Students Discussion Clubs

The purpose of the project was to set up a network of Debating Societies in 9 Bulgarian universities. It aimed at organizing discussions on a number of important issues of vivid public interest in order to promote sustainable economic and social development, as well as, the upcoming integration of the country into the European institutions and structures. CLS shared the conviction that the best way to achieve these purposes is through strengthening of political pluralism, market economy, free press, civil society, open dialogue, and education on human rights.
Monthly debates were organized in each of the 9 target universities, based on the "pro and contra speakers" model and involving the active participation of the public. CLS did not intend to impose one point of view or another, but to create an atmosphere of free exchange of ideas, opinions, experience and information. In the debating realm young people had a chance to speak up their concerns and problem solution ideas and to verify them with professionals in the relevant field.
For the period of the project duration 36 debates were organized on the following topics: "What is better for me: to emigrate or to live in Bulgaria?" ; "Is it good to legalize soft drugs"; "The violence in the mass-media and the sensation, the manipulation, the truth, the humanity"; "Moral and Politics"; "The Answer to Terrorism: A Strike or Not?"; "Is it better to accept the Latin Alphabet simultaneously with the Cyrillic one?"

Period: Feburary 2000 - May 2002

Coordinators: Rashko Dorosiev

Financing Organisations: European Commission PHARE Program; Open Society Institute, Sofia