Study visit in – Local context and cultural policies

1. About the city

Sofia София Number of inhabitants 1,316,557 (2014)

Area in Km² 1,311 Km²

Annual budget of the city 1,498,231,200 BGN

Annual budget for culture 31,279,193 BGN

The local/regional context

Sofia is the capital of and the 13th largest city in the European Union. It is the center of the national legislative, executive and judiciary power. It is one of the oldest cities in , with its Neolitic settlements dating from 5000 BC. On the total territory of Sofia municipality there are around 1400 cultural monuments, including one UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2014 Sofia became UNESCO Creative City of Film.

Sofia is among the top 30 fastest developing cities worldwide and ranks first among the European capitals in terms of GDP growth per capita in the last 10 years according to the 2015 report of Bloomberg foundation. fDi Magazine defines Sofia as one of the most attractive FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) destinations for 2016/2017, ranking it 4th among the big European cities in terms of cost efficientcy. According to Forbes, Sofia is one of the top 10 cities in the world, where you can launch your startup. The factors such as the relatively low income tax rates (10%) and one of the fastest internet speeds in the world and 56.7% of the territory covered with free internet access assign the Bulgarian capital at one of the leading positions in the global startup ecosystem. Sofia has also become a strong regional hub (attracting top entrepreneurs) as they’ve been able to access the EU investment funds.

Sofia is home to 1/4 of the workforce in the country; 1/6 of the industrial production of Bulgaria, and produces 34.3% of Bulgaria’s GDP.

CCI snapshot: Sofia is in the top 10 cities in Europe in terms of CCI generated income; 7.3% added value created by CCI; 11.6% employed in CCI of all Sofia workforce, with an annual increase of 0.7%.

Educational Snapshot: 16 secondary language schools with business curriculum, 18 language schools with IT curriculum, 73% of school students learn 2 foreign languages, 21 universities, 26 000 graduates per year.

Sofia is the fastest growing low-income city in the European Union. Its population increases by 80 persons daily at the average. Sofia’s GDP is still around 50% of the EU average. The population increase therefore poses severe challenges in terms of infrastructure and service development, social cohesion, quality of life. 1

Sofia has quite young population, with over 1/3 of the citizens aged 15-34, and 16% over 65.

Specific competencies/governance system Sofia hosts 23 state-owned national cultural institutions (museums, theatres, libraries, ensembles, etc.), which are governed by the state through the Ministry of Culture and several national agencies.

The political leadership in Sofia is provided by the directly elected Sofia Municipal Council, and more specifically by its standing committee on Culture and Education. At the administrative level Sofia has a deputy mayor on culture and education, and Culture directorate.

Sofia cultural policy is guided by the Cultural Development Strategy 2013-2023, and Sofia Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization, one of the two priority areas of which is CCI.

Sofia has 11 municipal cultural institutions: theatres, cultural community centres, art galleries, a library, a museum. To achieve a balance between public and private cultural organizations, to enhance the independent sector development and to compensate for the slow national cultural policy reform, since 2007 Sofia started launching its own funding programmes, which have turned the city into the biggest public donor for arts and culture nationally, distributing bigger funds than the Ministry of Culture.

Key cultural indicators/facts

Sofia municipal budget for culture: year Total budget Budget for % Budget for culture: Budget for culture: (BGN) culture municipal activities (BGN) competitive funding (BGN) 2015 1,498,231,200 31,279,193 2.1 23,517,398 7,761,795 2014 1,465,945,539 28,032,237 1.9 21,086,913 6,945,324 2013 1,190,787,036 25,421,661 2.1 19,063,823 6,357,838

Cultural participation, audience development: - The decisive factor (41.2%) for cultural consumption is the cost vs. quality (27.7%); - Number of projects funded via competition by the two major grant-making programmes: 2013 – 248 projects (59.6% for private organisations and NGOs); 2014 – 197 projects (82.9% for private organisations and NGOs); 2015 – 233 projects (83.9% for private organisations and NGOs). - Priority given to projects outside of the city centre, free access or subsidized entry projects, projects for special audiences (kids, minorities and migrants, etc.)

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- In result 74% of the population express growing satisfaction with the city cultural offering in the open and in the peripheral territories (poll by Noema agency, December 2014).

Human capital development: - Over 10 tertiary education institutions prepare cadre for arts and culture and CCI; - 7 national art schools (primary and secondary education), over 20 specialization profiles in other secondary schools; - 54% of all employed in arts and culture hold masters degree vs. 28% average in all other spheres; - Life-long learning: 627 persons received professional qualifications in the areas of arts and culture, and 3,049 persons received further on-the-job training in the areas of arts and culture.

CCI: - CCI rank fourth in terms of added value in the economy of Sofia; - Over 10 functional clusters, among which ICT Cluster, Bulgarian Silk Cluster, Digital Media Cluster, Bulgarian Media and Print Cluster, Cluster for Innovations in Culture; - 2 large-scale accelerators (Eleven и LauncHub), several investment funds (Neveq, Rosslyn Capital, etc.), in result for 2 years now Sofia ranks 3rd in Europe (after and Dublin, and ahead of ) in terms of investments in start-ups, most of which in CCI.

Sofia - UNESCO City of Film: - over 850 operative SMEs related to the film industry; - over 100 million USD of FDI; - 19 cinemas with 96 screens, 20 748 seats, nearly 3 million tickets sold and nearly 25 million BGN income (2014); - 114 movies produced (2014); - world-class production and post-production services, which have hosted the production of 180 feature films, including big-budget movies like 300: The The Rise Of An Empire, Olympus Has Fallen, The Black Dahlia, Killing Season, The Expendables 1, 2 and 3, Conan, The Way Back and Kon-Tiki; - 1 international – Sofia Film Fest – in FIAPF, and in the top 50 film festivals (Variety magazine).

Local cultural priorities To guarantee access and participation of our citizens to cultural activities

This priority is outlined in the Cultural Development Strategy 2013-2023. It includes several cross-cutting themes: human capital development, infrastructure, funding. Among the main specific tasks are: - Development of new audiences, especially residents who have had no or limited access to culture; 3

- Support for the non-institutional part of the cultural sector; - Support for artistic debut; - Support for the creation of digital cultural content and digital forms of participation; - Renovation of spaces for culture; - Support for access to culture for people with special needs, foreign language speakers, etc.; - Development of infrastructure for information and promotion of arts and culture (urban media for culture); - To achieve balanced territorial development and improve social cohesion.

Innovation and CCI

- Establishing a Centre for Excellence, a Centre for Competence and several centres for transfer of technologies and know-how and co-creation in CCI in Sofia; - New instruments for support of marketing and export activities and access to international markets and single digital market; - Enhancement of the process of clusterization; - Targeted support for softwear development, videogaming, audio-visual products and services.

Cultural heritage and Visitors Economy

- Archeological conservation and preservation of unrevealed to the public immovable heritage; - Preparation for nomination of Sofia Largo for inclusion in UNESCO World Heritage List; - Modernization of museums and enhancing mobility of museum collections; - Stimulating cultural tourism, including via participation in alternative international cultural routes and developing national, regional and local ones and related services and cultural offerings; - Diversifying funding sources; - Encouraging international trade in cultural herigate and cultural assets while taking a major role in combating herigate crime; - Utilizing the opportunities of ICT for cultural heritage access, research, digitalization of cultural content.

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2. About the study visit Main themes Culture for social inclusion, social innovation and intercultural dialogue

Sub themes

 Funding culture: new resources for culture and reforming municipal cultural institutions  Partnerships between public institutions and private companies

A. Projects and policies to be presented: PPP in Funding for Culture

Project 1: Sofia Public-Private Fund for Innovations in Culture

Sofia Public-Private Fund for Innovations in Culture was established in 2013 and is the first instrument of this kind in Bulgaria. It proposes a public private partnership model to provide access to funding for more innovative and risky cultural and creative projects: all private funding collected annually is doubled by the Sofia municipality. Private and corporate donors can become Members of the Board of Trustees and participate in decision-making.

The mission of the fund is to improve the effective management of financial resources and the development of local philanthropy. It aims at supporting cultural and creative enterprises in Sofia, encouraging citizens’ (particularly young artists’) participation and creating cross-sector partnerships. Areas which are least developed are a specific focus. The Fund has announced two calls for applications so far, with over 30 individual art projects funded and over 100,000 EUR distributed to artists and artistic organisations. Additionally, the Fund initiates and manages other initiatives and projects with financial business support that offer opportunities for young creators. One of these initiatives implemented currently is the competition for design of urban furniture (benches, mailboxes, garbage bins, water fountains, signs, etc.) for a newly constructed residential area. The competition is organized by the property developer (Garitage Investment Management) and the Fund, involving an independent jury and community outreach, while all designs and prototypes will be included in a catalogue to be distributed to property developers and construction investors. Links http://fond.sofia-da.eu/en/

Place to be Derida Dance Centre – the first contemporary dance centre in Bulgaria and Sofia visited Fund beneficiary http://www.derida-dance.com/qs/en

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Meeting Fund beneficiaries : participants Atanas Maev, Derida Dance Center http://www.derida-dance.com/qs/en Valeri Gyurov, Transformatori Association http://transformatori.net/en/ Fund donors : Atanas Garov, Garitage Investment Management Iliana Zaharieva, Mtel Fund consultative board : Youriy Valkovski, Urban Projects and Research Foundation Irina Yordanova, Sofia Municipal Councilor Elitsa Barakova, Bulgarian Charity Aid Foundation Questions Financing and project selection : How the fund connects broader development to be and social inclusion needs with the financed projects ? How does public-private discussed financing relate to cities’ own cultural institutions ? Private sector : Is the fund developing local philanthropy ? Why do companies prefer to cooperate with the Fund instead of organizing their own initiatives/commissioning ? How do you reach out to businesses ? What kind of information/statistics is useful to convince the private sector to invest in culture ? Governance : How is the decision-making process built, how are the caution rules defined ? What have been the parameters to monitor and evaluate the success of the projects ? Impact and vision : How are the results seen and how do they influence the city development ? How do you support the sustainability of cultural initiatives ? Are there any good examples of private organizations employing artists as an integral part of their development ?

Project 2: Sofia Creative Council

Sofia Municipality is among the greatest donors for arts and culture in Bulgaria and its funding exceeds over three times the national funding provided by the Ministry of Culture. Approximately 5.5 million lev (2.25 million EUR) is distributed annually via open calls for proposals through several funding programmes: Culture Programme, Cultural Calendar, Europe Programme, Sports and Youth Initiatives. Sofia Culture Programme is the biggest financial instrument for financing art and culture in Bulgaria. Since its establishment in 2007, it has applied the so called “Arm’s-Length-Principle” and has been managed by an Expert Council, while 20 of its members form the Creative Council, which sets the annual priorities and criteria of the programme, appoints the selection committees, and is responsible for the project funding distribution in order to distance the arts from politics and bureaucracy and to reform the system of state support inherited from the previous regime. This way Sofia also recognised that within the arts community there is a desire and readiness to participate in the decision-making and peer evaluation. Currently the Creative Council includes six city representatives (Sofia deputy

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mayor and five local councilors), and 14 representatives of the artistic and cultural sector (artists, academics and researchers, media representatives, community NGO representatives), among whom the chairperson of the Creative Council is elected.

Links Official site of Culture Programme in Bulgarian: https://kultura.sofia.bg/section-2-pravila.html Meeting Creative council members : participants Tony Nikolov, Portal Kultura Haralan Aleksandrov, Bulgarian Institute for People’s Relationships Prof. Nikolay Yordanov, World Theatre, Chairperson of the council Questions Priorities in funding : local community needs vs. macro economic outcomes ; to be amplifying existing strengths vs. mobilizing new ones ; consolidation vs. discussed innovation. How do you connect and balance the mix of international, national, local public and private financing of projects ? Bottom-up vs. top down approach : How to ensure activities are sector-driven while also accountable and delivering public value ? Transparency of the processes and public confidence. Balance between commercial and non-for-profit arts, professional and amateur arts through priorities and funding schemes. Trends and potential developments in municipal funding for arts and culture.

Project 3: Sofia UNESCO City of Film

In December 2014 UNESCO awarded Sofia the title UNESCO Creative City of Film to recognize and encourage its contribution to the film industry, film education, distribution and innovation. The entire UNESCO includes 69 cities worldwide, while the Cities of Film are five: (UK), (), Pusan (Korea), Galway (Ireland) and Sofia. To coordinate the further film and cinema development in Sofia, a Film Committee was established, encompassing representative of the independent film sector, academia and local councillors. Some of its initiatives include providing locations for shooting movies in the territory of Sofia Municipality free of charge, location management, etc. The biggest film event in the city is Sofia International Film Festival. Featured in Variety's Top 50 of cinema festivals, the event presents Bulgaria to the world as the host one of the important film festivals in Europe and takes place annually in March. Sofia Municipality supports the festival in various ways: with a special city award, with financial support for many of its programs: Sofia Film Festival for students, Sofia Film Festival Shorts competition, Sofia Film Festival on the road, Sofia Meetings – a marketplace for pitching ideas to producers.

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Links http://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/sofia http://sofiafilmcity.bg/en/creative-sofia http://siff.bg/en/ Place to be House of Cinema is owned by the Union of Bulgarian Film Makers and part of the visited European Cinemas network. Its program focuses on showing independent movies, educational activities, premiers and movie crew presentations and public discussins. https://www.facebook.com/Дом-на-киното-Dom-na-kinoto-311469010943/ Meeting Mira Staleva, Sofia Film Fest participants Diana Andreeva, Academy for Theatre and Film Art Sofia Film Committee members Questions The value of the title to Sofia. to be Initiatives for branding Sofia as a City of Film, including public budget support. discussed Next steps to support the film related creative industries, to enable the city to attract and retain talent in the creative sector.

B. Projects and policies to be presented: PPP in Capacity Building for Cultural Operators and Audiences

Project 1: Sofia Academy for Cultural Management

The Academy for Cultural Management was launched in 2013 as an initiative of Sofia Municipality, Sofia Development Association and to meet the need of professionalizing cultural management and raising the capacity of municipal cultural managers, as well as of the independent cultural operators. Since 2015 the Academy is also co-organized with Goethe Institut and EUNIC (European Union National Institutes of Culture). The Academy offers opportunities to mid-career cultural managers through education and training to acquire skills and knowledge, as well as a university certificate for post-graduate specialization. Participants are selected via calls for applications. They undergo one-year training, including lectures and semonars, individual assignments, on-site problem observation and solving, online tutorials and mentorship. Lecturers and mentors are provided by all parties involved: Sofia Municipality, Sofia University and the seven European Cultural Institutes involved: Austrian Embassy, , Czech Center, , Institut Français and Polish Institute. Thus the academy participants have access to best European practices and networks, which additionally helps develop partnerships and coproductions. The cost of the Academy is borne solidarly between the organizers. Sofia Municipality therefore invests funds (as well as in-kind support) in the capacity building of the cultural managers on its territory. In 2015 the Academy also accepted five participants from Plovdiv to support the capacity building of the European Capital of Culture 2019 team. In the beginning of April 2016 the third edition of the Academy is to be launched, this time with international participants from the Balkan countries.

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Links http://www.sofia-da.eu/en/trainings/cultural-management-academy-2015- 2016.html

Meeting Academy participants – cultural managers of public and independent cultural participants institutions and organizations from Sofia and Plovdiv.

Joint Cultural dilemmas joint workshop of EUROCITIES study visit members and workshop Academy participants

C. Projects and policies to be presented: PPP in renovating spaces for culture and arts

Project 1: Literature and Translation House

Literature and Translation House is the first space of its kind dedicated to international literary communication and translation. It is a physical and virtual hub for Bulgarian and international writers and translators, offering residencies, professional development and community engagement programmes, consultations, information, seminars. Translation is among the most developed creative areas in Bulgaria on a comparative European scale. Sofia is a European leader in number of languages translated and published in Bulgarian. The hub is positioned in the former home of the well-known Bulgarian visual artist Nenko Balkanski (1907-1977), donated to the city by his family. Its management is one of the examples of PPP regarding city property development. The organization running it is Next Page Foundation. Links https://www.facebook.com/sofialiteraturehouse/ http://www.npage.org/activities/rubrique93.html Place to be Literature and Translation House, Iztok residential area visited Meeting Yana Genova, Next Page Director participants Next Page team

Questions Models and challenges for PPP in renovating run down public spaces for culture. to be How to establish a blend of physical infrastructure and human development as a discussed coordinated approach to nurturing the enabling conditions for the creative economy ? What are the specific opportunities and constrains here ?

Project 2: Urban Reading Room

The Urban Reading Room originated in 2015 in result of a grassroots movement, which followed numerous city and NGO driven attempts to find a solution to over a decade-long issue with a private owned run-down pavillion in the City Garden at the heart of Sofia. The major challenge to overcome was legal: form of ownership, as well as some administrative hindrances: amending the purpose of the building in the city urban plans, finding a purpose suitable for green park 9

areas, etc. Starting as a massive community campaign following a decade of legal and administrative procrastination, in the spring of 2015 over 7,000 citizens donated books and were issued with a reader membership card, thus proposing the pavillion to be turned into a library/reading hall in the open and indoors. With slight architectural and design interventions the Urban Reading Room was opened to the public. For less than three months it was visited by nearly 20,000 people. It offers paper and electronic books (PocketBook format). Currently it also operates as city information point and as such its day-to-day management is provided by Sofia Tourist Service. It is supported also by the business community in Sofia. Links http://www.chitalnyata.bg/ (bg) http://www.artsofia.bg/en/pub/reading-room-chitalniata-in-city-garden-in-sofia Place to be Urban Reading Room, City Garden visited Meeting Aleksandar Shpatov, writer participants Association for Urban Libraries team

Questions Challenges and opportunities for citizen activism in the area of arts and culture. to be Sharing culture – a reality or a myth. discussed

D. Projects and policies to be presented: Private and State Investments in Culture and City Support Places to be visited : Name National Palace of Culture Short The centre was initiated by a suggestion of Lyudmila Zhivkova, daughter of the description communist leader of the former People's Republic of Bulgaria Todor Zhivkov. It was built in 1981 to celebrate 1,300 years of Bulgaria existence.

During the '90s it lost some of its property. Since 2011, NPC has been restructured into a commercial company, but it remains a state property. The first public financial report of the Palace was released in 2012.

The conference centre is equipped to host a variety of events, including concerts, multilingual conferences, exhibitions and shows. It has an area of 123,000 m² on eight floors and three underground levels. The National Palace of Culture has 13 halls and 15,000 m² of exhibition area, a trade centre and a car park. The main hall can seat over 3,000 people.

Link http://www.ndk.bg/home Participants National Palace of Culture team

Name Muzeiko

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Short The 35,000-square-foot Muzeiko children's museum and science center in Sofia, description open in September 2015, is an energy-efficient building that features some of the most up-to-date sustainable strategies. Solar arrays, geothermal energy, natural daylighting and LED fixtures, among other energy-efficient technologies, will allow kids to enjoy the space and learn about robotics, electronics, woodworking and 3D printing.

The project was commissioned by the Sofia-based America for Bulgaria Foundation, that invested $21 million in the project, and aims to provide children with a unique space where they can learn about science. It was designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership who collaborated with Sofia-based A&A Architects and a team of local engineers. Museum exhibit designer Paul Orselli was consulted for the science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) educational programs at the museum, which will allow kids to experiment with all types of “maker” activities such as robotics, electronics, woodworking and 3D printing. Muzeiko has 130 scientific games in 12 permanent and one travelling thematic exhibitions. Muzeiko is for kids between four and 12, and follows the philosophy of learning through play and interactive activities. Link https://www.facebook.com/muzeikobulgaria http://muzeiko.com/en Participants Muzeiko team

Contacts in Sofia

Sevdalina Voynova, tel. 00359 879 651 042, email [email protected] Denitsa Lozanova, tel. 00359 879 651 040, email [email protected]

The study visit is organized by Sofia Development Association (www.sofia-da.eu). Contact : 92 Partiarh Evtimi blvd., tel. 00359 2 952 0346 SDA is a municipally owned NGO tasked by the council with three major responsibilities: participatory development of strategic and operative documents; outreach, coordination and partnership based on a Quadruple Helix Model (government, industry, academia and civil participants); and participating in European projects on behalf of the city. SDA has coordinated the development of the first Sofia Cultural Development Strategy 2013-2023, the Innovative Strategy for Smart Specialisation of Sofia 2016-2020, among others. Over a 5-year period SDA has also coordinated the preparation of Sofia’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2019.

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