On 21 October 2025, an in-person meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) of the Southeast Region was held in the city of Burgas, dedicated to the prioritisation of Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) concepts.
Among the members of the RDC was Mrs Ivelina Suleva, Project Manager of the Protection of Biodiversity in Bulgaria Foundation, who represents non-profit legal entities for public benefit — environmental organisations and organisations working in the fields of education, science and culture.
The meeting covered several key topics: updating the RDC’s Communication Strategy, a report from the mediation unit, results of the public consultations on ITI, summarising the scores given by RDC members and preparing the final ranking of the concepts, as well as a discussion of the Common Programming Concept for the contribution of EU funds to the region.
All the concepts presented include activities related to education, national and interregional development programmes and social inclusion. In addition, 4 of the 5 concepts also contain measures under the “Environment” Programme, underlining the focus on sustainable development and environmental protection.
The ranking of the concepts, based on the arithmetic mean of the scores from the Pre-selection Unit and the RDC members, has been published on the website of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW): Minutes and accompanying documents from the in-person meeting of the RDC of the Southeast Region on the prioritisation of Integrated Territorial Investment concepts, held on 21.10.2025 in Burgas | MRDPW
The participation of NGO representatives ensures that the prioritisation of the concepts reflects the interests of society, environmental sustainability and the region’s educational needs. The meeting demonstrated how strategic cooperation between the public sector, non-governmental organisations and local communities can contribute to sustainable development and more effective use of European funds.