Chernichevo Chronicles: the community narrative as a tool for community development

The Garden Association sets Community development as one of our the fundamental goals. In the last years we've been involved in small community organizing activities in the mountain village Chernichevo. We had the chance to use Community psychology in order to support the community development through the principles of community empowerment, community identity based on traditional local know-how and cultural uniqueness, place attachment, participatory decision-making, and social entrepreneurship skills [1].

One of the tools that we used to strengthen the locals' sense of identity and togetherness, was the technique of narration. Elderly people from the village (or from the diaspora in the bigger towns of the country) shared their memories about the past lifestyle, culture and traditions of the village, and their own experience. We recorded with my camera these narratives, and then I shared them with the village's Facebook group. The reactions of the group members prove that this approach was a success. The recordings carry the impressive name Chernichevo chronicles. (We chose it by purpose, because it sounds epic, and we wanted to provoke the people to think about their village as an epic village).

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Here are some videos from the series Chernichevo chronicles (they are all in Bulgarian):

Angel Stankov:

Kiro Anadoliev:



Husein Banchev:



Dobrinka Kalaydzhieva - Anadolieva:



Kera Valkova- Garabetova:



Pavel Haritov:

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[1] By examining and implementing the values and the methods of Community psychology, we supported the development of social entrepreneurship skills for community benefit. This eventually led to the reestablishment of the village's Community center as a place for grassroots activism. The biggest achievement of the local activists was the creation of female group for authentic folklore. The recent news is that Chernichevo's folklore-group won a silver medal from the 1st Balkan Folklore Festival in Nedelino town, the 7th and 8th of September 2013.

For the fifth consecutive year: "Introduction to Psychology"

During the course we'll try to find out
what's on the man's mind :)

For the fifth consecutive year the Open School Psychology at The Garden Association organizes the course "Introduction to Psychology". 

For whom the course is? 

The course is designed for students from 10th to 12th grades. 

These, who want to study psychology, will learn what is psychology as a science, and what they may work after graduate from university. 

Those, who want to study other disciplines, but still are interested in psychology, will learn how to use psychology in their fields of activities. 

What will you get? 

At the end of the course, you will have a wider general knowledge, better skills to understand the world, you will know more about yourself, you will gain a valuable social experience. 

You will learn what are the methods of psychology and how to apply them, in what areas of life is used psychology, and how they can use psychological knowledge in everyday life. 

We'll have fun and learn at the same time - in the natural way that good things happen. 

How the course works? 

The course includes short lectures and many interactive forms to work. 

Weekly workload would be about 5 hours a week. Half of the time will be used for group classes , and the other half - for independent work at home. 

During the course each participant will receive two times an individual feedback from the trainer. 

Who are we? 

Open School of Psychology is an initiative of The Garden Association - Haskovo. 

We organize this course for the fifth consecutive year. 

Our office is in the town of Haskovo, 26-A "Rakovsky" Blvd., 4th floor. Check it out :

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Remembering "I Have a Dream" speech

Exactly 50 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King gave one of all time greatest speeches. Today it is worldwide famous with the title "I Have a Dream". Lets remember this speech, and the great man who made the world a better and fairer.

Excerpt:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. 

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. 

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today! 

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. 

I have a dream today! 

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

Community psychology and BioCultural societies: points of intersection

Today I took part in the Google Hangout "Community psychology and BioCultural societies: points of intersection", organized by G+ communities BioCultual Landscapes and Seascapes and Environmental psychology. 

My interlocutors were Dr. Bernadette Montanari - ethnobiologist, Center of biocultural diversity at Kent university; Prof. Douglas Perkins - professor in Community psychology at Vanderbilt university, US; Nikolay Mihaylov - MA in Clinical psychology and PhD candidate in Community research and action at Vanderbilt university, US.

 The discussion explored the basics of Community psychology, and how Community psychology can support bio-cultural diversity and can help building of resilient communities in their natural settings?

Important issues were discussed, like community environment - community behavior, community behavior, place attachment, place identity, community research, community empowerment and action, community identity, traditional ecological knowledge and many more.

The Garden took part in a public discussion in Haskovo City Hall

Yesterday representatives of The Garden Association took part in a very important public discussion in Haskovo's City Hall.

There was a presentation of the project for Integrated Plan for Urban Reconstruction and Development in Haskovo, term 2014 - 2020. It is a subject with a crucial importance for the urban environment and we wanted to share our ideas with the team which worked on the plan. It was my honor to present our interdisciplinary team's views.

I shared our vision of Haskovo as a Smart city, which development unites administrative (aka soft) measures with infrastructure measures, dealing with economic development, green policy and environment, mobility and walkability, formal and non-formal education, arts, mass sports and physical activity, and so on.

Among our ideas are:

• bike lanes from the most Eastern to the most Western point of the city; 
• green roofs on the big public buildings; 
• creation of small forests in each school yard, instead of the concrete and the asphalt, which dominate now; 
• artificial climbing wall; 
• more nature-oriented playgrounds and more thematic playgrounds; 
• more public fountains with water for drinking in the city center; 
• free public toilets in the city center; 
• small public monuments, reminding of significant places, events, or persons from the city; 
• art-incubator: an institution encouraging the local artists and craftsmen; simultaneously creation of an annual art-festival; 
• creation of center for social entrepreneurship and social innovation; 
• creation of Museum of childhood - a place, collecting artifacts from different epochs and providing option for children games, shows, and thematic workshops for children; 
• establishment of an international university in Haskovo; 
• e-municipality; 
• free wireless internet access in the city center. 

We are glad that our suggestions met a positive feedback from Haskovo's vice-mayor Mrs Staneva and from the company which developed the project. They promised to add most of our ideas in the final version of the Plan. On our side, we proposed our expertise and consultation for free. 

The interdisciplinary team who created the above-cited ideas: 

Vladislav Dobrev, computer engineer, 

Deyan Yanev, philologist, education management expert,

+Georgi Stankov, psychologist, 

+Tanya Stoynova, lawyer, 

+Lydia Staikova, career & educational counselor, 

+Vladimir Grachki, linguist,
+Simon Zenopian, engineer,    

Veselin Harmandzhiev, engineer. 

The book of Brailsford on Macedonia has just been published

The seminal work of Henry Brailsford "Macedonia - Its Races and Their Future" has just been published. Besides the print edition, there is an e-book version, which is available here for free. The publishing of this book in Bulgarian was an old idea, but its realization went slowly because of the lack of money. Finally through the generous financial grant by Mr George Lebamoff (USA) the dream came true. 

Book's official presentation will be held on June 24th 2013, Monday, in the Museum of Sofia university.

The author: Henry Brailsford was a talented journalist, who spend several months in Macedonia. He was famous for the objectiveness and neutrality of his writings about one of the world's hottest spots in the dawn of the 20th century. 

The book:  "Macedonia - Its Races and Their Future" is a very respected independent source about the history, the population, and the political conflicts in the geographic region Macedonia in the dawn of the 20th century. Brailsford presented the Slavic-speaking population of Macedonia as Bulgarian.

The publisher: "Bulgaria - Macedonia" Institute is our partner organization. It is a Bulgaria-based think tank, engaged in research of Balkan political and social issues and the interrelation between Macedonia and Bulgaria in the 21st century.  

The full list of the people who donated for the book is on page 5. As organization, we are proud to be among the people who paid their tribute for this righteous cause. 

Support for the civil society in Turkey

The Garden Association supports the civil society everywhere in the world. We express our sympathy to the protests that started in the previous three days in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and many other Turkish cities. But we are strongly worried about the recent events in Turkey. 

Source: Internet

The Turkish government, led by Mr Erdogan, wants to demolish the only green space in the center of Istanbul - Gezi park at Taksim square. It plans to build a new cultural-market center (a kind of mall) in the style of ancient Ottoman military barrack. In this case government offences the Turkish society in two ways: 

First - environmental. The project envisions the destruction of a very important green space in the heart of the city. Along with its significance for the urban environment, Gezi park is a place for many non-formal cultural activities and outdoor meetings. 

Second - political. The government's project, taken in a wider perspective, is just one step (of many) for the rehabilitation of the Ottoman empire. The ideology of Erdogan's party is often described as neoosmanism. It is also Islamist and anti-secular in its roots. The project tries to change the symbolic significance of Taksim square. In this area of Istanbul is the monument of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, this is one of the symbolic places of the Turkish republic. 

The night of 31st of May - 1st of June. Protesters on the Bosporus bridge. Source: Internet.

So many people see the struggle for Gezi park as a struggle for the Turkish democracy. Thousands and thousands of Turkish citizens protest in all big cities of the republic. They struggle to preserve the secularity in the republic of Turkey, the basic principles of democracy and freedom of speech.

Unfortunately, the peaceful protesters were attacked by the police with gas! There is a brutal police violence and are hundreds of injured people, but the mainstream Turkish media doesn't broadcast anything of this!

The bridge of Bosporus today, 1st of June 2013. Greetings to Turkey!
Source: Internet

As a non-governmental organization, we, the team of The Garden Association, want to express our solidarity with the protesting citizens of Turkey. Among the people who protest the governments' policy in Turkey there are many people who we personally know and respect: Prof. Okan Cem Çırakoğlu from Başkent University in Ankara, Prof. Hikmet Sivri Gökmen from Dokuz Eylül Üniversity in Izmir, PhD candidate Türkan Fırıncı from Gazi Üniversity in Ankara, Ms Elif Kayran from Izmir Children's Atelier, PhD candidate Özgür Devrim Orman from Boğaziçi Ünversity in Istanbul, and many nice university students.

Don't give up, komşular! The free world is with you!

What the active citizens in Turkey want? Source: Patrick Heath 

If you wonder why Turks are so upset - this is why!

Live broadcasting from Istanbul: