Starting April 16 young people that are not permanently employed will be able to apply and participate in the project Residence Baba ( Residence Granny). The procedure will close on May 4.

The project is a part of the platform for social innovations Ideas Factory, and will be based upon the traditions of one of the participating villages Manastir, Belitsa, Yugovo, Dryanovo or Djurkovo.

Apart from living in the same household with elderly locals, the young people will be working together with them for the creation of a new innovative idea for a product, service or event that will attract stronger interest to the village and possibly to solve a pressing economic, social or ecological problem.

People under the age of 35 will be eligible to apply and only 20 of them will be shortlisted. The applicants will need to briefly present themselves, a problem that needs to be solved as well as a project plan.

The purpose behind the initiative is to creating a meeting point between the entrepreneurial spirit of young people and traditional culture of elderly people from the Rhodopes. All participants in the project will be to establish and counteract the reasons behind the depopulation of Bulgarian villages.

Selected candidates will go through two specific training programs - Design Thinking and on-site ethnological research.

The NGO Ideas Factory will be aiming at proving that it is possible for people to perceive the Bulgarian village as a hub for social innovations as opposed to a part of the past. 

More information on the project can be accessed here.