By submitting an application, all participants in the Competition accept and agree to these Terms and Conditions.
The Competition is organised by City Ideas Institute (hereinafter the "Organiser"), in cooperation with the Embassy of the United Kingdom (hereinafter the "Co-organiser"), the Fund for Sustainable Cities and the FLAG Foundation (collectively the "Co-organisers").
The Competition aims to support ideas and projects in the field of urban development and the green economy, in the following areas: green energy, clean air and transport, environment and urban space, and water. Ideas and projects that will be implemented in a specific settlement in Bulgaria are accepted. Projects planned for implementation outside the capital Sofia will be given preference.
The Competition starts in June 2026 and ends in September 2026. Winners will be announced no later than 01.11.2026, at a special ceremony. The ceremony will be held in person in Burgas. Attendance by the winners is mandatory. Failure to attend without a valid reason leads to disqualification. All participants will have the opportunity to meet each other and discuss their projects, both at the ceremony to which they will be invited and online.
The winners will be determined by a jury composed of representatives of the Organiser and the Co-organisers, together with other experts. After evaluating the candidates and ranking them, interviews will be conducted with the top 3 to 5 participants. The prize fund will then be distributed among these participants according to the jury's decision. Awards are paid by bank transfer within two months of the announcement of the winners.
Natural and legal persons, as well as NGOs with a permanent address in Bulgaria, have the right to participate. Participation in the Competition is free of charge. Applications will be accepted only if all required fields are completed. Forms must be completed in Bulgarian. Participants warrant that they own the authorship of the idea and/or of its means of implementation. An idea that is connected with violations of the applicable legislation of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as one infringing copyrights, will be rejected and the corresponding project disqualified. Projects against which third parties raise claims relating to such rights are also subject to disqualification; and if such claims are made against an already awarded project and the project is subsequently disqualified, the award is subject to return.
Each author of a project or idea submitted to the "CityLovers" competition retains full rights to it. Each author – participant in the competition whose project has won an award shall, in subsequent publications and presentations of the project, expressly state that the project is sponsored by the Embassy of the United Kingdom, the FLAG Foundation and the Fund for Sustainable Cities. By uploading the project to the competition website, the participant consents to the Organiser and/or the Co-organisers using the information about that project for the purpose of promoting "CityLovers". By this consent the participant grants the Organiser and the Co-organiser the right, at their discretion, to publish journalistic materials reproducing the main goals and ideas of the selected projects. The Organiser and Co-organisers bear no responsibility for any violations of copyright or other legislation of the Republic of Bulgaria subsequently discovered in the creation or implementation of any project in "CityLovers".
In collecting and processing your personal data, the Organiser is bound by a number of laws and regulations which prescribe how these actions are to be carried out, for what purposes, and what safeguards for the protection of personal data must be applied. The applicable regulatory framework includes, but is not limited to, the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), the Personal Data Protection Act and related instruments. When you register to participate in the competition, the Organiser collects the following data from you: first and last name, contact phone number, email. The data are necessary for the purposes of your participation in the competition — for identification and to contact you on matters related to the competition, as well as for building the network of participants and experts in "CityLovers". We strive to process your personal data lawfully, in good faith and transparently; for the purpose for which we collected it; in the minimum quantity necessary, while maintaining its accuracy and currency; for specific periods depending on the purpose of the processing activity; and by applying appropriate technical and organisational measures for their security, commensurate with the level of risk to your rights and freedoms.