With the establishment of an environmental education center in the Nature Park Rila Monastery (Bulgaria), about 120 kilometers south of Sofia, the Institute for Sustainability at the University of Luneburg breaks new grounds in many ways. So far, no comparable international project with such an integrated approach both conceptual as well as structural was jointly managed by German and Bulgarian actors. The innovation of the project is that the environmental education center will be a point of interest for tourists as well as for experts.
For tourists of which about a million per year visit the monastery, guided walks and information services are designed to meet the natural landscape surrounding of the monastery, which enjoys the status of a UNESCO world cultural heritage. Visitors will be able to use GPS-based devices providing to explore the region on their own.
Training programs for specialists and executives from Bulgarian nature conservation authorities and universities will be held in the form of conferences, workshops and seminars. Comparable educational opportunities for environmental protection and nature conservation experts do not yet exist in Bulgaria. In addition to this depth range and as part of the project, an exhibition concept for the environmental education center will be developed.
Based on the known number of visitors at the monastery, the applicants expect around 50,000 visitors in its first year. Completion is scheduled for mid-2013.
