PROJECT ACTIVITIES

1. Participation at the holiday "Trifon Zarezan" in the Ivanovo commune.

The holiday will take place on February 14^th and will consist in a ritual of vine cuts with the purpose of maintaining the community’s fertility. With this occasion folk rhapsodists from the neighbouring areas will be reunited in the zone, exhibitions for agricultural tools will be organised and ancient rites will be practiced. A Romanian delegation composed from local authorities representatives, civil society members and folk artists will also participate.

2. Shifts of experiences with the local authorities from Bulgaria

Representatives of the local public administration from the involved localities (Giurgiu, Oinacu, Bucsani and Comana) will travel to Rousse City where they will participate at a round table with to the Bulgarian partners. The themes of the discussions will be:

- The knowledge of the local administrative structure;

- The modernization of the local public administration in the context of the EU joining processes;

- The knowledge and the promotion of the civil values of the democracy and their application to the rural space;

- Discussions about the tourist potential of each of the areas involved in the project;

- The identification of the problems from the environment protection area that the local communities are facing in the present time.

3. The participation to the folkloric holidays ale of the commune Tenovo

The activity will have two stages: one will be the holiday of the commune from April and the other will be the folkloric holiday from July. The holidays of the commune will have a religious and historical signification, kept and perpetuated for centuries. The commune Tenovo has a well-known folk ensemble and is currently in brotherhood with the commune Comana.

The Romanian delegation will be formed from local authorities, civil society, folk artists and representatives.

4. "The Comana “Holiday of the peony" The participation of the Bulgarian representatives at from the commune Comana.

The holiday became a tradition for the beautiful commune Comana inhabitants situated on the border of river Neajlov, near mottle Comana. The lovely zone developed in the limits of the mottle created a unique flora and a fauna, which caused the Protected Reservation Area title. The wild peony also belongs to the row of the flora (where the name of the holiday came from) and was also stated as monument of the nature. The Comana Monastery can be found in the neighbourhood and is the work of Radu Serban Cantacuzino -1588- (built on the ruins of the Vlad Tepes monastery from the year 1461).Other objectives of tourist interest can also be found in the area.

5. The Commune Oinacu festival "Calusul on Vlasca" participation of the Bulgarian representatives

The festival will take place in the commune Oinacu, with the participation of a delegation composed from representatives of the local authorities, civil society and folk artists from Bulgaria. The specific habits of the zone Vlasca, folk costumes of patrimony and the folk dances taken over from generation to generation will be presented as part of the festival.

The Bulgarian delegation will have contacts with the representats of the local authorities, civil society and will visit the tourist zone from the Danube border, potential source of investment draw. The access road to the Danube is achieved through the implementation of a non returnable funds Spared project.

6. The participation of the Bulgarian representatives to "The crafts Festivals" from the commune Busoni

The Crafts Fair will take place in the commune Busoni, where various manufactures products such as handicraft ware ceramic, traditional seam, folk costumes, basketry will be presented. A culinary fair with Romanian Cuisine products specific to the zone will also be organised.

The Bulgarian delegation will be composed from representatives of the local authorities, civil society and from Bulgarian artisans and will visit the school of Arts and Crafts that teaches specific forms of embroidery and wood sculpture. Another objective of the visit will be" The weekly Centre for the impoverished pupils from the zone of North-West of the Giurgiu County" achieved with non returnable funds.

7. Shifts of experiences in the NGO’s are from Romania.

Representatives of the civil society from Rousse will travel to Giurgiu where they will participate at a round table with the Romanian partners. The themes of the discussions will be:

- the knowledge of the two regions organisation particularities;

- the knowledge and the promotion of civic values of democracy and their application in the rural space;

- discussions about the tourist potential of each of the involved areas;

- the identification of the environment protection issues that the local communities are confronting;

- the development of the asociative behavior and of the citizens to the development of the NGO’s and of the governmental sector.

8. Training for the access of the structural funds for Giurgiu public and civil society

The representatives of the local public administration and civil society from the areas involved in this project will participate at a training on programs that are aiming for the access of structural funds –INTERREG III C ,training that is going to take place in the Giurgiu County Council building.

The theme that will be put into discussion consists in the presentation of the structural funds and of the INTERREG program, with an emphasis of the C component (the component for inter-regional cooperation).

Its purpose is the improvement of the regional development politics and instruments through information exchanges, experience shifts and good practice between the Member States and the states that are in the joing process.

9. The promotion of the rural localities and the project through the portal

www.dezvoltare-rurala.giurgiu-ruse.ro

The partners will establish together the structure and the information that will be presented on the web page. During each activity, a selection of the most important data will be made and there will be taken pictures that will represent the necessary material for the web page design and update. A promotion of the involved localities will also be made through the presentation of the: statistical data, administrative structure, infrastructure, tourist objectives, fauna, flora, traditions, including the culinary ones and specific customs.

The portal will be extended to the level of other rural cross-border localities and will contribute to the sustain and the development of the cross border cooperation and to the communication network that was the result of a previous project and will be continued in current project.

The update of the portal will be realised at the end of the project by the applicant and the Bulgarian partner, the Danubius Euroregion Association, Giurgiu-Rousse. Two computers with the necessary printer hardware will be acquired in this purpose. One will remain at the applicant and the other will be transferred to the Bulgarian partner.

10. The promotion of the project and its results

Two ads will be published in the local media and advertising spots will be broadcasted at the local TV stations from Giurgiu and Rousse.

The project promotion will be realised also through the edition of 100 fliers and 60 Cds for the presentation of the localities involved in the project. For the Cd editing there will be necessary the acquisition of a video camera, which will immortalise images from the project’s localities and events.

The fliers will present statistical data, the administrative structure, the infrastructure, touristic objectives, fauna, flora, traditions, including the culinary ones and the specific objectives.

The promotion of the project in the local community will be realised also through the emplacement of informative panels that will be exhibited at the headquarters of each partner and of the authorities involved in the project.

The finalisation of this project will be marked through a press conference in Giurgiu in which a presentation of the project and its results will be made.

11. The Press Conference at the finalisation of the project in Rousse

The project and its results will be presented to the Bulgarian team through a press conference held in Rousse, with the participation: the Bulgarian Partner, local authorities and NGO’s representantives, involved in the project and the project team.