THIRD PARTNERSHIP FORUM OF THE INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF THE MUNICIPALITIES AT VARNA FREE UNIVERSITY "CHERNORIZES HRABAR" AND THE REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION - SMOLYAN
23 February 2019
The third partnership forum of Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar", the Institute for Integrated Management of the Municipalities at the Regional Administration - Smolyan was held in the Pamporovo resort. The event, which brought together more than 150 mayors, representatives of higher and secondary education, businesses from the Smolyan region and from all over the country, was opened by the president of Varna Free University Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krassimir Nedialkov.
The Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" Prof. D.Sc. Anna Nedyalkova, the district governor of Smolyan Region Nedyalko Slavov presented the tasks and challenges related to the role of municipalities in education as a factor for economic growth and social inclusion.
The event was highly praised for its importance by the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev. "I positively assessed the format in which the forum was held. It has succeeded in bringing together the most important players in the education system," said he.
Prof. Anna Nedyalkova noted the significance of the Institute for Integrated Management of Municipalities, which was established two years ago at Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" with the mission of contributing to the sustainable and intelligent development of municipalities, preparing staff for their management, developing scientific research, entrepreneurship and innovation. The Institute functions as one of the main structural units of the university and provides specialized training and expert consultancy for the staff involved in management of municipalities.
"The tradition of organizing these seminars has shown us that we follow the right path to partnerships, which each time lead to a specific initiative in favor of the region as a whole. After the previous workshop on Circular Economy, we made a green economy education model in all sectors - building, industry and mining. One such Institute must be connected to science and give the theoretical answers, "said Prof. Nedyalkova.
She highlighted the active work of Smolyan Branch of Varna Free University, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. It is not by accident that the Director of the VFU Branch in Smolyan, Dr Anelia Parzhanova, takes over the work of the Institute for Integrated Management of Municipalities. The management of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" sees opportunities for the Branch to develop rapidly, thanks to the support of the regional administration, the local authorities and the cooperation of the businesses. Professor Nedyalkova said that students from the whole region are being trained at the Smolyan Branch, but it is extremely important that it also attracts foreign students with projects on cross-border cooperation. "Our goal is to make Smolyan a favourite place for foreign students. We do not live with pessimism that there will not be any students. In due time, we take into account the growth of individual sectors and we prepare staff for them exclusively for the benefit of the Smolyan region," said Prof. Nedyalkova.
"The main challenge now is to motivated young people to choose professional skills training. This will be a factor for ensuring a balanced regional development," said the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev. "In view of the different needs of municipalities, there is a need to work harder to guide students to professional skills training," added he. "The reorientation towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, groups together these academic disciplines under the name STEM, is also an objective in the new admission plan," said Valchev. He added that these specialties are expected to have shortage in staff in the coming years. The Minister of Education and Science said that if the challenge so far had been the lack of sufficient and well-paid jobs, from now on it would be the provision of qualified specialists for the labour market. According to him, it is necessary for the higher education institutions to reorient themselves to work in an environment with a decreasing number of students.
"Another major challenge is to include all children and students in the education system and prevent their leaving it," said Minister Valchev. He explained that the established interinstitutional mechanism showed how successful the interaction between state institutions could be.
According to the Minister, it is also necessary to adapt the system of higher education to demographic challenges - universities train less and less students. He said that the Smolyan branch of Varna Free University is an example to be taken into consideration. The Minister noted the role of VFU as an authoritative, leading non-state university in the country.
The good educational practices in Smolyan District presented the district governor Nedyalko Slavov. He said that students from the region were awarded the highest marks at the School leaving examinations.
The forum continued with a discussion of successful educational practices and new ideas, according to the needs of the local authorities. The role of the education was discussed in the context of the challenges of Era 4.0. A product range of specialties, project partnerships, consulting and innovative initiatives were offered.
The Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" Prof. D.Sc. Anna Nedyalkova, the district governor of Smolyan Region Nedyalko Slavov presented the tasks and challenges related to the role of municipalities in education as a factor for economic growth and social inclusion.
The event was highly praised for its importance by the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev. "I positively assessed the format in which the forum was held. It has succeeded in bringing together the most important players in the education system," said he.
Prof. Anna Nedyalkova noted the significance of the Institute for Integrated Management of Municipalities, which was established two years ago at Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" with the mission of contributing to the sustainable and intelligent development of municipalities, preparing staff for their management, developing scientific research, entrepreneurship and innovation. The Institute functions as one of the main structural units of the university and provides specialized training and expert consultancy for the staff involved in management of municipalities.
"The tradition of organizing these seminars has shown us that we follow the right path to partnerships, which each time lead to a specific initiative in favor of the region as a whole. After the previous workshop on Circular Economy, we made a green economy education model in all sectors - building, industry and mining. One such Institute must be connected to science and give the theoretical answers, "said Prof. Nedyalkova.
She highlighted the active work of Smolyan Branch of Varna Free University, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. It is not by accident that the Director of the VFU Branch in Smolyan, Dr Anelia Parzhanova, takes over the work of the Institute for Integrated Management of Municipalities. The management of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" sees opportunities for the Branch to develop rapidly, thanks to the support of the regional administration, the local authorities and the cooperation of the businesses. Professor Nedyalkova said that students from the whole region are being trained at the Smolyan Branch, but it is extremely important that it also attracts foreign students with projects on cross-border cooperation. "Our goal is to make Smolyan a favourite place for foreign students. We do not live with pessimism that there will not be any students. In due time, we take into account the growth of individual sectors and we prepare staff for them exclusively for the benefit of the Smolyan region," said Prof. Nedyalkova.
"The main challenge now is to motivated young people to choose professional skills training. This will be a factor for ensuring a balanced regional development," said the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev. "In view of the different needs of municipalities, there is a need to work harder to guide students to professional skills training," added he. "The reorientation towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, groups together these academic disciplines under the name STEM, is also an objective in the new admission plan," said Valchev. He added that these specialties are expected to have shortage in staff in the coming years. The Minister of Education and Science said that if the challenge so far had been the lack of sufficient and well-paid jobs, from now on it would be the provision of qualified specialists for the labour market. According to him, it is necessary for the higher education institutions to reorient themselves to work in an environment with a decreasing number of students.
"Another major challenge is to include all children and students in the education system and prevent their leaving it," said Minister Valchev. He explained that the established interinstitutional mechanism showed how successful the interaction between state institutions could be.
According to the Minister, it is also necessary to adapt the system of higher education to demographic challenges - universities train less and less students. He said that the Smolyan branch of Varna Free University is an example to be taken into consideration. The Minister noted the role of VFU as an authoritative, leading non-state university in the country.
The good educational practices in Smolyan District presented the district governor Nedyalko Slavov. He said that students from the region were awarded the highest marks at the School leaving examinations.
The forum continued with a discussion of successful educational practices and new ideas, according to the needs of the local authorities. The role of the education was discussed in the context of the challenges of Era 4.0. A product range of specialties, project partnerships, consulting and innovative initiatives were offered.
