1. Case-study No. & Title:
159. Improvements to the drainage system of the village of Vodolei: an initiative to promote the ecological balance of the village and to engage its Roma population in voluntary labour for the benefit of their own health and residential area (2000–2001)

1.1 Keywords:

2. Author information
2.1 Author’s Name:
Apostol Apostolov

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact Details:
The University of Birmingham
Centre For Russian and East European Studies
52 Pritchatts Road, Edgbaston
Birmingham
UK

Tel: +44 121 414 4293
Fax: +44 121 414 3423
E-mail: AKA899@bham.ac.uk (contact by e-mail preferred)

2.3 Date recorded:
28 October 2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice:
The good practice in this case concerns involving the Roma population of the village of Vodolei, Veliko Tarnovo region, in carrying out voluntary work to clean up the drainage system of the village and to contribute positively to the ecological balance of their surroundings. The village drainage system had long caused ecological problems in the area, as it was of out-of-date and badly maintained. The project aimed to make the drainage system more hygienic and to further improve the ecology of the village by planting trees and creating green spaces in appropriate places in the village. It was intended that the project be accomplished by providing an opportunity for the majority Roma population of the village to carry out most of the work involved, thus both improving the living and sanitary conditions in their own village and being given a chance to participate more widely in the social life of their village community.

3.2 Location:
The village of Vodolei, Veliko Tarnovo Region, Bulgaria

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
Minority: Roma; Target group: Indigenous Roma communities living in the village of Vodolei, Veliko Tarnovo Region, Bulgaria

3.4 Major Actors Involved:

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors:
2000 BGL – from the Ministry of Environment and Water

3.6 Timeframe:
The project proposal was sent to the Ministry of Ecology and Water by 8 September 2000, which was the deadline for submitting proposals. The results were announced on 21 September 2000. Immediately after it was known that the project application was successful, the applicants initiated the preparatory work. The project was due to start upon receipt of the funding. Part of the work will be probably done as early as November 2000. At the latest the project work will be finalised in March 2001. As a whole, the project should comprise one month’s work.

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy:
The project in question is a good example of co-operation between the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Roma organisation ‘Kupate’ and the local government of the village of Vodolei. The Ministry of Environment and Water had announced an open competition for funding of projects on cleaning up polluted living areas and laying out green spaces and planting trees in regions with concentrated Roma populations. The Roma organisation Kupate responded to this competition, coming up with this project proposal. They have done so with the support of the local government of the village of Vodolei. Thus, the project serves to implement the government’s policy of working towards the improvement of the living and health standards of the disadvantaged minority groups in the country, of which Roma people are one. The initiative for the project is, however, rooted in the local government and the minority organisation’s concern for the inhabitants of the village of Vodolei.

4. Good Practice Description:
In response to an open competition announced by the Ministry of Ecology and Water, Kupate – a Roma organisation from the Region of Veliko Tarnovo – with the full support of the local government of the village of Vodolei, put up a project aiming to resolve the long-standing problems of the drainage system running through the village of Vodolei in the Region of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. The competition’s objective was to identify the project which would prove to be most economical in cleaning up pollution from household garbage in living areas or regions in Bulgaria with concentrated Roma populations. The competition was part of a larger national campaign for a ‘clean environment’.

Apart from being organised with the co-operation and support of the local government of the village of Vodolei, Kupate’s project proposal was also supported by the regional government administration of the region of Veliko Tarnovo and personally endorsed by the expert on ethnic issues at the same administrative authority, Mr Sasho Angelov. In his reference to the Ministry of Ecology and Water, Mr Sasho Angelov expressed his belief that the realisation of the proposed project would be in full accordance with the current policy of the state government to successfully integrate minority groups into the social activities of the country, as well as really solving community problems. The project was indeed on a modest scale an example of good practice in relation to the Roma, as its intention was to give Roma people themselves the opportunity to participate in an initiative to improve the living conditions and health standards in the village of Vodolei in which Roma account for 80 per cent of the residents. Thus the project would secure the funding and organisation required to realise the initiative, while the Roma people would themselves contribute to providing better and healthier living conditions in their own residential areas.

Fifty Roma people responded to the call for voluntary participation in the realisation of the project. The funding was due to be transferred to the applicants’ bank account by the end of October 2000. Preparation to secure work materials, tools and machines commenced straight away. The project was designed to be accomplished within one month. The actual work on carrying out the project was set to begin as soon as the weather conditions permitted (the first half, namely the cleaning up, would most likely be accomplished in November 2000 and the seond half – involving the creation of areas of grass –in March 2001).

The project itself became possible because of the state government’s attempts to implement their policy of promoting the participation of ethnic minorities in the wider social, cultural, ecological and other communal activities in Bulgaria. As part of the national campaign for a ‘clean environment’, the state government has considered it appropriate to pay special attention to and to invest more money in regions with concentrated Roma populations, as there is a great need for improving the living conditions in these regions. Previous governments have shown little concern for these issues and the Roma minority’s living problems have thus received scant attention. The Roma organisation Kupate has shown a long-standing concern for many Roma communities in the region. It promptly identified an area in need of urgent action and contacted the local government of the village of Vodolei to discuss the application of a potential project for state governmental funding. The local government was in favour of Kupate’s initiative and agreed to participate in the necessary organisational work.

The project is linked to several of the priorities set out by the state government in the context of its policy to further the integration of Roma people in Bulgarian society at the same time as addressing the socioeconomic problems faced by this ethnic minority. Among the seven top priorities in this respect, the following relate directly to the present project: