site.btaGreen Transition Meets Mistrust, Lack of Understanding, Particularly at Local Level, Says Workforce Development Expert at BTA Gavrailov

Green transition remains misunderstood and often causes fear among local communities, and electricity continues to be taken for granted rather than as an entrepreneurial opportunity, said Gavrail Gavrailov, Doctor in Sociology and Workforce Development Specialist at BTA. He was speaking at Tuesday's scientific conference on "Future in the Trap of the Carbon Past", held at the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv.

Dr. Gavrailov's topic was "In Search of Energy Citizens. Findings from a Field Study in the Maritsa-East Complex in Autumn 2024". As part of his research, he visited a number of settlements in the Stara Zagora Region. Gavrailov explained that he encountered serious difficulties, including "fierce resistance from Stara Zagora Municipality" when trying to conduct interviews in the field.

Topics such as tourism, local symbols and cuisine have helped the sociologist in his attempts to gather information from locals who have refused to talk about green transition. According to Gavrailov, the concept of "energy citizens" is a new topic that leads to worry and confusion with people. "Green deal, energy community, social entrepreneurship, energy citizen - it turned out that local people do not recognize what is behind these concepts, except for green deal, which, however, for them is a 'taboo topic' around which there are always some fears," the expert said.

According to him, electricity is taken for granted, and most people think they should have it without them committing to an entrepreneurial approach and delivering it themselves. Gavrailov pointed out that "green" thinking is a forbidden topic, which he sees as a significant public problem. In his view, citizens need to act both as activists and explorers if they want public energy in the fight against power, legislation and oligarchs to have an effect.