Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza”
Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” (BSoP) is a non-governmental non-profit organization with public benefit purposes, which has been training the political and civic leaders of Bulgaria since 2001. It is among the co-founders of the Network of Schools of Political Studies under the auspices of the Council of Europe. The network comprises of 21 members from different regions, including Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Northern Africa. Since 2023 the School is an ambassador of the European Citizens Initiative to Bulgaria.
BSoP has established itself as a leading organization for democracy strengthening during times of transition in countries from the post-Soviet Union, the Balkans and North Africa. In pursuing its mission to create a community of political and civic leaders based on the values of pluralism, tolerance, human rights and informed debate, BSoP has become a vehicle for transfer of expertise in the fields of leadership training of political, civic, business, media and professional leaders and institutional capacity building of organizations that run similar training programs.
Role in the Project
WP2 & WP3
Within the project framework, Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” will develop the “Foundations of Inclusive Citizenship Education” handbook under WP2 and contribute to WP3 by creating the “Impactful Civic Engagement for Future Administrators” module.
Final Dissemination Summit
It will also support New Bulgarian University in organizing the Dissemination Summit in Bulgaria.
People involved in the Project
Ivan Nachev
Executive Director
Ivan Nachev is the Executive Director of the Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza”. He is a Bulgarian political scientist and an expert on EU political integration. He graduated in Political Science from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and specialized in European integration at the Center for European Studies and the Center for European Governance at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Since 1993, he has been a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at New Bulgarian University. His academic interests include political theory and practice, European integration theories, as well as strategies and policy practices. He has served as the director of the political analysis and forecasting magazine Bulgarian Observer and as editor-in-chief of the journal Political Analysis. He is a member of the Bulgarian Association of Political Science, the European Studies Association (ESCA), and the Europe Team at the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria.
Mr. Nachev has published extensively on EU political integration, political elites, and the development of creative economies in EU member states, in Bulgarian, English, French, and Turkish.
Aleksandar Ilchev
Program Director
Aleksandar Ilchev is a program Director of Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza”. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Resource Management from the Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus, Germany and a Master’s degree in Sustainable Resource Management from the Technical University of Munich. His professional interests include sustainable development, energy efficiency, climate change, and the promotion of informed citizenship and civic engagement through education and inclusive governance.