Citybuild.bg reported on the winners of the fourth CityLovers competition. The grand prize went to Bee School, a project by teacher Irena Petrova in Ihtiman, with second place for Natural Art in Burgas’s Bedechka Park and third for a shared youth space in Chernomorets. Prizes were awarded at a ceremony on November 7 at the British Embassy residence in Sofia, with nearly 50 project ideas submitted.

EU Funds Media covered the fourth edition of the CityLovers competition, launched in April 2024 to support ideas for the future of Bulgarian cities across five areas: green energy, clean air and transport, urban environment and quality of life, water, and urban technologies. The competition is organized by Capital and the British Embassy in Bulgaria, with support from the Fund for Sustainable Cities, the FLAG Fund and Siscom Engineering, offering a 22,000 BGN prize fund.

Economics teacher Irena Petrova from Ikhtiman took the grand prize with her Bee School — a wooden beehive-shaped structure offering environmental education for children aged 3+. Nine projects from across Bulgaria were awarded at a ceremony in the British Ambassador’s residence in Sofia.

Two awarded projects from the 4th CityLovers edition: “Natural Art” aims to create Bulgaria’s first permanent land art park inside Stara Zagora’s biodiverse Bedechka Park. In Haskovo, a mobile library caravan and book-shaped play stage will bring reading outdoors for children and families.

From the Black Sea coast: Ivan Despov’s project transforms a Chernomorets schoolyard into a shared youth space with lighting, furniture and themed events. In Yambol, “Urban Canvas” brings mobile murals to the city for its 2025 visual arts festival — turning blank walls into community stories.