Seventh Stakeholders Meeting in Bulgaria under the Coop4RURALGov project
On the 10th of June 2026, the seventh stakeholders’ meeting within the Coop4RuralGov project “Rural Proofing. Cooperation for better sparsely populated rural, coastal and mountain focused governance”, co-funded by the Interreg Europe Programme 2021-2027, took place in Bratsigovo, Bulgaria. The event was organized by the Bulgarian partner, Association Centre for Sustainability and Economic Growth (CSEG) and hosted by the Municipality of Bratsigovo.
The meeting gathered various stakeholders at a local and regional level, including: representatives from the municipal administration, the energy and environmental agency REAP, the SMEs association (NEST), some local NGOs, and several educational administrations.
The main goals of the Coop4RuralGov project were presented, along with some examples of good practices from the partner countries. The concept of “Rural proofing” was also introduced to the participants. This means reviewing policies through the lens of rural areas to ensure they are appropriate for the people who live and work there.
The event continued with an overview of the strategic document, the Integrated Development Plan of Bratsigovo Municipality 2021-2027. The participants exchanged views on challenges connected to the policy instrument aimed at strengthening the capacity of local authorities to develop sustainable policies and to integrate regional impact assessment as a regular element of decision-making by officials, as well as in policies, programmes, and initiatives adopted by legislative bodies in sparsely populated rural, coastal, and mountainous areas.
The stakeholders’ meeting concluded with a discussion on potential good practices from different partner countries that can be implemented in Bulgaria to improve the sustainable development of rural regions.
Presentation of the event with good practices
