'Sofia Chooses' campaign heralds Bulgarian capital's first-ever participatorty budget

The projects that receive the most votes will be implemented through the Investment Program of Sofia Municipality for 2021

Sofia Municipality has informed locals that they can take part in local governance through its new programme for the implementation of citizen-backed projects. Simply by voting, locals will be able to choose which projects will then be implemented.

Direct participation of all stakeholders

The "Sofia chooses" program aims to encourage the direct participation of citizens, non-governmental and professional organizations in proposing projects and in the distribution of the municipal budget. Some BGN 1.5 million (750,000 euros) have been allocated for the program in the 2021 municipal budget.

Program rules:

• Until 25 October 2020, ideas and suggestions can be sent to sofia.izbira@sofia.bg. They must be accompanied by a description of the idea and an approximate value for its implementation.
• From 26 to 31 October 2020, all received proposals will be reviewed by municipal experts.
• The ideas must be able to be implemented within 2021 and fit into the budget of BGN 1.5 million.
• Between 1 and 30 November, citizens will be able to vote for each project.
• The projects that receive the most votes will be set for implementation in the Investment Program of Sofia Municipality for 2021.

The number of projects selected for implementation will depend on the results of the vote - if the first place is secured by a project with a budget of BGN 1.5 million, it will be the only one implemented - and if the total value of the 3 most-voted projects amounts to BGN 1.5 million, all of them will be realized.

At the insistence of the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova, in the last 10 years, 7 programs of Sofia Municipality have been developed for the financing of external projects worth a total of BGN 4 million. These fields include “Culture”, “Europe”, “Youth Activities and Sports”, "Children and Youth Sports", "Green Sofia" and "Social Innovations".

"In these programs, the proposals come from citizens and various non-governmental and professional organizations, and the ranking is done by expert commissions in the municipality. In the new program, both proposals and rankings will come from citizens, and implementation will be from the municipality.", explained mayor Fandukova.