Events organized by Akademika BG

Be Literate

Since 2009 Akademika BG has been organizing the Be Literate national campaign. The aim is to encourage correct spelling and promote literacy as an important skill. In halls or in the open, we conduct tests that are different for the different age groups. The participants who solve the test without mistakes receive awards and diplomas. During the tests we give free spelling consultations.

Show and game elements make the tests fun. The youngest find it interesting to guess the correct spelling of words.

Our spelling marathons designed especially for journalists and journalism students pass in a competitive spirit.

For 10 years we have organized more than 150 events with over 40,000 pupils, students and adults taking part in them. We have given out hundreds of prizes.

The central and regional media actively cover the campaign from the very beginning. Hundreds of teachers, principals and parents support the initiative and assist its implementation.

The Ministry of Education has supported the campaign during the years but it provided financing only in 2014. The events are carried out with the help of sponsors and donors.

The cause has been supported by companies such as MTel, Risk Engineering, Euro Fert, Chelopech Mining, Kozloduy NPP, ContourGlobal Maritsa Iztok 3, Maritsa Iztok Mines, as well as by many municipalities, including Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv, Gabrovo, Stara Zagora, Dobrich and Shumen. The initiative is also backed by a number of Bulgarian publishing houses.

The full history of the project and the interest it has attracted can be tracked in the special Be Literate category on the website, http://www.akademika.bg. The initiative also has its own Facebook page with 62,000 followers.

Green Olympics

For seven years now the Green Olympics has won supporters due to its scope and innovative way of conducting. Since 2011 nearly 5,000 children from the 1^st to the 12^th grade take part in the online tests every year. Since 2015 the Olympics has also featured live events from different Bulgarian towns. They combine a quiz with prizes and a short musical program. Since their start the Olympics have encompassed nearly 50,000 students, which makes them the largestenvironment-oriented educational initiative.

The Green Olympics are aimed at raising students’ environmental awareness and instilling an environmental culture in them. The Olympics are intended for students from the 1^st to the 12^th grade. They register in an online platform, zelenaolimpiada.bg, and take tests. The last question requires from them to write a short essay on a topic connected with environmental protection. The essay is crucial for determining the final winners. They are usually three, one from each education level: elementary, junior high school and high school. The winners receive their prizes at a special ceremony and are announced on the Facebook page of the Green Olympics.

The Green Olympics are held under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities. It is financed on a project principle through sponsorship. During the years partners of the initiative have been mobile operator Globul, the National Museum of Natural History, WWF and other organizations. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 the Olympics were financed under the Environment Operational Program.

Ecobreak

The Ecobreak project was created by Akademika BG to support the environmental education of adolescents. A special education program has been prepared for that purpose, including a short popular science presentation, a video lesson and an amusing quiz with prized, all three on an environmental topic. All materials have been developed by Akademika BG and have been agreed with the interests of children between the ages of 7 and 13.

Besides an education program the project also includes setting up school eco-clubs and supporting them with appropriate materials.

The Ecobreak – My Green City project won the second place in the Ten Responsible Business Awards 2012. Three consecutive editions of the project were carried out with the financial support of Coca-Cola HBC. The project encompassed more than 7,000 students from different Bulgarian towns and cities.

Information and photos from all events in Sofia and the country are posted on http://www.akademika.bg.

Ecobreak is an attractive extracurricular activity that to a certain extent makes up for the lack of an environment subject in the school curricula. It gives children practical knowledge about the ways everyone can contribute to environmental preservation.

Green Economy and Education Forum

The Green Economy and Education Forum was organized in 2013 by Akademika BG with the help of sponsors. Its aim was to build a model of efficient partnership between responsible businesses and the education sector. The good practices of Bulgarian companies, as well as foreign experience in the implementation of sustainable development projects, were shown during the forum. A special panel was dedicated to showcasing pupils’ and students’ green projects.

Simultaneous reciting of the poem I Am Bulgarian

Akademika BG’s initiative has no analogue in the Bulgarian history. It includes children from all ethnic groups and unites their cultural differences under the national flag.

The simultaneous reciting of the poem I Am Bulgarianis organized every year on the International Children’s Day, June 1. At 10 a.m. sharp children in schools and kindergartens throughout the country and in Bulgarian schools abroad recite the emblematic poem. Photos and videos are published on akademika.bg and in the social networks.

In 2011 and 2012 the participants in the initiative received greetings from Presidents Georgi Parvanov and Rosen Plevneliev.

The initiative is mainly the fruit of volunteer work of a special team of Akademika BG.

IT Week

The event is organized by Akademika BG and is aimed at supporting the connection between IT business and education. The first edition was opened by President Rosen Plevneliev and was held at Technical University in Sofiain late November 2012. Partners of Akademika BG in the event were companies MTel, Samsung, Nemetschek and Metodia, the Faculty of Computer Systems and Technologies and the Faculty of Telecommunications.

Besides a specialized exhibition there were also multimedia presentations of companies, products and projects, students’ workshops, a youth engineering competition, as well as opportunities for immediate contacts of the young people with their potential employers.

Partner in the second edition of the initiative was Vivacom. It was attended by representatives of the state administration too.

Both editions of the initiative were met with interest and received positive coverage in the media. Publications about them were posted on http://www.akademika.bg too.