The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) organised a three-day technical workshop on the advancements and challenges in ecosystem services accounting in Bulgaria, as part of the country’s involvement in MAIA. The meeting was held in a hybrid format from 15-17 August 2021 in the Creativity House of BAS in Varna, Bulgaria.

Hosted by the Bulgarian National Coordinator Prof Boian Koulov (BAS) the event was attended by MAIA’s project coordinator Prof Lars Hein (Wageningen University, the Netherlands) along with more than 20 representatives of the Bulgarian institutions associated with the project. Namely, the Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS), the Executive Environment Agency Bulgaria, the National Statistical Institute, Sofia University, the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography and Pensoft.

In the form of a workshop, the Bulgarian partners presented the current state of developments of the national ecosystem accounts, and each session was followed by an extensive discussion and brainstorming about future updates. Apart from reviewing the Bulgarian state of affairs on natural capital accounting, Prof Hein updated the partners on the current progress of ecosystem accounting in the Netherlands, where he also suggested a couple of frameworks and directives, which could help for further amendments in Bulgaria.

Followed by an in-person interview with the project's coordinator Prof Lars Hein, the three-day MAIA technical workshop is deemed a great success.