November 18–19, 2019. Partnership meeting of the teams of Partners Bulgaria Foundation and Human Rights Academy, Norway was held in Sofia. The meeting aimed to develop a plan and discuss the first steps of the project Enhancing Democratic Competence and Understanding of Human Rights among Young People, supported by the Active Citizens Fund under the EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanism for the period 2014–2021.

The two organisations joined resources to create a model for educating young people on human rights. The team discussed their communication strategy and first steps in the project. The meeting was attended by Lillian Hjorth and Evgenia Khoroltseva from the Human Rights Academy, Norway. On the Bulgarian side, local facilitators from G. Delchev, Blagoevgrad, Montana and Varshets joined the team of Partners Bulgaria Foundation. In these 4 municipalities, Partners Bulgaria Foundation has previously worked to establish student councils at school and municipal level, with the support of UNICEF (2011–2013) and the IOO under the NGO Support Program, EEA FM 2009–2014.

The project will contribute to the transfer of unique experience from the work of museums in Norway, members of the Norwegian Network of National Museums for Human Rights Education. The Human Rights Academy, Norway, has been working for over 10 years to support human rights, offering lectures, workshops and courses on a variety of human rights topics among school students and students in journalism, teachers, minority groups and refugees. The HRA is a member of the Norwegian Network of National Museums for Human Rights Education.

This partnership will help achieve the objectives of the project by providing human rights training, including professionals from the Norwegian Network of National Museums for Human Rights Education who will participate as lecturers in seminars. The project will present a model for cross-sectoral cooperation of municipalities, schools, museums and non-profit organisations. As sustainable structures, these institutions will continue to develop and apply the acquired new educational practices. Local museums will seek cooperation with international networks. The created online platform will remain as a permanent educational resource for the general public.