Deaf.BG’s ongoing projects align with our mission to ensure equality for deaf people and are focused on two main directions:
Projects
Direction 1: Development of Deaf Specialists and Leaders. This direction aims to cultivate a core group of deaf specialists and leaders, including linguists, translators, trainers, and educators, who will actively engage with and contribute to Bulgaria's academic community.
Goals include:
- Empowering a critical mass of deaf sign language specialists in Bulgaria;
- Facilitating international exchanges with prestigious educational institutions such as Gallaudet University (USA) and Humboldt University (Berlin, Germany), focusing on sign language and deaf culture;
- Support in the establishment, enhancement, and advancement of the Bachelor's program in Bulgarian Sign Language within the field of Philology at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski";
- Providing research opportunities for deaf professionals;
- Contributing to the formulation and implementation of the Bulgarian Sign Language Act;
- Establishing and developing the Deafinitely Sign Academy as a training hub for Bulgarian sign language, catering to parents of deaf children, their teachers, and interpreters;
- Developing resources for Bulgarian sign language training to enhance the communication and language skills of deaf children and youth.
Key projects are:
"The Path to Inclusive Education for Deaf Children and Youth in Bulgaria" with support from the "Help Alliance" foundation, Lufthansa’s social initiative (2019-2023);
"Building Bridges for Deaf Leaders of Tomorrow" backed by the Google Impact Challenge (2021-2024);
"Creating Linguistic Environments for the Mental Well-being of Deaf Children in Bulgaria" with support from J&K Wonderland Group (2021-2024).
Direction 2: Empowerment of Deaf Leaders. This direction focuses on empowering deaf leaders to actively participate in implementing the Bulgarian Sign Language Act.
Goals include:
- Developing and executing a comprehensive program to empower a significant number of deaf leaders nationwide;
- Increasing awareness among institutional employees;
- Ensuring the provision of Bulgarian sign language in national and local level institutions.
Key projects are:
"Deaf Leadership: Civic and Professional Empowerment of the Deaf Community in Bulgaria" under the "Active Citizens" fund (2022-2024). This project is implemented with financial support amounting to EUR 88 640 provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. More details can be found at: www.activecitizensfund.bg
Launching an advocacy campaign to promote the implementation of the Bulgarian Sign Language Act at the local level.
