From 10 to 12 September 2025, a team of Quality Label experts visited the centre to evaluate its fulfilment of the 15 Quality Label for Youth Centres criteria, which it has held since 2018.
The visit provided an opportunity for the expert team to meet the youth centre's leadership and staff, as well as key stakeholders in the Bulgarian youth sector at local and national levels.
The team was welcomed by the centre's director, Velichka Lazarova, and its pedagogical team. They discussed local youth activities and cooperation efforts with Nikolay Buhalov (the Deputy Mayor responsible for Sport, Youth Activities and Social Policies) and Georgi Tityukov (the Public Advisor and Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Youth and Sports), as well as representatives of the Plovdiv Student Parliament and the City of Plovdiv's Advisory Council on Youth and Sport.
The visit was also honoured by the presence of the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports of Bulgaria, Petar Mladenov, and the National Director of Youth Policies, Koloyan Stoyanov. They presented the context and priorities of youth policies in Bulgaria, including the creation of 19 new youth centres that will integrate the national network of youth centres. These centres will be inspired by the experiences and standards established by the Quality Label programme and the two centres that have received the label in Bulgaria.
Considerable developments have taken place at the Plovdiv Youth Centre since the last evaluation visit, including the consolidation of a large educational team and the expansion of working facilities with the addition of two new training rooms in an adjacent building.
The youth centre has a very stable and sustainable institutional and financial framework for the coming 4-year cycle and plans to foster programme links with Council of Europe priorities and cooperation with the Centre in the QL network.
Following the visit, the Quality Label expert team will make a recommendation to the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) regarding the renewal of the Quality Label for the Plovdiv Youth Centre. The final decision will be made at the next meeting on 17 November 2025.
- Marcos Andrade (Coordinator of the Quality Label for Youth Centres, Youth Department of the Council of Europe)
- Marialuisa Silvestrini, Member of the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ)
- Sergiu-Bogdan Imre (independent expert and rapporteur)
For detailed information on the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres consult the dedicated webpage.
