Building on the success of its first edition, the Histories from Belene 2.0 project is set to expand its impact over the next three years. The initiative will place even greater emphasis on the connection between understanding the recent past and the state of democracy in Bulgaria.

The Histories from Belene 2.0 project includes various activities designed to preserve the memory of the totalitarian communist regime and promote the development of civic education in Bulgaria. Among these activities is the recording of three new interviews with survivors of the Belene labor camp, enabling a virtual conversation with them on the belene.camp website. Currently, visitors to the site can digitally interact with previously recorded survivors, take a virtual tour of the Belene camp, or book an actual on-site tour.

Additionally, the foundation will organize 30 training seminars for history and civic education teachers. These seminars, registered with the Ministry of Education, will include modern teaching methods and visits to the Belene camp. Furthermore, history lesson plans for 7th and 10th grade will be developed and made available for free on the grajdansko.bg platform. In addition, new civic education lesson plans related to current social events will also be published on the platform.

The project envisions visits to Belene by approximately 60 school classes from across the country, allowing history lessons to take place outdoors. For university students preparing to become teachers, 6 training sessions will be held, focusing on modern methods for teaching civic education and history. The project will continue the "Why Should We Remember?" summer school initiative, which has been held annually in Belene since 2018. The summer school offers students from across Bulgaria the opportunity to meet with former camp detainees, local residents, historians and researchers of the communist period, to work together on matters regarding the history of the totalitarian regimes in Europe and in particular the Bulgarian communist regime and the Belene camp.

Other planned activities include updating and expanding existing exhibitions at Site 2 of the Belene camp, publishing literature related to the communist regime, and creating a digital map of labor camps in Bulgaria, along with a list of individuals detained at the Belene camp.

The Sofia Platform Foundation continues its efforts to preserve memory and strengthen democratic culture in Bulgaria, believing that remembrance of the past is key to conscious and active citizenship.
________________________________
The project is supported by the America for Bulgaria Foundation. The America for Bulgaria Foundation (ABF) is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonpolitical American grant-making foundation working in partnership with Bulgarians to strengthen the country’s private sector and related democratic institutions. ABF builds on the success of the Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund, an investment fund created in 1991 by the U.S. Congress with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Further information: https://us4bg.org/. 

The statements and opinions expressed herein are solely those of Sofia Platform Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the views of America for Bulgaria Foundation or its affiliates.