Bulgaria’s House of Engagement takes root: UNWE and TimeHeroes sign a volunteering partnership
The University of National and World Economy and the TimeHeroes Foundation — both partners in the HOME consortium — have formalised a long-standing collaboration, anchoring the Bulgarian “House of Engagement” within one of the country’s leading universities.
On 6 October 2026, the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) and the TimeHeroes Foundation signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of volunteering — turning years of informal partnership into a lasting institutional commitment, and giving the Bulgarian House of Engagement a permanent home on campus.
Both UNWE and TimeHeroes are partner organisations in the HOME project consortium, which brings together institutions from six European countries, and their memorandum deepens that European collaboration at the national level — translating a shared project into a durable local partnership.
The memorandum was signed by UNWE Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov and TimeHeroes Director Natalia Ivanova-Mravova. They were joined by Prof. Dr. Tsvetana Stoyanova, Vice-Rector for Institutional and Business Cooperation and Student Policies; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Denitsa Gorchilova, Head of the Public Administration Department; and Chief Assist. Prof. Dr. Violeta Toncheva-Zlatkova, Scientific Secretary of the Department — the memorandum’s coordinators on the UNWE side — together with Monika Simeonova, Marketing Expert and memorandum coordinator for TimeHeroes.
“Our students are very active in volunteering. They not only take part in various initiatives — they create them themselves,” said Rector Prof. Dimitrov, highlighting the many forms of partnership that allow students to complement their academic knowledge with hands-on experience and meaningful community engagement.
This culture of engagement already has deep roots at UNWE. Since the 2025/2026 academic year, the Public Administration Department has run its “University with a Cause” initiative, spanning “Internship with a Cause,” “Learning with a Cause,” and “EXPO with a Cause,” and has created the informal “House of Causes” club. “We firmly believe that the task of modern universities is not only to provide students with in-depth knowledge and practical skills, but also to develop their civic engagement,” noted Assoc. Prof. Gorchilova.
That “House of Causes” club is the Bulgarian House of Engagement — the local expression of the international HOME project. It gives UNWE students a single place to discover volunteering opportunities and civic-participation resources, powered by the joint student-volunteering platform developed within the project. Developing and promoting this shared platform will be a central focus of the partnership going forward.
Monika Simeonova presented a selection of the Foundation’s initiatives and reflected on the strong joint work with UNWE, noting that the memorandum will build on what has already been achieved and open the door to many new projects that inspire students to organise volunteering initiatives of their own.
Beyond promoting youth volunteering and civic participation, the memorandum sets out shared goals in human-capital and education development, and in designing and delivering joint projects under national and European programmes. Crucially for long-term impact, the partners will also explore ways to formally recognise students’ volunteering experience within their studies — through academic credits, recognition as practical placement, or another suitable form consistent with UNWE’s regulations.
As two of the project’s partners, UNWE and TimeHeroes have built one of a growing network of Houses of Engagement established across six European countries within the HOME project (“The House of Engagement and More”). By embedding its House in a formal university partnership — and working toward academic recognition of volunteering — Bulgaria offers a powerful example of how the HOME model can become a lasting part of higher education.
The HOME Project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.