From Insights to Policy: Stara Zagora's 4th RFLL!

The fourth Regional Futures Literacy Lab (RFLL) in Stara Zagora offered a stimulating deep dive into how local communities imagine their future and the policies that could help them get there. Building on seed statements developed in earlier workshops and tested through Pol.is, the RFLL presented the region’s most popular (and least popular) ideas before opening the floor to reflection and discussion.

The conversations centred around three key themes: education and critical thinking, digitalisation and local development, and economic decentralisation with vocational training.

Education and critical thinking

One of the strongest messages from the RFLL was concern over how education is preparing young people for a changing world. Participants noted that an overreliance on digital tools risks undermining students’ ability to think critically and interact socially. The curriculum currently leaves little space for debate, discussion, or philosophy, limiting opportunities to strengthen analytical and civic competences. Compounding this, many teachers feel unprepared to use innovative methods that would better equip students for an uncertain future.

Therefore, the central goal revolves around ensuring that students are better equipped for a changing labour market, with the skills to adapt, reason critically, and participate actively in society. This ambition can then be supported by the following policy recommendations:

• Develop a national strategy to integrate critical thinking and civic education into schools, ensuring students are prepared for democratic participation and labour market shifts.

• Launch regular teacher training on participatory and digital learning methods, helping educators strike a balance between technology and dialogue.

• Promote extracurricular activities and civic workshops to strengthen soft skills, encourage debate, and enhance community engagement.

  
  

Digitalisation and local development

As Stara Zagora transitions beyond coal, many see the region as a potential digital innovation hub. However, several obstacles stand in the way: schools and institutions often lack modern equipment, leaving students with significant skill gaps, while the absence of coworking spaces makes it harder to foster start-ups and collaboration. Participants also pointed to limited funding as a continuing barrier, restricting digital inclusion and innovation at the local level.

In this context, the central goal is to ensure inclusive digital growth and sustainable job creation in the post-coal economy. Achieving this requires investment not only in technology, but also in people’s capacity to use it effectively. The following policy recommendations were put forward, many of which echo suggestions for education:

• Organise cross-school workshops to develop digital, social and critical thinking skills, ensuring students are adaptable, well-rounded and therefore resilient.

• Update curriculum and teaching methods again so that digital tools supports, rather than replace, essential skills like writing, discussion, and analysis.

• Provide structured digital training for teachers while promoting collaboration with ed-tech providers, ensuring technology aligns with real educational needs.

Economic decentralisation and vocational training

The discussion also turned to the issue of economic vitality in the region. Participants argued that restrictions from central government limit the ability of local authorities to respond effectively to their communities’ needs. At the same time, skills gaps between education and the labour market persist, leaving many young people without pathways to stable employment. Weak infrastructure further hampers efforts to retain talent, contributing to depopulation and regional decline.

Against this backdrop, a primary goal is to revitalise local economies and reduce depopulation by empowering regions to take greater control over their development. To move towards this outcome, participants proposed the following policy recommendations:

• Decentralise industry and empower local governments to design policies, tax measures, and support adapted to their economies.

• Encourage joint investment in vocational education by municipalities, employers, and the Ministry of Education, aligning skills with real job opportunities and tackling youth unemployment.

Connecting policy ideas to real opportunities

After all recommendations were shared, facilitators invited decision-makers and civil servants to reflect on where these ideas could realistically take root. They mapped out opportunities at the EU, national, regional, and local levels, as well as cross-cutting spaces where collaboration can steer impact.

EU level

Relevant arenas include the Just Transition Mechanism, the European Social Fund+, and the Digital Education Action Plan. Participants’ proposals on digital education and infrastructure, along with a focus on decentralisation, fit well here. EU funding is a powerful enabler for both education reform and regional development, but only if aligned with national strategies to access and direct resources.

National level

Key frameworks are the National Education Strategy, Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy, and the Digital Transformation Strategy. This links to policy recommendations regarding curriculum reform to integrate critical thinking and civic education to align with labour market need, and teacher training and digital learning integration

Important to note is that most reforms require coordination with ministries. While systemic rigidity poses challenges, participants saw opportunities through national consultations and pilot projects.

Regional level

Opportunities lie within Regional Development Plans and education infrastructure programmes. Proposals such as STEM-focused education and greater regional autonomy in economic development could be advanced here. Regional authorities are well placed to test pilot initiatives, but stronger coordination between municipalities and regional departments will be essential.

Local level

Municipal programmes, youth services, and business support schemes offer direct entry points. Relevant ideas include extracurricular activities and civic forums, coworking spaces and upskilling initiatives, and municipal-business partnerships for vocational training. Local governments are agile and able to act quickly, though budget limitations mean partnerships with NGOs and private actors will be salient.

Cross-level opportunities

Finally, participants highlighted the value of public-private partnerships, NGO-led innovation, and EU-funded pilot schemes. Spaces such as digital innovation hubs or educational consortia were seen as particularly promising, providing room to test experimental governance models across multiple policy levels.

This lab wrapped up the RFLL series in Stara Zagora. Before closing though, participants agreed on several concrete follow-up actions. Regional development agencies, for instance, committed to mapping existing educational and economic initiatives and linking them with EU and national funding programmes. Meanwhile, municipal authorities pledged to launch pilot extracurricular programmes on civic education and digital skills in local schools, as well as to open dialogue with businesses on vocational training needs.

Continue following DUST to track how some of these recommendations evolve and to discover what’s being discussed in other regions.