Description and Mandate of the Chair

The Department of Media and Public Communications at the University of National and World Economy is now an official UNESCO partner and established as UNESCO Chair on Media and Information Literacy and Cultural Policies for Sustainable Development, this since October 2022.

The chair already started its work with two successful projects dedicated to the main pillars of the UNESCO Chair project:

• A research project on the topic of “Integration of media literacy in Bulgarian school and higher education” and we have lot ideas and testimonials about the next steps of our work on this topic;
• A report on the economic contribution of arts, cultural and creative industries, cultural heritage, and cultural tourism for the period 2008-2020.

Recent achievements in 2022:

• Published book “Media Literacy”: Authors (collective work): Svetla Stankova, Stella Angova, Mariya Nikolova, Ivan Valchanov, Iliya Valkov, Georgi Minev, Martin Ossikovski. ISBN: 978-619-232-675-3.
  Summary: Media literacy is one of the key competencies and skills for living and working in the 21st century. According to experts, media literacy and media education are part of the solution to the newest social and technological problems facing humanity. Media literacy education is a lifelong education, but it is particularly important to start at an early age, to be continued and upgraded in secondary and higher education with the efforts of all formal and non-formal institutions and organizations. The book “Media Literacy” is a result from a research project of a team from the Department of Media and Public Communications at UNWE. It presents the first of its kind in the Bulgarian scientific literature analytical review of the definitions of media literacy of foreign and Bulgarian experts and organizations, leading policies and strategies of international organizations working in the field of media education, national practices of many European and other countries. The results achieved in the field of secondary and higher education in our country have been thoroughly studied and the deficits in formal and non-formal education in this field have been highlighted. Within the research project, a survey was conducted with 534 teachers on the problems of media literacy in Bulgaria and in-depth interviews with experts in the field. Based on the research, the book proves the importance of media literacy for modern society and the need for active government policy for its development in Bulgaria.
• Workshop on the topic of “Disinformation” took place on November 29, 2022 in “Lev Tolstoy” secondary school in Sofia. Dr. Ivan Valchanov, the Media and Public Communications academic secretary and Radina Kirova, a 4th year student in “Media and Journalism” made a presentation, an educational game and a discussion with the students regarding the spread of fake news, reliable news sources and fact-checking.

(UNESCO No. 2022BG1586)
(Ver. 03-2023)