On October 19-20, 2020, at the Central Military Club in Sofia was held a youth conference on "Climate Change and Security - The Voice of Youth to Overcome the Challenges", in which IRRSA had the pleasure to be a co-organizer with the Sofia Security Forum. The meeting was especially useful for the participants as they had the opportunity to learn more about climate change and climate policies and also to know how they themselves could influence climate solutions.
The conference was opened by Yordan Bozhilov, Chairman of Sofia Security Forum, Profs. Dimitar Dimitrov, Rector of the University of National and World Economy, Petko Kanev, Executive Director of the Centre for Human Resource Development, and Styliana Tasheva, member of Sofia Security Forum, who presented the results of a survey on knowledge and attitudes in the field of climate change. The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany H.E. Christoph Eichhorn, who made a remarkably interesting presentation on the topic of climate change, touching on key issues. Guest speakers were prof. Georgi Rachev, leading expert climatologist, Lieutenant Colonel Svetozar Bosilkov, expert at the NATO Centre of Competence for Crisis Management, and Georgi Stefanov, Head of the Climate and Energy Practice, WWF Bulgaria.
The second day of the conference was opened with a panel discussion, which was attended by Hristo Gadzhev, Member of the National Assembly, Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee and Member of the Defence Committee of the National Assembly, Boryana Kamenova, Director of Climate Change Policy Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Water, and Milena Andreeva, Director of Youth Policy Directorate. The other guest speakers on the second day were Prof. Dr. Violeta Bojanova- Vice President of the Agricultural Academy, Ms. Teodora Polimerova- Director of the Directorate "Climate, Energy and Air", Sofia Municipality, Assoc. Terry Vrabcheva - National Centre for Public Health and Analyses, Ministry of Health, Lachezara Stoeva - Head of Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Senior Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov - Director of the Directorate "State Control and Preventive Action", General Directorate "Fire Safety and Population Protection", Ministry of Interior.
During the conference, a simulation game was held in which the participants were divided into teams. Their task was to produce ideas to tackle climate change, with each group taking on the role of a different member institution of the National Expert Council on Climate Change. The conference also discussed the package of recommendations to address various climate and environmental issues to be presented to government institutions. During both the days of the event, the participation of the youth was active, and they asked their questions which piqued their interest. At the end of the conference, YOUTPASS certificates were handed out to the participants for their active participation.
