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Skills Vs Idleness +

(info pack) Project: short-term EVS.

Duration: 31 + 2 days traveling (33 in total).

Dates: 04.06.2017 – 06.07.2017.

Place of project activities: Balchik, Bulgaria.

Participants: 19.

Partner countries: Portugal, Spain, Italy, Latvia.

Hosting organization: Veshtina Municipal Center, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Contacts: youth@inthepalace.com; +359 2 441 03 02; +359 885 816 888.

Persons in charge: Liliya Kucheva & Silvia López.

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I. HOSTING ORGANIZATION

Municipality Center “Veshtina” mission is encouragement and development of contemporary artistic expression as well as management of projects that will promote modern art.

"Veshtina" has as its main objectives the development, preservation and promotion of spiritual values, education, science and culture; support the development and protection of human rights and civil society; personal development and social integration; development and enrichment of cultural life.

Ever since its establishment in 2005 the organization's main focus is on promoting the work of Bulgarian and foreign artists and on activities that will develop the contemporary audiovisual culture.

Some of the Municipality Center's main activities is planning and executing IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival in partnership with “Format SFF” Foundation and the annual audio-visual training program PLUG-IN.

Other major initiatives are educational program "Filmer Forge", the annual youth exchange program "Dissection of democracy" under Erasmus +. By means of expression of film and new audio-visual technology, the youth exchange raises awareness on youth opportunities and positive effects on cultural cooperation, democratic citizenship and informal education, planning and organizing several workshops in directing, scriptwriting, editing, cinematography and also implementing regular curated screenings of innovative independent authors film works.

Besides organizing its annual event, the “Veshtina” has a variety of social, cultural, educational and information activities and works with many other initiatives in the field of contemporary culture, audiovisual training and cultural cooperation, partnership and networking with young people.

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II. 14Th IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria

IN THE PALACE is an international festival dedicated to short films, new media and digital arts under 27 minutes in length. The main purpose of the Festival is to present contemporary film art from Bulgaria, Europe and the whole world. IN THE PALACE provides an exceptionally favorable environment and platform of expression for both young film artists and established professionals in this artistic field. Established in 2003, the festival has grown from a competitive forum for student films into the largest and most prestigious short film festival in Bulgaria and the region.

In the framework of the global European cultural processes in 2014 IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival started a national wave of film events in Bulgaria – “IN THE PALACE of the marine, old and new capitals of Bulgaria”. The campaign is parallel to and initiated in support of European Capital of Culture 2019 and European Youth Capital 2017 and consists of variety of short film events and non-formal educational programmes for young people using European audiovisual products. The 14th edition of IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival is running in Sofia – City of Film of UNESCO (01.12. – 06.12.2016.), Veliko Tarnovo (30.04. – 07.05.2017.), Varna (28.05. – 04.06.2017.) and the picturesque Black sea town of Balchik (24.06. – 01.07.2017.).

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The “warming-up” film events in Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Varna consist of screenings of the national and international films in the 14th IN THE PALACE official selection where the audience will define the awards of the 3 cities, respectively – Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Varna. The programme also includes variety of film initiatives as satellite festival modules such as educational film ateliers for youngsters, Q&A sessions, Forum Europe, round-table discussions, 48 Hour Film Challenge, etc. The main IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival event will be held in Balchik between 24.06. – 01.07.2017. in the former residence of the Romanian Queen Marie Victoria of Edinburgh and consists of several main components:

⋅ Competitive programme in 4 genres : fiction, documentary, animation, experimental

⋅ ON FOCUS programme ⋅ Q&A sessions ⋅ Filmer Forge educational programme ⋅ Pitching session ⋅ Film industry market ⋅ Videolibrary ⋅ USHI FILM FEST – kids programme ⋅ MUSIC PALACE FEST – side musical programme

The winners of the 14th IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival will be announced by the international professional jury in the official award ceremony in Balchik and also representatives of Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Varna will present the awards of the 3 cities.

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IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival is organized by Format SFF Foundation and Municipal Center “Veshtina” in partnership and with the support of Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, Bulgarian Ministry of Youth and Sports, Municipality of Sofia, Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo, Municipality of Varna, Municipality of Balchik, National Film Center, National Palace of Culture, National Cultural Institute – Cultural Center “The Palace”, Sofia university “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Festival and Congress Center – Varna, Municipal Center “Nadejda – 1869”, Italian Cultural Institute, Italian Embassy, Instituto Cervantes in Sofia, Spanish Embassy and others.

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III. PROJECT INFO & ACTIVITIES

The short-term volunteer program of “Veshtina” Municipal Center offers young people from different countries the opportunity to get an inside touch of the organization and working process of an international cultural event. Volunteers are engaged in tasks related to the promotion of events, getting familiar with their own atmosphere and venues, and tasks, developing creativity in the fields of audiovisual and music arts, journalism, design and photography. Leading goal is to quickly adapt to the environment and to form a specific attitude for the upcoming events. Analysis and assessment of personal qualities and interests is also important, since based on them will be done the distribution in teams. In the phase of actual conduct of the event the tasks of the volunteers are related to specific details in organizing events. Young people are divided into teams, as many of them serve on a rotating basis in order to explore in more detail the organization and implementation of an international cultural event, and to acquire more knowledge and skills in the field of cultural and event management. The aim of the project is to allow young people interested in culture and arts to participate in the organization and implementation of these events, while having access to all parallel programs. During their short-term service volunteers will meet other volunteers under Erasmus+ program in Bulgaria.

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Activities:

⋅ Phase of preparation the events:

• Familiarity with the history, sights and location of the main venues of the events; • Introduction to the events programs and themes; • Creation of promotion strategy and organization of activities promoting the events

and volunteering; • Distribution of promotional posters and other materials of the event; • Administration of communication channel in social networks and video sharing

platforms, dedicated to the events; • Meeting with ordinary representatives of the local community and participants in the

initiatives - interviews with them regarding the upcoming events, filming short reports;

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• Preparation of the main locations of the events – cleaning, branding, decorating, etc.; • Administration of the communication channel in the social networks and video

sharing platforms, dedicated to the project and the participating volunteers; • Creation of a short film on the participation of volunteers and Erasmus +.

⋅ Phase of the actual conduct of events:

• Implementation of the final promotional wave - distribution of posters and other

promotional materials; • Controlling the access to events locations; • Providing detailed information on the events; • Preparation and observance of schedule with arrivals and departures of festival

guests; • Welcoming the events guests and participants, and coordination of their

accommodation and transport; • Assistance and support of special guests, members of institutions, lecturers, etc.; • Planning and managing media campaigns; • Preparation of press releases, publications, preparation of press materials with

facts and statistics about the events; • Practical application of skills in working with video and photo camera.

⋅ Phase after the actual conduct of events:

• Bringing the events locations in their original form; • Support for the departure of the official guests of the events; • Implementation of post-events promotion campaign performance; • Analysis and evaluation.

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III. PROJECT ACTIVITIES LOCATION Balchik is a small and romantic town on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, known with its white cliffs and tiered houses, its narrow streets and picturesque surroundings. The town has a history spanning over almost 3000 years. During that period it was known as the ancient Greek colony of Krouni, the Greek and subsequently Byzantine fortress of Dionyssopolis, mediaeval Bulgarian town Karvouna and the Ottoman and later again Bulgarian town of Balchik. The town was named after the Boyar Balik who once owned it and ruled over it. In the 1913-1940 period Balchik was under Romanian administration. One of the most interesting places in the vicinity of the town is the architectural park complex "The Palace" (Format SFF Foundation events location), built by the Italian architects Amerigo and Agustino within the period 1920-1936. It was the former summer residence of the British princess and Romanian Queen Marie of Edinburgh.

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IV. ACCOMMODATION Short term volunteers will be accommodated in shared rooms with the other volunteers participating in the project. Accommodation could be in dormitories, bungalows, hostels, family hotels, hotels or private houses that the organization already has previous experience by working with them. Places of their stay will be located in the city of Balchik in a walk distance from the working places.

Participants in the project are responsible for keeping living and working area clean. During their participation in the project volunteers are responsible about the equipment in the living place. They need to act in a good manner and follow the generally accepted norm of behavior.

V. POCKET MONEY & MONEY FOR FOOD Volunteers will receive once 100 euro assistance for food (in order to manage their meals on their own demand) and also the amount of 3 euro for pocket money per day. The installment will be paid within the first 5 days of the project.

Currency: 1 Euro = 1.955 lev (BGN).

VI. WORKING DAYS AND VACATIONS During the project the volunteers will be working in full time working week + 1 hour lunch break per day.

Weekends are days off. In case of implementation of different activities in projects which are going during the weekend these days will be lately compensated.

Volunteers have 2 vacation days per month. They are able to use all the vacation days all at ones (need to be discussed and confirmed by the supervisors first).

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VII. TRAVEL EXPENSES Travel costs can be reimbursed to the volunteers, based on real expenses: all original receipts and invoices need to be provided. Eligible travel expenses are travels by plane, train and bus (project does not cover traveling by taxi). The amount of reimbursement is fixed by the program and depends on the distance from the partner organization country to the venue of project activities (Balchik) as given below:

Portugal 360 euro Spain 275 euro Italy 275 euro Latvia 275 euro

VIII. PARTICIPANTS PROFILE • Interested in culture and arts; • Easy adaptable; • Social; • Positive; • Tolerant; • Helpful; • Teamwork; • Active and initiative; • Planning and organizing; • Responsible; • Ability to work under pressure; • Ability to work under deadlines.