Partner Profile – Future Now Bulgaria
Our mission is to enrich the process of personal development and learning, inspired by nature .
Our goal is to create a sustainable and effective training organisation and a harmonious team working with care and love.
The main activities of the organisation are youth work, non-formal education and personal development for children and youth, social integration of disadvantaged young people, Eco, Civil and HR education, employability support. We conduct training on a national and international level (Youth in Action, Erasmus + and Euro-Med IV programmes), EVS projects, children camps, training for teachers, extracurricular activities in schools.
The main objectives of NC Future Now are – Developing alternative educational programs; Environmental education for children and youths; Promoting Non-formal education; Social integration of young people with fewer opportunities; Development of Youth work in Bulgaria.
NC Future Now is member of networks CEEweb for Biodiversity, Rückenwind – Support of young people with fewer opportunities and Network for sustainable exchange Alive places.
NC “Future Now 2006” runs outdoor an educational centre “Nature school” for promoting sustainable practices and outdoor education for children and youth.
Characteristics of the place
Educational centre “Nature school” is situated in the old school building in the nearly abandoned village Gudevica, surrounded by beautiful nature, high in the Rhodopy Mountains. There are a lot of natural phenomenons around – Springs of Arda River, Uhlovica and Golubovica caves, Peak Kom and also natural reserves. Today only 18 people live in the village.
NC Future Now have made lots of efforts to reconstruct the building and to establish a non-formal education centre there. The centre is still in the process of modernisation but now we can provide good conditions for learning. We do a lot of activities for children, youth and adults there and the organisation possess full outdoor equipment for camping (tents, mates and sleeping bags) for the ones who are in an adventurous mood☺.
Accommodation is in a village house (hut-type) with a big communal sleeping room. There is also the possibility to use tents and camping equipment for free if anybody wants. In the house there are two bathrooms with hot water produced by solar panels. There is also an external bathroom (with amazing view of the sunset). The rooms and beds are equipped with bed sheets and sleeping bags. In the centre there are in total 5 toilets – two internal and 3 external.
The place is VERY RURAL AND REMOTE. So you have to be prepared to live very close to nature, in a small community very far from the city civilisation!!!! It will be perfect if you like outdoors and country life.
Food
We serve rich healthy VEGETARIAN food. It will include products from local farmers, homemade cheese, butter and milk, lots of vegetables and grains and homemade bread. The food will be prepared by a professional cook. We also cater for any special diet and allergies regarding food.
We always strive to offer a warm welcoming to you in Rhodopi Mountains. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us athome@gudevica.org .
The Educational centre “Nature school” is situated deep in the mountains next to the Greek border in a sparsely populated region. There is NO PERMANENT WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS in the centre. Also not all cell phone companies have network coverage there. In case of urgent need there are possibilities to use wireless internet modem with slow speed and capacity (suitable for e-mail).
The Educational centre “Nature school” is in Gudevica village, Smolyan district, Bulgaria.
The main destination is Sofia. You can reach Sofia by plane (preferably before noon). If somebody decides to arrive earlier you will need accommodation (finding cheap hostel and helping with transportation).
Despite everything, however, “Nature School” conditions are very basic. We live in an environment with limited resources aiming to protect, save and share them. We prefer to sleep in tents or under the stars and that is what we teach our children. Hot water in the centre is provided by solar panels. We use biodegradable cleaning products in the kitchen and try to stick to natural materials in our activities.
