CROSSING GENERATIONS, CROSSING MOUNTAINS

PILOTTitle SITE of the BERKOBITZA Presentation

Sub-title

Vanina Stoyanova Conference "Local Developmen​t through Intergener​ational Learning' - Committee of the Regions - Brussels

1 www.bigfootwww.bigfoot-project.eu-project.eu CROSSING GENERATIONS, CROSSING MOUNTAINS Map of

www.bigfoot-project.eu Districts of Bulgaria

www.bigfoot-project.eu Berkovitza Municipality • Located Northwestern Bulgaria, in the area of ​​the so called Fore-Balkan. • The highest point is Mount Kom 2016 m and the lowest point in the village of - 250m. • Named after its administrative centre - the town of and includes also 19 villages. • Embraces a territory of 470 km ² out of which 57% are agricultural lands, 43 percent forest land, and settlements - 3.32%. • The population consists of 18,503 inhabitants, as of February 2012. There is a negative natural growth (-46%) and mechanical growth (-79%). The unemployment rate is around 18.12%, double the median unemployment for the country.

www.bigfoot-project.eu Municipality of Berkovitza

• Balûvica • Kotenovci • Berkovica • Leskovec • Bistrilica • Mezdreâ • Bokilovci • Pesočnica • Borovci • Parlicevo • Barzia • Rašovica • Gaganica • Slatina • • Tsvetkova bara • Komarevo • Čerešovica • Kostenci • Iagodovo

www.bigfoot-project.eu Berkovitza and Intergenerational Learning

Threats Opportunities 1.Demographic decline, about half of the 1.Use of Structural Funds and the population Berkovica Municipality - 46% is European Agricultural Fund for Rural over working age. Thus, our region has the Development area highest old-age dependency ratios, 2. Exchange of best practices, due to negative natural growth and high regional and international through Migration, in the European Community and the forecasts for 2060 is to double forming partnerships in the sphere of these indicators. culture, education and social policy 2. Lack of continuity between 3. Preservation and restoration of generations – the collapse of value system local crafts; promotion of the local 3. Lack of opportunities for meaningful natural, cultural, historical sites activities for children and young people – 4. Sustainable use of natural sports, camps, green schools, and resources - herbs, fruits, opportunities for spiritual growth. mushrooms, trees, game and creation of natural parks

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Berkovitza and Intergenerational Learning

Threats Opportunities 4. Social exclusion of senior citizens -as 5.Using the “Intergenerational the average pension in Bulgaria is 102 Community Service Learning” to Euro, which makes the seniors not able to turn the senior’s experiences into cover even for basic necessities, let alone relevant and transmissible have left over money for extrusions and knowledge through an interactive education. 5.Lack of communication , and access to collaborative dialogue with the information – Internet, and ICT training to young members of the local Seniors community in order to: 6.Lack of activities aimed at preservation, -Provide senior citizens with tools for storage and reproduction the cultural transmitting their skills heritage and intergenerational learning - Promote an intergenerational 8. Lack of tourist attractions and shared dialogue vision on how the population could - Use the knowledge of the seniors participate if the tourist development of the and the newly developed skills of the region as a supplier youth to create economic value

www.bigfoot-project.eu Community Consultation

Start –up Public Evening 21/01/2012 Consultation with our target-students from third and seven grades at the middle school “”, May 29th , 2012

Lazarus Day in the village of Borovtzi Workshop 27/03/2012

www.bigfoot-project.eu Community Consultation

Consultation meeting Folk Festival "Svidnia”, with stakeholders, at June17th, 2012 local community center , July 3rd, 2012 Consultation at the Community Ceneter- village of Beli Mel, 21/12/2012

Consultation at a loacal workshop for wood sculpturing – village of Meliane, 11/26/2011

www.bigfoot-project.eu BIG FOOT QUALITY

BIG FOOT partnership defined as the overall goal of the project the development of high quality products and services The Quality Plan’s (QP) with objectives on: - working methodology and integration of the consortium - activities implementation - coherence and consistency among expected and achieved results - validation of results through the experimentation - degree of dissemination and sustainability/use of results BIG FOOT Quality Observatory- supervises the technical and scientific progress of the project from its start-up phase to completion BIG FOOT Steering Committee- which monitored the project status and the achievement of the outcomes of the BIG FOOT project The following tools were adopted: - Internal Evaluation Questionnaire - Barriers, Drivers, Activities, and Risks Questionnaire - Monitoring Questionnaire for Project Meetings The Quality Project Evaluation Report- produced by April, 2012

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BIG FOOT QUALITY

External Evaluation

- Project Failure Prevention Analysis - Review from critical friends - Participant Feedback Sheet - User Self Administered Questionnaire – Seniors - User Self Administered Questionnaire – Young - Key Informant Interview Schedule - User Focus Group

www.bigfoot-project.eu CDNWB Interventions: excursions to most popular touristic & historical landmarks in the Montana Region

Outing to peak “Zdravchenitza” Outing to Lopushna Outing to Todorini Dolls

Outing to Kom Outing to Kom Outing to Kom

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My unique Berkovska Mountain – where past, present and future meet

www.bigfoot-project.eu Intergenerational Learning in Action

- The seniors took the students to each destination, shared historical facts, legends, poetry and their experience about them, thought them what they know about the local herbs and trees, such as chestnuts, and the typical for our region wild raspberry and blueberries. - Between the seniors there are people who are former mountain rescuers, skiers, and republican champions of the sport of orienteering and ski orienteering, former school teachers and directors and avid mountain lovers, who also educated the children how to use topographical map and compass, and the basic techniques in surviving in the mountain - Each excursion had the duration of one to two days, during which we familiarized the children with the local surroundings and engaged them in learning, while developing their appreciation and love for the nature. The technology used during the outings would include GPS navigation, video camera and digital camera. -According to risk analysis we did under the guidance of our partners from MENON, -we had thoroughly instructed all participants about the dangers in a mountain, obtained all necessary declarations from the parents of the minors, purchased mountain insurance for each outing, as well as distributing list of mandatory items to bring with.

www.bigfoot-project.eu BIG FOOT Experiments in Berkovitza

• Much research was done in preparation for the trips: books were selected about the landscape, history and associated legends, in order to select the best places to visit. • The knowledge of the elderly participants was complemented with an extensive literature search, including the local papers dating back to 1939, where we found a unique poem named “The Child of Kom” about peak Kom (2116m), which we climbed. •The book ”The Legends of the Berkovitsa Region,” was a special discovery, rather difficult to find, as it is no longer in print. The younger participants were so impressed with the historical publication, that their plan, as a follow-up to the project, is to re-edit and reprint the book, with all the information they learned during the Big Foot activities. Other books used are:

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BIG FOOT Experiments in Berkovitza

Building blocks for the past of Berkovitza, Velislav Kacarov, 1999 Songs from the Berrkovitza Region, Anka Apostolova, 2010 The Chiprovtzi Region- Legends and Truths, Slavko Grigorov, 2012 "Guidebook for Berkovitza", Milan Milanov, 1998 "About the Northwestern region", , 2004 The Western Balkan, Guide, Dimitar Dimitrov, 1973 The Monastery "St. Archangel Michael " in the Mountain, M. Milanov, 2004 Memories from my childhood, Velichka Kamenova, 2012 An overview of the Western Stara Planina, Touristic Map, 1983 The Chiprovtsi Monastery "Saint Ivan Rilski", Milan Milanov, 1994 Chiprovtsi and the Monastery "Saint Ivan Rilski", Nikola Nikolov, 1998 The Chiprovtsi Region, Milan Milanov, 1988 Lopushanski Monastery 'St. John the Baptist", Milan Milanov, 2007 Berkovitza, a Guidebook, Marieta Dimitrova, 1985 A Chiprovtsi Legend about the Love, Kuna Boicheva, 2011 A manual for guiding tourist, Luibnomir Nedkov, 1986 A manual for the sport orienteering for children and adolescents, Stefan Zvetanov, 1971

www.bigfoot-project.eu The “BIG FOOT Society”

The Youngsters The Elderly - Students from the third middle school - Club of the Veterans Tourists - “Ivan Vazov” Berkovitza - “Berkovitsa Patriotic Society “ - Students from the first middle school “ - “Philanthropist” Association Nikola Y.Vapcarov”, Berkovitza - Students from the local high school - “National Leader “ – an association of the “MD Ivan Panov”, Berkovitza, that now offers retired teachers education in “Tourism” - “The club of the retired citizens ” in - Students from the Vocational School of Berkovitza; Forestry, Berkovitza - “Club Friends of Radichkov” - Youth from the Community Center - “Club Patriot” from the village of Beli Mel” “Development” from the village of Borovtzi choir “Zdravets”, - “The Bulgarian Association for Protection of Birds” - Folk group "" from the village of Gaganitza - Local Mountain Rescue Association

www.bigfoot-project.eu Outing to peak “Zdravchenitza”, of August 2012 What is Zdravchenitza?

Children visited and became acquainted with the most beautiful places around Berkovitsa. They heard legends , learned the names of the every location we went through land had the opportunity to hear about the experiences of the accompanying adults. Everyone gathered bunches of geraniums, ate wild raspberries and red blackberries, saw meadow covered with lavender and learned that the fruit of the elder tree could be used to make a delicious juice and cold medicine herbal supplement.

www.bigfoot-project.eu On foot from Berkovitza through Petrohanski passage to the pick of Todorini dolls and down to , September 2012 This was very difficult and challenging excursion but full with great views and amazing legends. We deepened our friendship and sense of belonging to a group and our sense that we definitely depend on each other to survive in the society.

www.bigfoot-project.eu Legend of peak Todora’s dolls

Todora was the most beautiful girl. Every young bachelor was looking into her and desired to take such a woman to his home to become a caring aid to his older parents. But Todora wanted to select her husband not according to beauty and wealth, but for the man's heroic heart. So one dark night, she said " I will marry that man, who is able to take my distaff and pin it to the highest pick of the mountain." None of the young man dared to take on Todora’s challenge and leave the village before first rooster’s crow. Fear prevailed over love and hesitation - over might. Todora to show her courage and fearlessness declared loudly; "I'm going to the top and will leave my spindle myself." Todora went in the midnight of the darkness. The night was wet and dull. Only the ugly yawn of the dark abysses opened wide and caused Todora’s heart beat. The midnight mountain breeze gently swayed the sweating blond curls of Todora. The blind owl voice trailed off in the opaque darkness. Finally Todora reached the top and as she was kneeling down to stick her distaff to the ground, she pinned without noticing also her dress. As she was going up she felt like something was pulling her down and her heart burst with fear, and she fell down and died. This way the heroic act in the name of love led to a disastrous end. Todora was buried, but her name remained on the mountain top –Todora’s dolls.

www.bigfoot-project.eu Outing to Mount Kom (2016m),September 29 – 30, 2012 Berkovitza-Petrohan-mt.Kom-mt.Starkovitza-Berkovitza

Locations visited: - Mount Kom - The Small Harness - Peak of Shtarkovitsa - The Puddle - Tigancheto - The Silver Peak - The Funnel - Parbrakya - The Large and small Harnesses - The Upper and The Lower Grove - Tuzlata. - The Counter

www.bigfoot-project.eu Testing in Lopushna and Zlatiza Valleys, November 3-4, 2012

The church “The Holy Ascension"

One of the most ancient religious places in the Berkovitsa region - the church “The Holy Ascension"of the village Gaganitsa Memorial complex "Balova shuma“ The venerable oak-tree of the former village of Kalimanitsa , planted around 1600 The birth place of Yordan Radichkov- who's The venerable oak-tree works have been translated in more than 30 languages and in 2001 was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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Testing in Lopushna and Zlatiza Valleys, November 3-4, 2012

Village of Bistrilitza – the birth place of Manchо Punin, leader of the Manchovata Buna / uprising/ from 1836 village of Kopilovtsi - dates back to 900-400 BC, rich deposits of precious metals - gold, silver, lead, copper and iron Waterfall-Durchin skok the Lopushanski Monastery “St. John the Baptist

www.bigfoot-project.eu BIG FOOT Berkovitza visiting BIG FOOT Greece for the exchange of experience, April 3-5, 2013

Museum and the Church of the legendary Bulgarian Healer and Prophetess – Vanga Thessaloniki – the church “St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki” The ancient fortress of Platamonas The Holy island of Athos Wit our partners from Trikala Development Agency The great monasteries of Meteora

www.bigfoot-project.eu BIG FOOT Information and Communication Technology Training

BIG FOOT ICT Classes : Practice Browsing Web pages & Searching & Finding information in the web  Practice Using e-mail  Practice Social Networking: Skype  Practice Social Networking: Facebook and Twitter  Practice Writing programs: Open Office writer  Practice Finding and adding articles in Wikipedia

The students were

www.bigfoot-project.eu CDNWB Guide of Intangible Heritage

The Guide will be named after the name of our experiment: My unique Berkovska Mountain – where past, present and future meet. It will contain pictures, legends , maps, our testimonies and experiences , for the places we have visited, all translated in English, and it will not only show an intergenerational way of preserving our region but also serve as a touristic guide, since there has not been one produced in the last 25 years.

www.bigfoot-project.eu BIG FOOT Dissemination

Continuous throughout the project Brochures Flayers BIG FOOT Newsletter translated in Bulgarian Press Releases Uploading videos via BIG FOOT you tube channel Placing posters in the schools of the young participants Organization of Start-up and Final Public Evening Participation in partner’s conferences

www.bigfoot-project.eu BIG FOOT Dissemination

www.bigfoot-project.eu BIG FOOT Dissemination

www.bigfoot-project.eu Outcomes

• Trough BIG FOOT we were able to dip on in areas like cultural heritage, environment, the intergenerational learning, in all which there are almost no activities at present time. • BIG FOOT engaged children in meaningful and beneficial activities especially in area of learning from seniors through exploring the surroundings of Berkovitza. There is very limited number of events in the schools of Berkovitza that involve children in intergenerational activities. • BIG FOOT involves and addresses old people, and utilizes them as a valuable resource rather as a burden as institutions in our country sees them. • BIG FOOT provides for ICT training for seniors, which no one in Berkovitza does.

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Outcomes

• The children visited on foot the beautiful surroundings and tourist destination of Berkovitza and learned not only their geographic location, but also their history, heard stories about the past of the places from our seniors , collected and read legends, become familiar with the local flora and fauna ,visited protected areas, developed an appreciate for preserving the nature, and deepened their knowledge for their homeland and become more deeply connected with their surroundings and developed feelings for belonging and pride.

www.bigfoot-project.eu Main Outcomes

• The support for the main results of BIG FOOT comes from the testimony of our participants. For example before our first test one of our students ask us what “Zdravchenitza” is, not even where. And this is a mountain hill which we see every day after we wake up. Most of our destinations were within 50 km from the city of Berkovitza, yet almost none of the students have ever visited them or climbed any of the mountain tops we did together. • The ICT training for seniors is very important for our region, as already mentioned no other institution invests in the computer and digital literacy for seniors, where even in Bulgaria, this becomes a necessity in life.

www.bigfoot-project.eu Testimony of BIG FOOT participants

• The project BIG FOOT provided for way to share experiences between the generations, gave an opportunity to see new places, meet other people, discover nature, culture and different ways of life, to understand how we fit into the world , and how we can apply the lessons in our lifestyle. Petranka Sokolova, senior

I liked very much joining the project BIG FOOT , because I learned many new things about the mountains, the nature , the minerals and the rocks, the past of our region and shared unforgettable time with all participants. Evgenia - Alexsandra Stoyanova, 9 years old

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Testimony of BIG FOOT participants

Thanks to the project BIG FOOT we went to places we have never been before, found that there are so many beautiful locations in our close surroundings, enriched our knowledge for the past and present of our native land an deepened our appreciations and understanding of the older generations. Zvetelina Grozdanova, 12 years old

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Testimony of BIG FOOT participants

During the project BIG FOOT we showed and taught our younger partners what we know, and also learned new things from them and remembered the forgotten. We sow new places and cultures and shared unique experiences. Ilian Ivanov, senior

I learned many new things while participating in the project BIG FOOT, met people, remembered traditions and customs, visited unknown and wonderful places that I will remember for all my life.. Thanks to all of you who made ​​this possible. Christina Ivanova, 16 years old

www.bigfoot-project.eu “Mine own Berkovski Balkan constantly casts on my life rebel glares. His bluish contour stands engraved forever in my mind. Sometimes soft and lyrical, another times rebellious and frowning, full of thunders and flooded with heavenly electricity. Wherever I may be, my native place always stays in front of me, crowned with mountains - source of inspiration and sorrow, of uncertainty and courage. The truth is that at times it suppresses me with its power and greatness, but it is also true, that it gives me wings and inspires me in my work.”

Yordan Radichkov

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