Postbank announces the winners of its CSR platform Universe of Opportunities

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The winning projects in each of the categories Digital Innovation, Education and Green Projects

won funding for a total of BGN 30,000. 

14 September 2021

The winners of Postbank’s innovative digital platform Universe of Opportunities were awarded on 14 September, during a special event at the University Botanical Garden in Sofia. It was created for the financial institution’s 30th anniversary in order to promote interesting ideas focused on social entrepreneurship for the benefit of society. Thirty out of 238 projects with potential in the key areas of Digital Innovation, Education and Green Projects reached the final stage of the competition, and after a decisive vote by a reputable jury, the three winners were selected in early September – one project in each category. The value of the financial support received by each winner is BGN 10,000, with which the author commits to a deadline for the implementation of the project within six months from the date of receipt of the funding. The host of the award ceremony was Niki Kanchev.

Three sensor devices with an intuitive interface – one for each category, were installed at the event venue, where the guests could see in detail the essence of the presented projects. The ceremony started with a short introduction and presentation of the finalists with video business cards, after which the official awarding of the winners began.

The Infinity Toy Box project – a platform for renting toys, books and games, won the first place in Digital Innovation category. It aims to introduce children and their parents to greener ways of consumption and the benefits of the circular economy. With the help of the platform, parents will be able to rent various educational items for their children to be used for a certain period of time and then easily to be replaced with new ones. The development of the platform started at the beginning of the year, and with the help of the funding it has won special educational boxes, suitable for children from 0 to 2 years of age, will be made.

The project, which earned an award in Education category, is the idea to build the Sofia Planetarium Andromeda, which plans to display astronomical and popular science films suitable for all ages, as well as to hold courses for children and teenagers. The project objective is to promote the natural sciences among the residents and guests of the capital, using innovative projection methods.

The winner in the third Green Projects category is the Clean Water initiative of the social enterprise Wonderful Garden, which employs 21 people with disabilities. The aim of the project is to provide own water source through deep drilling for clean water for the garden where flowers and vegetables are grown.

The Green Classroom project, which aims to stimulate the inclusion, identity building and discovery of alternatives for the development of children and young people from isolated villages in the Velingrad region, received a special incentive prize of BGN 2,500.

“This year is more special for Postbank, as we are celebrating our 30th anniversary. And we are happy that we were able to implement the project Universe of Opportunities now, as part of our active corporate social responsibility policy, which builds on our actions in the fields of education, environmental protection and promotes innovation in modern society. The platform sparked great interest among the public, highlighting many projects and good ideas for the benefit of society that deserve to be presented. The categories we selected at the start of the initiative fully correspond to the mission and values ​​of our bank, as we have never stopped offering innovative digital solutions for the convenience of our customers, to develop various green initiatives and to contribute to the educational achievements. We believe that the present today provides a universe of opportunities for our future tomorrow. All these good projects we have seen prove it completely. We thank the participants who were brave enough to share their creative ideas with us”, Dimitar Shoumarov, Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer and member of the Management Board of Postbank, said.

The projects that were admitted to participate in the competitive nature of the program had to meet a number of criteria, including innovation, quality and applicability. On the exclusively created innovative online platform www.30yearspostbank.bg everyone (citizen or non-profit organization) had the opportunity to present their attractive ideas with a focus on social entrepreneurship.

The 238 projects for the benefit of society, which participated in the grant competition, were distributed as it follows – 39 applications in the category Digital Innovation, 136 applications in the category Education and 63 in the category Green Projects. Through the platform, users had the opportunity to vote for a project of their choice until the end of July, thus identifying the 30 best ideas. During the last stage, an independent jury considered and evaluated the final applications, the methodology of which was based on a detailed analysis with verification of each idea of ​​compliance and eligibility – technical, financial and creative.

The expert jury was composed of:

  • Mrs. Petia Dimitrova, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Management Board of Postbank, as well as Chairperson of the jury;
  • Mrs. Krassimira Velichkova, Director of the Bulgarian Donors’ Forum;
  • Mr. Momchil Vassilev, Executive Director of Endeavor Bulgaria;
  • Ognyan Trayanov, Chairman of the National Council of the United Nations Global Compact in Bulgaria and Executive Director of TechnoLogica EAD;
  • Svetlin Nakov, Co-founder and Manager of Training and Inspiration – SoftUni.

More information about the digital platform, as well as the winners in the three categories, can be found at www.30yearspostbank.bg.

 

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