The University of Architecture, Civil Engineering & Geodesy (UACEG) was founded in 1942 as a Higher Technical School and is up to nowadays the largest educational body in the field in Bulgaria. It is known for its teaching for the environment and sustainable development.

Presently it has a full-time academic staff of 364 (and 486 part-time), and over 5 000 students (including about 350 foreign students and 50 PhD students) in its 5 faculties - Architecture, Structural Engineering, Hydrotechnics, Geodesy and Transportation Engineering. The recently fast growing number of foreign undergraduate students from the region was the reason for introducing also teaching in English at the Faculty of Structural Engineering since 2009. UACG is a member of AESOP (Association of European Schools of Planning), CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction), EAAE (European Association for Architectural Education), EAIE (European Association for International Education), ESDEP (European Steel Design Education Programme), IABSE (International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering), IATUL (International Association of Technological University Libraries), ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), ISSMGE (International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering), etc.

In the period 1991-2000 UACEG has participated in 15 TEMPUS projects. It has currently ERASMUS contracts with 67 schools from 28 countries and is an active partner in the ERASMUS-MUNDUS Programme (AUSMIP+ project, 2011-2015, partners from EU - Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and Bulgaria, and the Asia-Pacific region - Japan, Southern Korea, Australia and New Zealand) and CEEPUS programme (Urban Innovations Network). Projects and individual participations have been successfully developed within the NATO Science Programme, British Know How Fund, National Science Foundation of Switzerland, etc. The University has an abundant experience in EU-funded research projects related to the sustainable development topic: FP5 - INNOCONS project ("Innovation in the Construction Sector", 2001-2002), TempQsim project (“Evaluation and improvement of water quality models for application to temporary waters in Southern European catchments”, 2002-2006), PETUS project (“Practical evaluation Tools for Urban Sustainability”, 2002-2005); FP6 - AquaStress project, (2005-2009); and FP7: HYLOW project (2008-2012).

The UACEG has introduced two teaching modules on Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (a compulsory and an optional one) within the BSc Programme in Urbanism started in 2002 and a growing number of optional modules on various aspects of SD in other majors. A small scale university-funded research project was carried out (2010-2012) by a multidisciplinary research team to analyse potentials and challenges at the university for a more effective educational process in SD issues. The main focus of our activity within the HE4SD will be put on developing the capacity for interdisciplinary collaboration and providing a holistic approach to the education for SD at the University. The Departments of Urban Planning (Faculty of Architecture) and the Department Construction Materials (Faculty of Structural Engineering) will be the two leading units in the project, yet a ‘pool of committed experts’ will be gradually built in order to enable the integration of expert knowledge throughout all the 33 departments and all the majors taught in the University. Linking education to on-going research in the SD field is also considered a priority. The international activities of UACEG are coordinated by the Vice Rector for International Co-operation and Continuing Education and are administered by the International Relations Department (IRD). The financial management of the project will be carried out by the Department of Financial and Accounting Activities of the University, which has successful experience with numerous international educational and research projects.

Role of UACEG in the project:

• Coordinate the mapping exercise in Bulgaria and complete the template.
• Assist in the development of an online platform of resources as well as get familiarised and review the online tool.
• Translate project materials into the national language.
• Contribute to the bi-annual newsletters.
• Provide feedback to the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework.
• Contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of the project outputs, outcomes and future network activities.
• Participate and actively contribute to the discussions generated in regional and annual meetings, seminars and conference.

Operational and financial management:

• The project team will coordinate the above administrative and academic project activities.
• Financial administration will be handled by project team who will liaise internally with the institution’s finance department.