My road to RIO+20 - a pictorial story

            I'm Daniel, 25 years old  student and youth activist from Bulgaria and this is my story.

         I'm from a poor ex-communist state of Bulgaria,a country with the most energy intensive economy amongst all members of European Union.This explains my interest concerning sustainable development.Sustainable development has  been around for some forty years,but i first came to it 2007 in university(I study economics).I was interested in the subject,but it was not a love at first glance.Later that year i participated in a conference organized by my university.The topic was "Ecosystems, Environment and Sustainable Development in Bulgaria".I soon noticed that i was amongst the very few persons actually paying attention.I started to become interested in the subject,and started reading books and doing case studies and researches.(I've uploaded some interesting articles here - my new blog) .Later that year i  started internship in the Enterprise Europe Network(concerning technological transfers and green innovation)

Me receiving award for active participation

  My life changed significantly when i became involved in EU's Youth in action programme in late 2009.Most of the projects i got involved in were not covering sustainability topics,but some of them  were actually,and this further sparkled my interest.My first real project on the matter was in 2010 in Bulgaria a seminar and conference -The topic "Sustainability of transportation and reduction of road accidents". I was amongst the most decorated participants

Pillow fight flashmob.A creative way to express yourself

Sustainable development in Bulgaria,lecture;Romania 2011

In  late 2010 and early 2011 i was busy with studying but,nevertheless i was able to take part in numerous projects,some of them covering sustainable development.One particularly interesting project was a youth exchange in Romania,high up in the Carpathian mountains.Theme was poverty and unemployment eradication among young people.I have learned a lot about the way people live in those underdeveloped regions of the country.

We  have conducted flash mobs,demontrations,press conferences,meeting with various members of the municipality as well as some charity work too.Basicaly the aim was to promote the future development of the communities, using the social activism methods as a tool.
My life has changed significantly since then and i wanted to devote myself to the matter.

Later that year i joined another project in Bartin,Turkey. It was nice to see how people lived in such a remote region.The course had many topics,with sustainability being one of them.That had drawn my attention.We have to work closely and help locals out with their work.This has helped me  see how how poor people live and made me devoted even further to the cause.

Promoting poverty eradication; circa 2011

In late 2011 i traveled back to Romania in order to take part of another project.Social disclusion and poverty eradication.
The project’s methodology was based on the Council of Europe publications in the field of human rights education – Compass, Compasito, Education Pack, Companion, and Dominion.
During the activities, other educational perspectives were  integrated: participation, the experiential learning; the Co-operative learning and the facilitation.

"Say something nice" event: Craiova

Having come to close contact with different ethnic minorities(such as romani people) and other social excluded groups was really an interesting  and inspirational.Promotion of sustainability through social inclusion was achieved by using theater methods, like the  theatre of the oppressed - a form of theatre that encourages the audience to be an active participant in the drama and it stimulates because it stimulates people to think and act, rather than simply receive a message, become an automaton and do things because that's the way to do it.The inclusion of other methods and public events really sparkled attention of the locals and really made sure that our point of view is heard by the goverment

Since than i've been involved with some charity work,as well as some local projects and events,such as the latest victory of the bulgarian movement for sustainable development was the prohibition of shist gas extraction ( a very dangerous method for the environment,that poisons the soil).This was the outcome of numerous protests.I took active participation in them.

Right now i've got a new job,and probably will have less time to take active action in future projects,but ,regardless of this i'll be looking to grasp  every opportunity to promote sustainability in my country,and abroad.Furthermore I can't wait to see the results of Rio+20 meeting and i'm certain that they will be groundbreaking.