Work

Burgas on Three Lakes and One Sea Report from the Bulgarian TCL Pilot

Year: 2025

Type: report

Abstract: Executive Summary | Burgas on Three Lakes and One SeaEmpowering coastal communities and raising public understanding of the role that coastal wetlandsand the sea play in shaping everyday life are increasingly pertinent global tasks. “Burgas on ThreeLakes and One Sea,” a pilot vision launched by the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation (BBF) in April2024, responded to them by experimenting with a range of initiatives in the growing coastal city ofBurgas on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The pilot was developed and run by BBF in collaboration withDr. Anna Antonova (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) as part of the EU-funded HorizonEurope consortium EmpowerUs (Grant No. 101059957). This report summarizes the main activities, chief accomplishments, and key takeaways from theeighteen-month run of the “Burgas on Three Lakes and One Sea” pilot. Overall, the pilot vision aimedto bring Burgas citizens closer to the three lakes surrounding the city: Atanasovsko, Vaya, and Mandra.Its work extended under the following three aspects: connectivity (especially in terms of cycling butalso more broadly in the sense of integrating the lakes as assets for local development); education(advancing ocean literacy and citizen science); and empowerment of communities (strengthening therole of local community anchors in local and regional governance). As a result of its multifaceted activities over the course of the pilot, BBF substantially expanded itsown focus, reach, and visibility in the Burgas region. Further, several of the pilot’s initiatives havealready informed visionary planning on the municipal level. Overall, this work demonstrates theimportance of leveraging positive initiatives, community-building, and cross-sector collaboration toachieve sustainable coastal development.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22130340

Authors: Antonova, Anna, Tzenova, Radostina, Marinova, Gloriya, Kostovska, Diyana

Institutions: Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation

Language: English

Topic: Coastal and Marine Management

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: green

Funder: European Commission