From the 6th to the 11th of October 2021 we had the opportunity to participate in an Erasmus+ project “YE Rural entrepreneurship for rural youth“ in Panagyurishte, Bulgaria. As the title suggests, the main objective of the project was to promote youth entrepreneurship in rural areas. Our days were filled with various workshops, presentations and other non-formal learning methods whose main goal was overcoming the exclusion of young people with fewer opportunities from rural areas in the field of entrepreneurship.
We arrived in Panagyurishte on Tuesday, the 5th of October. Our host town is situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains and is part of Pazardzhik Province. Panagyurishte is famous for its golden Thracian treasure discovered there in 1949 and the Apriltsi National Memorial Complex erected in 1976 in honour of the 100th anniversary of the April Uprising. The town is also an industrial centre of the region – copper extracting and processing plant and an optics producing plant are located there. We were situated in the hotel Court Inn and there we met other participants from Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, and Romania. In total there were 24 participants in this project.
Wednesday, 6th of October was our first official day of the project and it started with fun energizers whose goal was to meet other participants. After learning the names of our new friends, we talked about our fears, personal contributions, and expectations. We also set some rules that would help cultivate mutual respect, but also maintain group cohesion.
Our main assignment for the first day of the project was the City game whose main goal was an exploration of the city of Panagyurishte! After lunch, we were divided into multicultural groups and were given a list of interesting and interactive tasks which helped us discover unknown things about the town’s economy, industry and history. The city game was a great team-building activity that helped us to get to know and bond with other participants.
The second day also started with dynamic energizers that boosted our mood. After that, we visited a great example of a successful independent business: wine-cellar “Rumelia. This wine cellar draws its inspiration from ancient Bulgarian wine masters, and that is reflected in their high-quality wines which we tried. After that, we visited the Panagyurishte History Museum to get more familiarized with the town’s rich and exciting history. The History Museum is divided into exhibitions dedicated to archaeology and ethnography of Bulgaria from the 15th to the 19th cent., contemporary Bulgaria, and natural history.
In the afternoon we were visited by a local successful entrepreneur who talked about his live-action role-playing game (LARP) business. His presentation was an inspiring and motivating experience for all of us. We finished our day with amateur theatre – a task in which we had to act on various entrepreneurial ideas.
On the third day, we had an opportunity to listen to an excellent presentation about the basics of entrepreneurship. We learned about methods that can be used to make a successful business plan. After that, we needed to use the given knowledge in practice, so another workshop ensued. We had to think of a business plan for a taxi company, art centre, rebranding of local candy brand…
The fourth day was marked by the making of motivational entrepreneurial videos, and a great intercultural night. During the intercultural night, we had an opportunity to try different delicious foods and drinks from participating countries. We also played fun games and learned other’s traditions and customs.
On our last day, we had our final workshop named “Word coffee” and did some concluding tasks. We also used the little time we had left to connect more with the great people we met there.
To sum it up this project was an amazing experience for us. We learned so much about rural entrepreneurship through city games, debates, group work, discussions, and role-plays. Not only did we learn about entrepreneurship, but we met some wonderful people from other countries who shared their culture and their own inspiring stories with us. It was also a great opportunity to work on our English skills. This project encouraged us to overcome many challenges of living in rural areas. We hope that the knowledge we gained during this project could be a useful tool for the development of our rural communities. For most of us this was the first Erasmus+ project but for sure not the last.
Authors: Ivona Beno, Josip Kos, Nikolina Lukić
Participants: Domagoj Ivezić, Nikola Petrović, Tomo Rajić, Ivona Beno, Josip Kos, Nikolina Lukić
Stay updated with mobility opportunities by joining the group. To check out what is going on during projects, follow us on Instagram.
