Sofia and the South Korean city of Sejong have signed the cooperation framework under the European Union’s International Urban and Regional Cooperation Programme 2021-2023 (EU IURC). The two cities will partner in:
– R&D activities in the field of transport, mobility and urban development;
– economic development;– net zero emissions, energy transition, and climate change;
– support to startups and SMEs;
– Science, academic and cultural initiatives.
The official Memorandum of Cooperation between the two cities to be signed after the ratification of the framework by the Sofia Municipal Council and the Municipal Council of Sejong. An official visit of the mayor of Sejong to Sofia is expected at the end of this year or in the spring of 2023.
A new dedicated webpage for hearing-impaired and deaf-blind people is now available on the website of the Sofia Municipality. The link to the webpage is in the upper right corner of the sofia.bg portal, marked with a special symbol (hands). For direct access please visit: https://bgsl.sofia.bg/bg/
The section aimed at the deaf community contains information in social activities, mobility, and sports. The content is presented through video postings in Bulgarian Sign Language.
The activity is part of the unanimously voted by the Sofia Municipal Council Action Plan for the adoption of the Law on Bulgarian Sign Language in municipal services. As part of the Plan, the appointment of Bulgarian Sign Language interpreters is also foreseen with the aim to ensure the delivery of administrative services to citizens at Moskovska 33, as well as provision of the necessary equipment to all regional administrations that allows simultaneous connection between hearing-impaired and deaf-blind people, the administrative officer on site and the translators.
Thus, Sofia Minusipality will become the first institution in the country to apply the Law on Bulgarian Sign Language and guarantee equal access to administrative services for the deaf and deaf-blind community.
Sofia will be among the first cities in Europe with a Digital Rights Strategy, along with Brussels, Paris and Tirana. Thus, our city will pioneer in the development and implementation of the Digital Rights Governance Framework in the European Union. The work on the Strategy is part of Sofia’s participation in the Digital Rights Governance Project developed by the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights, launched by the cities of Amsterdam, Barcelona and New York in 2018q which today represents a network of 50 cities from around the world helping each other in the greenfield of digital rights based policy-making.
The project aims to expand cities capacities so as to be prepared and equipped to lead digital transformation strategies that are people-centered and support sustainable urbanization towards the public good.
Sofia’s participation in the project is led by the Sofia Municipality’s digitization and innovation departmenr – Innovative Sofia. Find our more about the por on the projecject on the Coalition’s website here, as well as in the publication “Digitalization for the sake of digitalization alone is not enough.”, which presents Sofia’s vision for the digitalization of the city here.
All those who love Sofia can now take a look on how does the city looks like through the eyes of over 40 artists and their drawings of the city. The works are part of the collaborative art project The Sofianer, which brought together artists from Bulgaria and abroad to create a collection of covers of the imaginary magazine under the same name as a tribute to the cult covers of The New Yorker magazine. The project aims to celebrate the love for Sofia, show its surprising, funny or absurd sides and provoke a public debate about what kind of city we live in or want to live in. All illustrations can be seen on the project site at: https://sofianer.com/