is an organization uniting the interests of all member municipalities and encouraging strong and effective local self-government and active citizen participation in the Black Sea Region. UBBSLA coordinates the activities of its member in the sphere of local government, energy efficiency, tourism, culture, transport, environmental and sustainable development. The Association organizes the efforts of its member-municipalities in solving common problems in the Black Sea region.
Services provided to member municipalities
- Conferences and international events
UBBSLA has significant experience in the organization and implementation of conferences, discussion forums, campaigns and seminars of regional, national and international level.
- Technical assistance
UBBSLA provides technical support and assistance to member municipalities for solving specific problems arising in the municipalities and dissemination of good practice they gained in local self-government.
- Innovative practices in the field of professional training and education
UBBSLA provides trainings as direct response to the specific professional needs and problems of the municipal servants and enhances the professional initiative and opportunities for professional development, supporting the national policy for life-long education. Since 2003 , UBBSLA has established Center for Education and Training to improve knowledge and skills of municipal officials, councilors, NGO representatives, etc.
- Information campaigns
UBBSLA supports all public activities of its member municipalities to spread their successful practices and generate official information for the self-government development in the Black Sea region. UBBSLA prepares, prints and distributes leaflets, brochures, guidebooks, and a monthly Newsletter to all member municipalities.
- Cross-border and interregional cooperation
UBBSLA conducts cross-border activities oriented to the establishment of open civil society, exchange of successful social development practices, encouraging the citizen participation in the process of economic, political, social and cultural dialogue. Representatives from twinned towns from Macedonia, Turkey and Greece and Hungary met with their Bulgarian partners and shared their experience in cross-border cooperation.
- Project management and implementation
UBBSLA undertakes the whole project cycle – identification, development and planning, and then implementation, monitoring and evaluation as a whole mandate or as individual consultancy services.
In the period 2003-2006, UBBSLA established three Regional Energy Agencies to support energy efficiency and environmental protection in the Black Sea region.
In 2005, UBBSLA is certified to provide services under the ISO 9001:2000 standard for quality management.
Since 2009, UBBSLA is a supporting structure of the European initiative “Covenant of Mayors” to achieve common goals in energy efficiency and environmental protection.
In 2011, UBBSLA was the main initiator of the creation of the Black Sea Energy Cluster. The cluster brings together representatives of business, academia and the non-governmental sector in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.
In 2012,UBBSLA formed the Black Sea Social Network for effective cooperation with active non-governmental organizations and institutions working in the social sphere.
In 2014, UBBSLA supported the establishment of the Institute for Youth Initiatives and Innovations, which works primarily in the field of youth employment, informal education, digitalization and innovation, sports and culture, environmental protection and historical heritage.