Establishing network and tools for communication and interaction between state administration and citizens for accountable housing solutions

For more than 20 years “Habitat for Humanity” Foundation works for improvement of the living conditions in Bulgaria. The housing policy in Bulgaria currently consist of mainly providing municipal social housing, which are in addition insufficient and in poor condition. The local municipalities don’t get governmental support for their management and maintenance and each municipality follows its own practice, often in a non-transparent for the society way. The project will establish a mechanism for accessible and transparent interaction and exchange of information between local and national housing institutions and the civil society; will contribute for the improvement of the social housing policies on national and local level and will raise awareness regarding the importance of the social housing policy for the wellbeing of the whole society. The project will research and analyze the social housing management in Bulgaria, will identify good practices from Bulgaria and other countries and based on that will summarize methodical instructions for multiplication of successful municipal models. A web based mechanism for discussions and sharing of knowledge and experience on social housing issues will be created, thus establishing a network for communication and support between, on one hand, municipal experts working in the same filed and on the other hand – between municipal officials and the citizens. The main conclusions and recommendations from the research and analysis will be graphically visualized and publicly disseminated in order to inform the public and increase its awareness regarding social housing issues. Based on the recommendations, collected along the project implementation, the project team will submit a statement and initiate renewal of the National Housing Strategy – with the perspective for a long-term, sustainable development of the housing environment in Bulgaria.

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