First kick-off meeting within the framework of project No. 2023-2-TR01-KA220-SCH-000170568

The first kick-off meeting within the framework of project No. 2023-2-TR01-KA220-SCH-000170568 ‘Empowering middle school teachers for social inclusion through observation-based professional development‘, funded under the Erasmus+ Programme, was held at D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics - Svishtov on September 3-5, 2024. The leading partner is EGE UNIVERSITY (Izmir, Türkiye), and the project partners are: Me We Istituto di ricerca innovativa srl (Florence, Italy), ACADEMIA, izobrazevanje in druge storitve d.o.o. (Maribor, Slovenia), HOGSKOLEN I OSTFOLD (Halden, Norway), D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics (Svishtov, Bulgaria), and UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO (Porto, Portugal).
The project objectives are as follows: improving educational practices through innovative tools, promoting inclusivity, enhancing professional development through peer observation, fostering collaboration, and ensuring a lasting positive impact on education. The target group of the project is students from grades 6, 7 and 8 and their teachers.

The participants in the first transnational meeting exchanged ideas and impressions with the Rector of the Tsenov Academy of Economics Assoc. Prof. Marin Marinov, PhD, the Institutional Erasmus+ coordinator Assoc. Prof. Marusya Smokova, PhD, the Director of the Institute for Scientific Research Assoc. Prof. Galina Chipriyanova, PhD, the Chair of the Student Council Yoana Konstantinova, PhD student. They visited the academic museum, learned interesting facts about the Academy and immersed themselves in the atmosphere of the Rectorate building full of history.

The working meetings held in Svishtov Municipality with Stanislava Stoyanova, PhD (Deputy Mayor ‘Economic and Financial Policy’) and Ms. Rumyana Kuzeva (Head of the Education Department), as well as those, held with representatives of three local schools: Ms. Hristina Borisova (‘Nikolay Katranov’ Secondary School), Ms. Marina Milinova (‘Tsvetan Radoslavov’ Secondary School) and Ms. Valya Vaneva (‘Dimitar Blagoev’ Secondary School) were extremely useful.

The project participants also visited ‘Dimitar Hadjivasilev’ Professional State High School of Economics, where they had an appointment with Ms. Lilyana Dimitrova, school principal and the head teacher Mr. Alyosha Kushlov. The interesting discussions continued in the office of the Association ‘Institute Perspectives’ with the Chairman Mr. Ahmed Kuytov and many young people.

The project focuses on intensifying and developing the relationships between institutions in the field of education, including those along the school-university axis, taking into account the importance of local government support in creating optimal working conditions, improving the quality of teaching and students’ achievements.