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Bulgaria
This page contains specific information about the planning and implementation of smart villages in Bulgaria. The information aims to orient people on policy planning, key contacts and resources on smart villages. However, it neither aims to be fully comprehensive, nor necessarily reflects the official government or European Commission position.
Explore how smart villages are being implemented in Bulgaria.
Key CAP contact(s) :
Stefan Spasov (Head of CLLD Department)
Email : stefan@phare-agr.orbitel.bg
Support for Smart Villages under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
The Bulgarian Vision of the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was adopted in mid-2019. The planning of the CAP Strategic Plan, based on sectoral analyses of the new CAP, was launched in mid-2020. Later, three SWOT analyses related to the CAP Strategic Plan were carried out.
A Thematic Working Group (TWG), involving a wide range of stakeholders, for the plan-ning of the CAP Strategic Plan was established in February 2020 and carried out 20 ses-sions. The first draft of the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan was approved by the Council of Min-isters on 24 February 2022 and submitted to the European Commission’s DG Agri on 25 February 2022. The EU Commission issued recommendations to the Strategic Plan on 31 March 2022.
On 15 October 2021, Bulgaria submitted its National Recovery and Resilience Plan to the Com-mission. On 4 May 2022, the Council adopted its Decision on the approval of the assessment of the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Bulgaria. Bulgaria submitted the Partnership Agree-ment on 11 May 2022, while the other cohesion policy programming documents had not yet been submitted.
The Smart Villages concept has not been applied in Bulgaria yet. Therefore, it is not yet known how Smart Villages will be supported.
The Smart Villages concept has been mentioned in two documents so far:
- The strategy for the digitalisation of agriculture and rural areas of the Republic of Bulgaria
- Socio-economic analysis of rural development (one of the SWOT analyses related to the CAP Strategic Plan planning)
The Ministry of Agriculture organised an international conference on CLLD implementation with representatives from Bulgarian and Romanian LAGs in October 2020. A specific panel was dedicated to the Smart Villages concept.
The Bulgarian LEADER Network Association organised a conference with representatives from more than 50 Bulgarian LAGs, as well as other institutions and organisations in-volved in CLLD implementation, in August 2021. A specific panel was dedicated to the Smart Villages concept.
Further information on CAP & smart villages :
Key NRN contact(s) :
Tanya Georgieva (Key еxpert- Network Support Unit - NRN Bulgaria)
Email : georgieva@ruralnet.bg
Activities of the National Rural Network (NRN) on smart villages
The National Rural Network (NRN) follows developments related to smart villages and disseminates relevant information.
Activities related to smart villages include:
– Translation and publication of relevant materials: these are published on the website, in the news-letter and the Facebook page of the Bulgarian NRN.
– The Bulgarian NRN addressed the topic in two dedicated discussions:
Support provided through other national/ regional policies & initiatives
The planning of most of the Operational Programmes (OPs) financed from other EU funds is in an advanced phase. However, there are no direct indications for the integration of Smart Villages in these OPs.
There are various strategic documents and approaches that could have relevance for the Smart Villages concept, such as the Strategy for the Digitalisation of Agriculture and Rural Areas.
Key organisations & contacts
Key contact(s) :
Email : s.petkov@namrb.org
The Association of Municipalities (NAMRB) is a legal not-for-profit entity, which operates on a voluntary principle and on principles of equality of its members – all Bulgarian municipalities are members of NAMRB.
Key activities :Translation and publication of some materials for Smart Villages
Key contact(s) :
Email : pkumanova@naas.government.bg
The theme of Smart Villages is wide-ranging and, among others, relates to digitilisation, environmental protection and climate change, including the bioeconomy in the agriculture sector. All these themes are relevant for the main target group – small farmers – of the Bulgarian National Agricultural Advisory Service.
Key contact(s) :
Email : leader_network@abv.bg
Currently 55 Bulgarian LAGs are members of the Association.
The Bulgarian LEADER Network Association held a conference with representatives from more than 50 Bulgarian LAGs as well as other institutions and organisations involved in CLLD implementation in August 2021. A specific panel was dedicated to the Smart Villages concept.
Further key resources
( 16/01/2023 )
The document prepared within the framework of the Bulgarian taskforce activities that outlines the possibilities of defining “smart villages”.
Language : Bulgarian
Methody Methodieff ( 08/06/2022 )
Possible policy instruments to support Smart Villages were presented during the 2nd Taskforce meeting in Bulgaria, which aimed to launch an advocacy campaign for introducing Smart Villages in the country.
Language : Bulgarian
Methody Methodieff ( 02/2024 )
Strategic document outlining the actions, tasks, and initiatives to be undertaken by the taskforce in Bulgaria. The Smart Villages LAB (Taskforce) In Bulgaria was dedicated to improve the understanding among key stakeholders for supporting, introducing and implementing the Smart Villages concept, in particular through the LEADER/CLLD approach, and through improving the design and implementation of the Bulgarian CAP Strategic Plan and other EU policies. The main purpose of the taskforce was to underline the importance of the SV concept and to stress and advocate for the use of the CAP and other recources to support Smart Villages.
Language : English
Methody Methodieff ( 29/05/2023 )
Summary report on the 6th taskoforce meeting in Bulgaria on the 29th of May in 2023.
Language : English
Methody Methodieff ( 16/01/2023 )
Summary report on the 5th taskoforce meeting in Bulgaria on the 16th of January 2023.
Language : English
Methody Methodieff ( 26/10/2022 )
Summary report on the 4th taskoforce meeting in Bulgaria on the 26th of October in 2022.
Language : English
Methody Methodieff ( 05/07/2022 )
Summary report on the 3rd taskoforce meeting in Bulgaria on the 5th of July in 2022.
Language : English
Methody Methodieff ( 11/04/2022 )
Summary report on the 2nd taskoforce meeting in Bulgaria on the 8th of June in 2022.
Language : English
Methody Methodieff ( 11/04/2022 )
Summary report on the 1st taskoforce meeting in Bulgaria on the 11th of April in 2022.
Language : English
Methody Methodieff - E40 ( 03/02/2021 )
A recording of the 3rd Smart Rural Communities’ Café, hosted by Raudanmaa (Finland) on 3 February 2021, with Bulgarian subtitles. The Café discusses Raudanmaa’s Smart Village strategy, how they are engaging the community in various local activities and how they are transforming their old school building into a new smart community hall, including a local educational/ therapeutic farm concept.
Language : Bulgarian, English
( 09/07/2018 )
A video with Bulgarian subtitles produced by the ENRD Contact Point summarising what a ‘smart village’ represents from different perspectives.
Language : Bulgarian, English
Bulgarian Council of Ministers ( 21/07/2020 )
This National Strategy defines the vision and policy objectives for Bulgaria’s digital transformation in the 2020-2030 period as a summary policy framework of the National Digital Bulgaria 2025 Programme, the National Development Programme BULGARIA 2030, and a number of other national strategic documents. It is set against the backdrop of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the use of new technologies to achieve it. The Strategy does not use the term ‘smart villages’, but uses the term ‘smart settlements’ to account for both their unique assets and their specific development needs such as digital transition, sustainable urban mobility, smart grids, increasing energy efficiency, climate adaptation. All these elements are combined into an integrated approach as part of a smart development plan and contribute to addressing climate change and making the territory sustainable, socially inclusive and green.
Language : Bulgarian
Bulgarian Council of Ministers ( 19/01/2020 )
A National Programme, continuation of ‘Digital Bulgaria 2015’, setting out the conditions for building innovative digital infrastructure, using e-services, and enhancing digital skills. The programme is based on new European strategic and programming guidelines for achieving smart, sustainable, and society-oriented digital growth. The aim of ‘Digital Bulgaria 2025’ is to establish a package of measures in order to ensure a strong, competitive data-based economy exploiting the potential of innovative technologies, such as cloud services, databases, artificial intelligence, blockchain, etc. The document does not use the term smart villages, but defines that regions that are lagging behind in their digital development are also lagging behind in their social economic development and are at risk of remaining ‘ripped off of information’, exacerbating other disparities. That led to the planning of a measure “Building next generation broadband with a focus on rural areas” under Objective 3: Closing regional disparities by stimulating investment in ICT infrastructures and technologies.
Language : Bulgarian
Bulgarian Network Support Unit of the NRN , fi-compass ( 04/10/2019 )
Translated article
Language : Bulgarian
Bulgarian Network Support Unit of the NRN , European Commission – European Week of Regions and Cities ( 10/2019 )
Translated article
Language : Bulgarian
European Network for Rural Development Contact Point (ENRD CP) , Bulgarian Network Support Unit of the NRN ( 22/08/2019 )
Translated article from the ENRD publication
Language : Bulgarian
Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria ( 02/05/2020 )
Adopted by Decision No 247 of the Council of Ministers. The strategy provides a brief overview and listing of specific initiatives carried out related to the digitalisation of agriculture (and some specifically related to Smart Villages), and states that the main institution at EU level re-sponsible for digitalising agriculture and promoting innovation is EIP-AGRI. The strategy focuses at 9 priority areas, one of which is Smart Villages, but in general it has a sectoral orientation (digitalisation of agriculture). Some of these priorities are oriented towards the digitalisation of rural areas and can, therefore, be relevant to Smart Villages, such as building and developing appropriate digital infrastructure, developing digital networks and using different applications, training and advice on developing digital skills and qualifications
Language : Bulgarian
