In the beginning of November 2003 a team of the Open Society Club Rousse met and talked to the newly - elected officials from Vetovo and Ivanovo, Region of Rousse , about their real need of training, adjustment and willingness to participate in educational initiatives and about the topics and the form of training namely the ytpe and schedule .

The Club elaborated a questionnaire on preliminary research , which provided brief information on their intentions and suggested 11 topics of training . The team also met with representatives of the municipal administrations and non - governmental organizations to analyze their opinion on the need of the proposed training project .

The discussions showed that the councilors do need such trainings , which would practically impact their work and performance through helping them in establishing teams . It also became clear that most of them are too busy ( duties , own farms , committees and plenary sessions of the MC , families ), and would not have the opportunity to travel outside their villages or towns .

Additional information on the selected regions : identical characteristic features small municipalities of 20,000 inhabitants , comprising of villages (excluding the city of Vetovo - since 1974 ) , elderly people, and similar social problems . Both regions have multiethnic populations Bulgarians , Turkeys , Roma people . The level of unemployment in Ivanovo is 16,85%, and in Vetovo 40% (according to data provided by the Regional Employment Agency Unit to the date of 30 September 2003) .

The project methodology is a combination of distant learning and seminar classes . The team developed the topics in details and sent it to 34 councilors in both municipalities in series to be carried out once per 10 days .

Topics of a module are sent for the period of 2 months and in the end of this period seminar on the module is carried out, which summarizes the issues and provides an opportunity for discussions .

The involvement of the municipal councilors in the team decision - making processes, jointly with their participation in the training modules and the creation of positive climate contribute to the implementation of a new approach and effective work during sessions of the municipal Council .

The project activities are innovative and they provide an opportunity to be replicated and applied in other municipalities .

The project was implemented by the Open Society Club Rousse till August 2004, and was funded by Open Society Institute - Sofia .

The expected results are improving the capacity of newly elected municipal councils being members of the main body in local self-government, to develop new training materials, which could be in use for other local institutions , as well as for other cities in Bulgaria.