Description of Bluelink:

Bluelink’s primary mission is to provide a free virtual network offering a broad variety of Internet based services for all interested stakeholders involved in issues related to environment, natural resources, sustainable development, democracy and civil society.  The objective of the forum is to heighten participant capacity by encouraging information sharing and joint-problem solving through networking. In addition, Bluelink works to increase awareness at the community level, and encourage greater interaction among government, civil society and media sectors in order to enhance the environmental decision-making process on regional, national and international levels.

Main Activities:

Beyond the primary mission of providing a virtual space to support information synergy among environmental stakeholders, Bluelink continues to branch into activities that work to incorporate additional NGO sectors (e.g. vulnerable populations and community development). Activities have also focused on improving vertical integration by building communication opportunities between environmental stakeholders, governmental organizations and media. One particularly successful program has been the development of an online voting tool which helps elect individuals from society into government committees as a means for equalizing representation in the decision making process. Core activities also focus on the organization of workshops to promote networking and training in particular environmental and development areas; assuming coordination and information dissemination roles in specific regional or community projects; and ongoing involvement with environmental stakeholders and organizations at the international scope. 

Main target audience:

The NGO sector remains Bluelink’s primary target audience under the notion that in heightening the capacity of environmental civil society participants will be better equipped to extend their intended services to other sectors of society. In addition the building of communication and networking among environmental stakeholders will help to create opportunities for representation within the decision and policy making process.

Our basic message we want to bring across: 

The scope and breadth of BlueLink activities are aimed at making a positive contribution to the development of civil 
society by providing an opportunity to unite various environmental stakeholders in order to enhance capacity, 
exchange information and ultimately improve the individual processing abilities of all involved participants. Such 
development is ultimately viewed as an opportunity for greater civil society representation within the broad 
environmental sphere. 

Membership:

BlueLink is the Bulgarian member of the Association for Progressive Communication (www.apc.org) - an international network of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment, through the strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), including the internet.