“Local Festivals: A Resource of Local Communities for Coping with Crises” is an interdisciplinary project of IPhS, financed by the “Scientific Research” Fund under contract KP-06-Н45/5 dated 30.11.2020 with a three-year implementation period till 28.11.2024.
The aim of the project is to investigate the role of local festivals in activating, revitalizing and solidifying local communities, as well as to study the mechanisms and means by which they build local identity and act as a community mobilization resource to overcome crises.
To achieve this goal, the project includes the use of methods of participatory observation, focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with representatives of state and municipal institutions, organizers of local holidays, NGOs; representatives of the media, with Chinese volunteers from the Confucius Institute, in order to explore their potential for mobilizing the local community to deal with crises of a different nature. It is also planned to conduct a nationally representative empirical sociological survey among 800 persons aged 16 and over. Its purpose is to gather representative sociological information needed to verify the pre-established hypotheses mentioned in the project proposal.
The current project is aimed at generating qualitative new knowledge and foresees a wide range of activities for the dissemination of this knowledge. In this sense, it has significant theoretical and practical value in terms of its scope and depth. It is innovative and up-to-date both nationally and on a wider regional and international level. The project will provide valuable information and new knowledge gained from the quantitative and qualitative research conducted, which will be reusable for various research and management purposes.
Research team:
Prof. Dr. Habil. Maya Kelyian – project leader;
Ch. Assistant Dr. Kamelia Petkova – project coordinator;
Ch. Assistant Dr. Svetlana Hristova;
Ch. Assistant Dr. Chavdar Marinov;
Ch. Assistant Dr. Georgi Medarov;
Associate Prof. Dr. Stefan Videv – sociologist from the Agrarian University in Plovdiv;
Ch. Assistant Dr. Evelina Hein – specialist in Chinese language, culture and folklore from The University of Sofia “St. Kliment Ohridski”.
