🏔️ 3 places. 1 car. 8 days in the Rhodope Mountains. Smolyan, Bulgaria, 10–19 October 2026 — and it costs you nothing. 🚗
This October, EVEC Athens is driving a three-person Greek team 🇬🇷 to Rural Voices, European Choices — an eight-day Erasmus+ training course in Bulgaria, up in the Rhodope Mountains town of Smolyan, for people who work with young people in rural, mountain and small-town communities. The car trip, your accommodation and all your meals are covered. You pay €0. 💸
🚗 The road trip
You don’t buy a ticket, you don’t hunt for connections, you don’t wait for a refund. EVEC Athens drives the three of you there and back, and the car is on us.
We leave Athens on Saturday 10 October and head north through Greece — past Lamia, Larissa and Thessaloniki — and up into the Rhodopes. We drive home on Monday 19 October, after the course ends. Think of the drive as day zero: by the time you arrive, you already know the rest of your team. 🇬🇷🤝
👉 Live somewhere along the way, such as Thessaloniki? Tell us in the application form and we’ll see whether a pick-up on the way works.
🏔️ What is this Erasmus+ training course in Bulgaria about?
Rural Voices, European Choices is an eight-day Erasmus+ training course — officially a professional development activity for youth workers — hosted by Young Improvers for Youth Development (YIYD), a youth NGO that has worked across the Rhodope region since 2015. It brings together a planned 16 participants from 7 countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, North Macedonia, Lithuania, Türkiye and Portugal) with 2 trainers.
The question it works on is simple and hard at the same time: how do young people in villages, mountain towns and remote areas get a real say in the decisions that affect them? Not a one-off consultation that goes nowhere, but the whole cycle — finding out what young people need, bringing them into the conversation, turning that into realistic proposals, putting them in front of decision-makers and following up on the answer.
It is built on four of the European Youth Goals: #3 Inclusive Societies, #4 Information & Constructive Dialogue, #6 Moving Rural Youth Forward and #9 Space and Participation for All.
No lecture hall. You learn by doing: simulations, forum theatre, fishbowl debates, case clinics, a field day in Smolyan, and a public Youth Participation Lab where you test your methods with local young people and stakeholders. 🎭
🗓️ Eight days, day by day
A normal day runs from 09:30 to 18:30, with breaks, and ends with a short reflection. Evenings are free or for voluntary intercultural activities.
✨ What you’ll bring home
💸 What’s covered
✅ Travel — EVEC Athens drives you from Athens to Smolyan and back, at no cost to you
✅ Accommodation — shared rooms in Smolyan for the whole stay
✅ Meals and coffee breaks — provided throughout the course 🥗
✅ The full programme, trainers, materials and Youthpass
⚠️ Not covered: travel and medical insurance (bring your European Health Insurance Card as well), personal spending, and anything outside the agreed package. You need a valid ID card or passport for the trip.
👀 Is this you?
This Erasmus+ training course in Bulgaria is for people who already work with young people — and that’s the role you’ll have in the room. You’re a fit if you:
- are 18 or older;
- are a youth worker, facilitator, volunteer coordinator or volunteer in direct contact with young people — through an NGO, a youth space, a school club, a municipality, a sports club or our own volunteering in Athens;
- will realistically be able to use what you learn afterwards, with the young people you work with;
- care about rural and small-town communities, inclusion and young people’s say in local decisions;
- can work in English — basic English is enough, and support is available; language shouldn’t stop you from applying;
- are free for the whole trip, 10–19 October, and for the online preparation meeting on Thursday 1 October (both are mandatory).
Heads up: it’s a road trip, but it isn’t a holiday. You’re expected in every session, on time, for the whole eight days.
🎒 Pack this
- 🧥 Warm layers, a waterproof jacket and comfortable closed shoes — Smolyan sits high in the mountains, October can be cool and wet, and the field day is on foot.
- 🏘️ One real participation challenge from your own community — something young people where you work struggle to have a say in. It’s your preparation task.
- 🧪 One method that worked, or failed, in your youth work, to share with the group.
- 🎤 A two-minute introduction to your organisation and your community — real stories, not a tourist brochure.
- 🍯 Something from home to share. The car means no baggage fees. 😉
📝 How to apply
To join this Erasmus+ training course in Bulgaria, apply through the EVEC Athens application form — the same form we use for all our calls. EVEC selects its three participants, and your motivation is what decides it. Start the motivation field with the word “Smolyan”, then tell us:
- what you actually do with young people — where, with whom, and for how long;
- one participation problem you see in your community: where young people don’t get a say, and why;
- what you’d do back home with what you learn;
- if it applies, which barrier you face yourself (one line is enough) and any support you’d need;
- confirmation that you’re free 10–19 October and for the online meeting on 1 October — and, if you don’t live in Athens, where you’d need a pick-up.
Aim for 150–300 words. Specific beats long.
📌 Important: submitting the form doesn’t confirm your place. You’re in once EVEC Athens has selected you and the host organisation has confirmed you in writing. Selected participants sign the host’s participant agreement and attend the online preparation meeting on 1 October.
Questions? Write to erasmus@evec.org.gr — we reply within 2 working days.
Organised for the Greek participants by EVEC Athens — European Voluntary and Educational Center Athens (sending organisation, Greece). Host: Young Improvers for Youth Development (YIYD), Smolyan, Bulgaria. Erasmus+ project 2026-1-BG01-KA151-YOU-000390579.
Read about our April road trip to Smolyan, discover more Erasmus+ opportunities, or browse all current open calls.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
