During the 19 years of transition period, numerous positive changes have happened in Bulgaria's local government, but still there is a lot to be done. Most of the programs and projects regard mainly the citizens in the municipal centres, leaving the villages as a "second priority". People living in the rural areas do not get the same quality and access to public services and information, and they are not able to develop any competitive business and tourism. That leads to depopulation of rural areas and uneven social and economic development.
In 2007 in Lovech a Future Search Conference was organized with over 100 participants from the villages and from the three municipalities. Stepping on analyses of the potential of the region, the people from the villages suggested ideas and activities for the development of the region. A document was elaborated based on their ideas - "A program for the development of the Devetaki Plateau". The Devetaki Plateau Association was established after a proposal made by the participants in the Future Search Conference. The present project is based on the data and the findings of the analyses, the ideas and the proposals of the local people. The project aims at increasing the access to Internet and the quality of the public services for the people in the villages, the motivation of people to live and do business there, hence - sustainable development of the region of the Devetaki Plateau by introducing Information and communication technologies (ICT). The region covers parts of three different municipalities - Letnitsa (5 600 citizens), Lovech (61 000 citizens), and Sevlievo (42 000 citizens).
The introduction of ICT is an essential element of sustainable development for it helps people have better and faster services, information, and update them on new trends and possibilities. In this respect the project plans to establish Information and Service centres in the nine villages on the Plateau, providing public services, information and tourist materials. The project also plans a training on general computer skills for the people in the area.
In addition, there are a lot of successful examples of sustainable tourism development. It is most often focused on preservation of natural resources, promoting of outdoor recreation and motivation of the youth for doing out-of-school activities in the nature. In early 2008, some small steps have been made by the Association “Devetaki Plateau” with the support of the municipalities for creating several tourist routes and small-size tourist infrastructure. However, for making the Plateau an attractive place for living and a tourist destination, the people still have a lot to learn.
Norway's experience in this field is a combination of long-time tradition and modern practices. The Norwegian partner, the Association of Intermunicipal Outdoor Recreation Boards has numerous successful examples of sustainable tourism development projects. They have 20 members in the whole country and they support them in elaborating programs for outdoor recreation and public health, constructing shelters, picnic places, and natural paths. With their assistance the project promoter will organize a workshop for the representatives of the villages on topics like: developing small-size tourist infrastructure, examples on how to build paths, resting-places, play-grounds for children, and other facilities for outdoor recreation and tourism. They will also share how they use internet and web for information to promote their activities. Based on their presentation, the people from the Plateau will develop their own small infrastructure projects. The best of them will be implemented in cooperation with the municipalities who are additional partners. The implementation and the construction works will be coached by the Norwegian partners. All the activities will be implemented in close cooperation with the municipalities who are the additional partners of the project promoter. They will support the establishment and the maintenance of the Information and Service Centres as well as the implementation of the demo-projects.
As a result of the project the people in these nine villages will have more accessible public services and information thanks to the ICTs introduced. They will increase their capacity to design environment-friendly tourist infrastructure and offer outdoor recreation. The implementation of the small projects for application of the knowledge acquired in the training will enrich the wholesome tourist potential of the region. All these, together with some publications on the historical heritage of the region, promotion brochures and a web site in Bulgarian and in English will help making the Devetaki Plateau an attractive place for living, tourism, out-of-school activities and outdoor recreation. A window will be opened to the world for these nine villages. And, reciprocally, a window for the world to the Devetaki Plateau.