Sofia, Bulgaria: Desislava Bileva, mayor of Stolich, informed through her social media account that together with 20 “Todor Minkov” Primary School – Sofia, Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality, Yordanka Fandakova and the Mayor of Triaditsa Region Dimitar Bozhilov, the Sofia Municipality officially opened the first stage of the climate hub in 20 Todor Minkov Elementary School.
She stated that this project was very special to her for several reasons. It is the first in a series of green projects – Creating a Shared Green Space (Climate Hub), funded under the National Trust EcoFund’s “Climate MicroProjects” program, which the Sofia Municipality will implement in several metropolitan schools.
Describing her happiness on her official Facebook account, Beliva wrote, “I believe it’s off to a good start because the beauty of this place is invigorating, inspiring, magical”.
“This project has also become my personal mission because we succeeded despite the initial difficulties in its implementation, thanks to the Green System, Ecology and Land Use team. We revived a boring grey yard and transformed it into a place where children enjoy resting and playing”.
While expressing appreciation, Mayor Beliva remarked that this happened with the great support, trust and hosting of the principal, Mrs Timova and the whole team of this beautiful metropolitan school.
“Interestingly, are 20 schools located in the heart of the city. You see, it’s surrounded by car traffic, buildings. This is the familiar environment in major cities. The effect is a heat island that is felt particularly strongly in the paved schoolyard. “, Mrs Fandakova said about the project.
“With the scientific community in Sofia, representing the University of Lesotechnical, we studied the effects of urban heat island and their recommendations for overcoming this problem. Now you see how a small space, already completely changed, with landscaping, with possibilities for children to play. “, she added.
The project includes the construction of green stripes, new benches, and trees around the school fence, which will eventually serve as natural noise and dust insulation. The Sofia Municipality also built an outdoor classroom to encourage children to spend more time outdoors in nature.
This project is expected to be multiplied to two more schools, one of which is the elite Thomas Jefferson Second English High School.
The Mayor of Stolich underlined that she has two goals for this project. To improve the quality of the environment in which children learn and to raise awareness of climate change, their social commitment is to teach them through daily actions to help combat climate change.