#IbuildAnInformedCommunity

The Challenge

Over half a million people live in the 12 municipalities of Varna Province. The environmental problems in the region are severe: overdevelopment of the Black Sea coast; destruction of urban green spaces; import of waste for incineration; uncontrolled industrial pollution; problems with the Varna-Beloslav Lake Complex; and many others.

At the same time, Varna and the region lack local media outlets that prioritize and impartially cover environmental and civil society issues. The activities of public organizations or active citizen groups rarely fall into the focus of traditional media.

We frequently witness attacks using manipulative information aimed at discrediting the work of environmental civil society organizations. In these attacks, environmental organizations and their leaders are portrayed as pseudo-activists whose main goal is to absorb European Union funds. The sector in which we work is also frequently the focus of fake news.

This hostility toward public organizations effectively turns them into "civic organizations without citizens." Yet, active citizens are the driving force of any democratic society and the guarantor of independent and free media.

Actions

Through a series of investigative and reporting publications on pressing environmental issues, produced by a team from the Public Center for Environment and Sustainable Development and published on the online platform Ecovarna.info and the association's social media channels, we will:

– give visibility and a voice to local people, leaders of local civil society organizations, and informal leaders regarding the issues on their community's agenda, i.e., develop local civil society and civic leadership;

– ensure that the problems of local communities reach local authorities and are placed on their agenda, i.e., improve the dialogue between citizens and the authorities;

– citizens from small settlements will recognize the role of civil society organizations, and the Public Center for Environment and Sustainable Development in particular, as natural voices for their views and civic engagement, and as an opportunity to solve local problems.

Results

1. Overcoming the lack of a specialized regional media outlet on ecology and environmental protection issues in Varna Province, which will identify current problems and give a voice to local initiatives and informal leaders.
2. Raising the awareness of civil society in small settlements across the province. Developing capacity among local media to investigate and cover the region's environmental problems in-depth and independently.
3. Increasing citizens' trust in civil society organizations based on: presenting local issues significant to a given community; enhancing the capacity to distinguish fake news and propaganda from significant ones.
4. Supporting active civil communities in small settlements/small municipalities in Varna Province to stabilize and develop their activities.