The kindergartens "Drujba" and "Zvanche" in Varna developed and worked on a special project "The Spring Fountains in My Place" as part of the Theme "The Waters in My Place". The objectives of the program were to give students knowledge about all the aspects of water as a spring of life and as a valuable resource. Together with their teachers and parents the children from the two kindergartens adopted three spring fountains and studies the location, facts about the names of the springs, length and depth of the reservoirs, plant and animal life, the usage of water, pollution-causes and preventive measures. Many materials were created, including water-code posters.
   
   

Eco-Code Poster Competition in Bulgaria

   
On June 5^th 2004 the exhibition for the Eco-code poster competition was organized in Bourgas, Bulgaria. There were 24 posters exposed participating in the two age groups. The 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place were announced and awarded. Later the posters were exhibited in the Varna Town Hall and in many other towns, in order to spread the children's environmental messages to reach more people as widely as possible.

(July 2004)

Eco-Schools Awarding Ceremony in Varna

   
On 21^st November an award ceremony of the Eco-Schools Programme was held for the region of Varna, one of the biggest regions in Bulgaria. The ceremony and the meeting of the Eco-Schools was part of the programme of the National Tourism Fair. Four schools were awarded with the Green Flag, and seven were re-awarded. One of the new awardees was "Karin Dom," a center for children with special needs (email: karindom@bta.bg). The social workers, teachers and students from the center were inspired by the ideas of the Eco-Schools Programme, and have worked for three years to earn the Green Flag. This is the first special-needs school that has been awarded in Bulgaria. The children and the teachers are interested in collaborating with other centers for children with special needs.

Six Eco-Schools Awarded in Varna

   
From the 6^th-9^th of November a large tourism exposition was held in the city of Varna, Bulgaria. All of the nature parks in Bulgaria attended the exposition including Golden Sands Nature Park, which are the regional coordinators of the Eco-Schools programme in Varna. Eco-Schools had a booth to advertise the programme and display materials produced by different schools. Ten schools from Varna applied this year for the Green Flag and of these, six were awarded in a ceremony on the second day of the programme. On the third day of the expo, there was a meeting for teachers, school directors and others involved with Eco-Schools. Finally, many Eco-Schools in the region were visited by the programme coordinators and other interested people.

   
On October 31, 2002, countries bordering the Black Sea celebrated the International Day of the Black Sea. In the coastal port city of Bourgas, Bulgaria, students from Mikhail Lakatnick Primary School participated in a variety of activities that emphasized the importance of this body of water. Students submitted pictures, poems, and essays for a contest organized by a local NGO. They also attended a programme and award ceremony and brought home many prizes. Students from the fourth grade eco-class took scientific measurements of the sea. They then participated in a citywide student discussion organized by the municipality on the problems facing the Black Sea and what they can do to help.

(November 2002)

   
The Eco-Schools Programme in Bulgaria is run by the Bulgarian Blue Flag Movement. It started in 1996/97 school year with 9 pilot schools and in the period of 6 years the number of schools registered and involved has risen to 65. The Eco-Schools are gaining great popularity and are drawing the interest of the government officials, of different organisations and of many new schools and kindergartens. Two universities were introduced and now participate in the Programme, at first through their eco-clubs, and they are now trying to broaden their participation and activities. These are: the Teacher’s Training Institute in Bourgas and the High Agricultural Institute in Plovdiv. Both of these work with some of the Eco-Schools from these towns and the collaboration is very useful for both institutions.
   
Coordinating bodies were established for bigger regions where the number of schools is greater, in order for the contact with the teachers and students from the schools to be more frequent and direct, and to help them with the monitoring and planning for the achievement of the aims, and for the assessing of the program. The regional coordinator for North-East Bulgaria is The Directorate of the Nature Park “Zlatni Pjacatzi” in Varna. For South- West Bulgaria the regional coordinator is at one of the awarded schools in Plovdiv working with the NGO “The Green Balkans”. A good relationship with the Municipalities and the Regional Inspectorates for Education has been established resulting in many joint activities. Based on an idea from the Municipality in Bourgas, a society of the awarded Eco-schools has been established. Five national conferences on “Education for sustainable development” have been held since 2000. A collection of reports from these conferences has been published.

   
Schools can register in the Programme during the whole school year (as some of them already have good environmental education activities and programs), but they can apply for the Green Flag award only after at least a year of implementation of the Eco-schools Programme. There are two periods when schools can apply for the award- in the beginning of the school year (September, October) or at its end (May). The awarding ceremonies are in November/December or May/June. Schools are awarded at a separate or joint ceremony organised in the town or the city where they are situated so that most of the students can be present. The schools are working with the four basic themes: Water, Energy, Waste and Green Spaces as well as the additional themes of Health, Transport, and Biodiversity. Most of the schools publish eco-news 4 times per year. Some of the schools have developed curricula for the school and published a manual with lessons and activities. These types of materials are then distributed to other eco-schools.
   
The ecology weekend held in Bourgas during the last week of September is a good tradition. Competitions, environmental activities and seminars are organised. A lot of materials are given to the teachers and children from the Eco-schools. This is a good opportunity for the schools to show the people how they care for the environment, to show their environmental policy and management of the school, and to show the effect of participating in the Eco-Schools’ Programme.

(October 2002)

Europe Days in Bulgaria

   
From April 29 till May 18, Bourgas was hosting the Europe Days in Bulgaria. As part of the programme the 5^th Conference “Education for Sustainable Development” was organized by the Bourgas Municipality and the Bulgarian Eco-schools and held on 9-10 May. Mr Yoan Kostadinov, the Mayor of Bourgas, opened the conference and 14 Eco-Schools received certificates for their contribution to Learning about Forest Programme and 7 schools renewed the Green Flag award. The International Eco-schools’ Coordinator has sent a letter congratulating "all the schools taking part in the process, all the organizations participating and the public Authorities who promote and understand the vital importance of this movement towards a better society."
   
The topics of the conference were: national values and traditions and their importance for the European integration of Bulgaria; the land of Europe, our common care and responsibility; the confessional tolerance, aim of the educational system. The 56 participants received the 2^nd collection with the reports from the 3^rd and 4^th Conferences and many materials. An exhibition of the Eco-Schools participating was organized too.

The Municipality of Bourgas and the “Eco-schools” organized the 4th Conference about “Education for sustainable development” in Bulgaria. From November 29 to 30, 147 participants from 14 municipalities attended the conference and the Minister of Education was present on the first day. 68 reports and presentations were presented concerning four thematic trends in this conference:
  

Ecology Days in Bourgas

From October 1^st to 10^th, the Municipality of Bourgas together with the Eco-Schools and the Green Bourgas Foundation organized and held the traditional "Ecology Days". A considerable part of the programme concerned the activities of the Eco-Schools. Most were related to water as a resource and the importance of its conservation. A conference "European integration and environment" was organized where a whole day session was dedicated to preservation and the sustainable use of water. A project "Partners for preserving and sustainable using of waters" was presented. Another project "Educational program for saving waters by arts" was developed. The idea is to organize a drawing competition and the best drawings to illustrate a brochure for water saving.

The Third conference "Education for Sustainable Development" was held on 26-27 of April. It was organised by the Bulgarian Blue Flag Movement - the Program Eco- Schools and the Municipality of Bourgas. It had three main thematical lines connected with the environment, the cultural and historical traditions, and with inter-confessional relations all as parts of the sustainable development. There were invited representatives of all the Bulgarian eco-schools, interested in the Program schools, representatives of the Regional Inspectorate from the Ministry of Education, environmental NGOs with which the schools work and can collaborate in the future. There were 110 participants. During the second day the participants had the possibility to observe practical activities at some schools. At the end of the second day all the participants decided to announce the year 2002 as a year of the Education in Bulgaria, trying to contribute to the solving of the difficulties in the country, sending this letter and the decisions from the Conference to the different Ministries and authorities.