.Sc. Nikolai Shterev /Project Coordinator in the period August 2021 - March 2022/ as well as to the project partners - Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Burgas Free University, Vasil Levsky National Sports Academy and the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists of Bulgaria /CEIB/ for their cooperation and a well done work.

Prof. Dr. Tsvetana Stoyanova, Acting Vice-Rector for Institutional and Business Cooperation and Student Policies, Prof. Dr. Milen Baltov, Rector of Burgas Free University, Prof. Dr. Mariana Bozhinova, Rector of Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics - Svishtov, the Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, Prof. Dr. Rosen Kirilov, Project Coordinator, Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova, Vice-Rector for Educational Activity, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Vodenicharova, Vice-Rector for Research /from the left to the right/

Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov emphasized that the major objective of the project to modernize the teaching in a way that allows the UNWE and the partners to be competitive with the European universities has been achieved. Within the framework of the project 16 different activities have been implemented, 15 new collaborative programmes have been developed and introduced with over 70% digitalized teaching content, 9 digital classrooms and 3 digital laboratories have been equipped with the most advanced and modern equipment, the qualification of over 130 lecturers has been increased through training in digital skills and foreign language, 38 lecturers have participated in the exchange of experience between the Bulgarian partner universities on the project. Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov pointed out that 15 career fairs for students have been held with the participation of over 100 companies and organizations, a common information network of the career centers has been established to enable every student to find a suitable job, over 200 outgoing and incoming mobility opportunities with partners from 18 associated universities have been realized.

"On behalf of the Academic Management of the Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics – Svishtov, the academic team involved in this project, the students studying in our joint Bachelor and Master programmes, I would like to express our appreciation of this cooperation and to thank the UNWE for having sought us as a partner - a major partner. Out of 15 established joint degree programmes, 12 are between the UNWE and Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, and it is not a surprise because the project concerns the economic education in Bulgaria in 2030". It is very valuable for me that due to this project we have deepened the partnership between the academic teams of our universities with whom we created our joint specialties, so I think that it is a valuable asset for our future educational activities, research and projects", said the Rector of Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics - Svishtov Prof. Dr. Mariana Bozhinova.

"I would like to express thankfulness to Prof. Dimitrov as Head of the Project and the whole team, as well as to all the people we worked with on the project. I would like to pay attention to the fact that we set on a professional field that was not covered by the two major economic universities, it was the field of Pedagogy so we experimented with the joint Master's programme in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Primary and Preschool Education and besides the experiment was very successful it turned out to be very interesting with an indirect effect. When we carried out these trainings we were surprised to find out that the students willing to study in this specialty were significantly more than in other fields", pointed out the Rector of Burgas Free University Prof. Dr. Milen Baltov.

"First of all, I would like to express our gratitude on behalf of the Managind Body of CEIB that we had the opportunity to be a partner in this important and significant project which brings together the education, science and business", said Irina Yordanova, Director of Public Policies and International Affairs and Project Coordinator at CEIB, adding: "From our perspective, the value of this project consists primarily in the fact that we have strengthened the real relations between the business and education and created a product, a platform that the members of CEIB will be able to use for having even better access to information about students in order to successfully implement them in these companies and among other employers".

"Economic Education in Bulgaria 2030 was an extremely large-scale project in which Vasil Levsky National Sports Academy /NSA/ had the opportunity to join and actively participate in it. We took also part in the preparation of the joint Master's degree programme in Sports Business,. We believe that it is an extremely successful step which provides the basis for more future mutual activities in the fields of education and science. A very valuable aspect for the NSA was the mobility that our lecturers realized because they were able to meet students who have a slightly different student profile than those at the NSA and thus they were able to enrich their academic and lecturing activities. I hope that in the future we will have the opportunity to continue our collaboration on various scientific and educational projects", said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hristo Andonov, Vice-Rector for Education of Vasil Levsky National Sports Academy.

"I would like to express my gratitude for the joint work that we had on this project with our partners. I would also like to express thankfulness to the Project Administrator at UNWE Tsvetomira Penkov, who did an amazing work but I would like to express my greatest gratitude to the Head of the Project Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov", said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosen Kirilov and outlined: "Because such a large-scale project cannot be implemented without the will of the Managing Body and the constant efforts to make it happen. There was an extremely strong desire to complete all activities with the best quality, on time and with maximum efficienc which gave the result we see  - besides the project is completed it has a very high potential for sustainability".

Their impressions and contentment with their involvement in the mobility and project activities shared Prof. Dr. Nadia Mironova, Dean of the Management and Administration Faculty, Angel Stoykov, Chairman of the National Representation of the Student Councils in the Republic of Bulgaria /NRSC/, Prof. Dr. Elenita Velikova, Secretary General for Science and Director of the Global Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Crisis Management of UNWE, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dragomir Stefanov, Secretary General for Social and Living Issues of Undergraduates and Foreign Students and Lecturer at the Real Estate Property Department, Prof. Dr. Daniela Feschiyan, Chairwoman of the UNWE Control Council and Head of the Accountancy and Analysis Department, Prof. Dr. Mariana Yaneva, Head of the Economics of Tourism Department; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgy Nikolov, Head of the Regional Development Department and Chief Assist. Dr. Georgy Tsolov, lecturer at the Regional Development Department.

The Press Conference was attended by representatives of the Managing Authority - Nikolay Shopov, Chief Expert at the Technical Verification Department, General Directorate Verification, Kamen Atanasov, responsible expert for the project at the Financial Verification Department, Executive Agency Programme for Education, Ministry of Education and Science /EA PE/ and Desislava Stankova, Public Relations Expert at EA PE.

The event was also attended by the Rector's Managing Body represented by Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova, Vice Rector for Educational Activity, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Vodenicharova, Vice-Rector for Research, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yanko Hristozov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Prof. Dr. Tsvetana Stoyanova, Vice-Rector for Institutional and Business Cooperation and Student Policies, participants in the project, lecturers and Doctoral students.