On June 26 and 27, 2023, the final international conference of the UniverCity project, financed by the Erasmus + program, took place. The event included participants from all partner organizations – Lucian Blaga University (Sibiu, Romania), as well as the non-governmental organizations PSIQUADRO (Perugia, Italy) and the Research & Training Point Foundation (Sofia, Bulgaria). On the part of the host institution – Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" – participated: The head of the project’s team Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev, the coordinator Prof. Dr. Albena Vutsova and a team of researchers – Dr. Nikolay Yanev, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Todor Yalamov and others.
The event was attended by representatives of various Bulgarian institutions - the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, the Economic and Social Council of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Center for Human Resources Development, etc.
During the conference, the results of the successfully conducted Community Research Awards (CRA) competitions in Romania, Italy and Bulgaria were presented. As part of the conference, a competition was also organized for the CRA holders to present their developments and results.
After evaluation by a jury, in which all partners were represented, the following prizes were awarded:
1. Slavina Lozanova, with The Sign Language project, awarded for the strongest commitment in solving a problem specific to the hearing-impaired community;
2. Rutiana Ngundo, with the project The Realities of International Students in Sofia, designated as the best performed idea;
3. PROPONTE Association, Italy, with the WhatsAPI project, created for the most innovative application of research solutions for the benefit of communities;
4. Petronella Vecherdea with the project Study of Quality of Water in Sibiel, built for the best solution to the problem related to good governance at the local level.
Two prized “of the aideince” were also presented:
1. To Ludmila Ilieva, with the project Transfer of Japanese Culture in Draginovo, for resourceful application of humanitarian knowledge in the implementation of a small project aimed at local communities;
2. To Alexey Potebnia with the WeTrust project, for the chosen methodological approach in the implementation of his project.
