The closing International Conference was organized on 19-20 November 2007 in Vilnius by the Lithuanian partners. It was attended by a group of 9 persons from Bulgaria - representatives of the participating municipalities and from the project partner CWSP.

The purpose of the Conference was:

• To present explicitly the findings and results of the 3R research done by representatives from municipalities in Lithuania (Šiauliu, Širvintų and Ukmergės), Estonia (Kuresssaare and Narva) and Bulgaria (Sofia, Veliko Turnovo and Plovdiv). The research analysed the complexity of gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting in the daily work of municipalities 
• To discuss the overall project results between the experts from project partners countries.
• To raise active discussions on developing a model for promoting gender mainstreaming to be implemented by local and regional administrations and public authorities on the national levels.
• To provide proper grounds for developing the possible follow-up activities as well as dissemination of experience in the field of gender equality.

The conference was attended by civil servants, decision makers, gender equality experts, NGO representatives from the participating countries in the project: Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria and Sweden. The support of the Program "East-East: Partnership Beyond Borders" of the Open Society Institute in Lithuania which fosters cross-border partnerships and collaboration, made possible that also participants from the Czech Republic, Georgia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine could join the conference and learn from the project's experience.

The International Conference gave the opportunity of the participants in the project to exchange views, share their achievements and, in addition, to learn about other successful international practices. The organized working groups focused on different aspects of gender equality and local governance and came out with interesting analyses and suggestions. Follow-up cooperation on the issues was discussed between participants from different countries and were made recommendations for decision makers in regard to promote gender equality in municipalities.

The participants from Bulgaria presented all 3R surveys conducted in the country within the project.

Presentations of the Bulgarian group (in English):

The project in Bulgaria: 1_project_info_Bulgaria_EN.pdf (1011.14 Kb)

Equal access and equal opportunities for men and women to the municipal clubs for pensioners and people with disabilities in Sofia (Sofia)): 2_clubs_EN.pdf (48.13 Kb)

Vandalism to monuments of culture - factor for restricting the access of women to public space (Veliko Turnovo): 3_graffiti.pdf (1.08 Mb)

Attitudes of male and female students to internships in the kindergartens (Plovdiv): 4_kindergartens__EN.pdf (110.75 Kb)

School sports facilities - suitable for girls and boys (Sofia): 5_sport_EN.pdf (256.02 Kb)

Extra-curricular activities - need of rationalizing the free time of pupils to develop their interests and talents (Sofia): 6_programs_EN.pdf (167.69 Kb)

The project entitled "Equality for Local Development: Gender Mainstreaming in Municipalities" (2006-2007) is financed and implemented within the Community Programme relating to the Community Framework Strategy in Gender Equality (2001-2005). Sole responsibility for the contents of this publication lies with the authors, the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained there.

The project is supported in part by a grant from Foundation Open Society Institute (Zug).