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.