Can we turn Sofia into a greener and cleaner city, with a balance between its development and greenery? Yes, it is possible – thanks to the Shaping Sofia platform of Global Shapers, aimed at the improvement of urban environment. It was launched some 10 years ago, thanks to the World Economic Forum and with the idea to unify young people willing to improve the surrounding environment. The initiative gathered quick support in over 150 countries with more than 300 local hubs established. Young volunteers have joined their efforts there looking for solutions to the concrete problems that cause their concern. The center /Global Shapers Sofia or Sofia hub/ has existed in Bulgaria for a few years now and in early October it organizes its first forum, aimed at Sofia’s landscape architecture.

“The idea is to raise this discussion to the common urban planning and common development plan level, as far as Sofia is concerned,” moderator of the forum Angel Ivanov points out. “We have heard of some municipal initiative that tries to take a look at the problem from the macro perspective, establishing a common geographical map with a passport of each tree in Sofia. This process is really serious and important, as it turns out that a great share of Sofia’s vegetation was created in the early 20^th century, so the species selected were complied with the urban conditions of that period.”

Many of those species have found it hard to grow with the new urbanization pace – so, some of them have to be renewed or replaced with some other suitable vegetation. The incompetent trimming of the trees also results in the destruction of numerous species. The ones responsible for this are private companies that have won public procurements of the Sofia Municipality. Furthermore, Bulgaria has no legislative rules in the sphere of tree trimming and shaping – so, the executing companies often ‘decapitate’ mature trees, which harms their growth for good. The new branches are more fragile and more easily breakable and that is a new danger for passersby as well. The frequent road repairs that result in the destruction of many species are also an issue, while the restoration of the green areas afterwards turns out to be a tough task. The discrepancy is due to the shared responsibility between repair companies and the ones for landscape architecture, after the end of the reconstruction works. According to Angel Ivanov, this allows them to pass the ball from one to the other:

“The municipality often uses for these repairs amateurs and companies that are not certified to work with trees. Those haven’t even covered arboriculture courses – the reason why they leave visible and sustainable traces on the trees.”

This issue and others raised at the discussion found their concrete answers and possible solutions among the experts who all agreed that clear landscape architecture rules were necessary, alongside the respective sanctions for violations. Still, there is a long road between the directions agreed upon and the coordination between municipal companies, construction firms and the executors, up until the reaching of the goals. Only when people see concrete positive changes can we talk on a change of consciousness and of attitude towards urban environment.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev

Photos: Global Shapers Sofia and BGNES