GEORGE KREMLIS: “THE MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME CIRCULAR ECONOMICS IS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE EU”
26 November 2021
The interdisciplinary master's degree programme "Circular Economics" at Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" welcomed its second class from this pilot for Bulgaria and the European Union programme. 25 students will study with scholarships provided by the University Board of trustees. The new academic year in the master's degree programme was opened by Prof. D.Sc. Anna Nedyalkova - Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" and George Kremlis - Honorary Director of the Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission, under whose patronage the master's degree programme is.
"The master's programme "Circular Economics" at Varna Free University" Chernorizets Hrabar" is the first of its kind in the European Union. This is a great initiative, which we started with Prof. D.Sc. Anna Nedyalkova three years ago," said George Kremlis during the opening. He added that with this qualification that students will acquire, they will be able to find their place in the professions of the future - in an improved environmentally friendly environment with new patterns of behavior, consumption and production.
Prof. D.Sc. Anna Nedyalkova pointed out that the university and the scientific community are confidently approaching the knowledge of the future, the knowledge of the transformation of the economy and society, which will be the new reality. She addressed the students with the words: "You are lucky because you have the chance to be among the first to understand that circular economy - this new matter, will give birth to specialties, professions and areas of economics and social organization which we haven't even thought yet. You have the chance to mobilize your potential for the development of humanity". She added that the members of the Board of Trustees have supported the project to create an innovative product and stimulate the future demand for a new type of specialists in a wide range of areas.
The students who will study with scholarships in the master's programme have interests in the field of ecology, environmental protection. They are representatives of non-governmental and municipal administrations in the country, entrepreneurs, etc. "We expect them to create a variety of innovative projects within the two semesters, as the training is related to work on specific assignments," said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eleonora Tankova, Dean of the Faculty of International Economics and Administration. She pointed out that VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" will develop a multilingual online training platform, which will be used by the partners in the project "Knowledge of the circular economy in the Black Sea basin CIRCLECON - BSB 1021".
As part of the project, a working meeting was held today with the participation of George Kremlis, Alkis Stavridis - investment consultant, mayors, researchers, scientists, experts, representatives of NGOs, professional chambers and business. Issues related to pollution assessment, the regulatory framework and governance on local, regional and national levels, the role of entrepreneurship and behavioral patterns were discussed. VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" is the leading organization in the project, with partners from Greece, Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey.
"Circular economy is a philosophy. We have been a consumer society for a long time, and now we will start thinking about what we consume and what the life of waste is like. In the coming years, we will hear more and more the phrases 'circular economy', 'green deal', 'carbon emissions'. I believe that these are the highlights of the future, and the master's programme will give us the necessary knowledge to build skills and develop them. We are ready, it's time we applied European practices ", said the scholarship holder in the programme Galya Georgieva - Master in Communications and in Informatics and Computer Science, Head of the Department of Public Relations and Administrative Law at the Municipal Council in Varna.
The first class of students, who graduated last year, included experts from the municipal and district administrations in Varna, directly related to environmental protection. As part of the training, they developed and proposed solutions to specific problems, some of which found practical application and were presented at international scientific forums.
