The main goal of the practice was to inform the citizens about any significant for the local community problem and to establish a reliable feedback connection between citizens and local authorities. Citizen observer is a mediator between citizens and local authorities in spite of the fact that its influence on the decision taking process of the Municipal Council is only indirect.

Citizen observer is elected by local citizens organizations; hence it receives legitimization as a key structure of monitoring the municipal forums in front of the large community, media, and local authorities. Citizen observer presents at the Municipal Council sessions and, in some cases, at sessions of the different commissions. Citizen observer is entitled to information regarding the work of the municipal structures in terms shorter than the terms pointed by law and without any written applications. This practice allows quicker access to public information, which ensures better reports, media, coverage, and transparency in the work of the local authorities.

Realization of the project became possible due to the financial, consulting and methodical support of the Democracy research center Coalition 2000. At the end of the monitoring period, the members of Citizen observer presented a report to the Municipality of Shumen, the media, Coalition 2000, and the large community. The report contains the results of the monitoring for the period from January 2000 to January 2001, a number of conclusions and recommendations. Coalition 2000 opened a special column on their Internet page. The column contains periodical reports of the Citizen observer, as well as analysis of the corruption situation in different towns and municipalities.

Citizen observer has been functioning for a relatively short period of time since the beginning of year 2000. However, during the beginning period there has been gathered very useful experience not only in structuring the interaction between citizens and local authorities, but also in emphasizing the spheres of the municipal work that need monitoring in order to achieve better municipality management on one side, and more active citizens participation on another.

- Quicker access to public information and improvement of the citizens and local authorities interaction;

- The practice is applicable in every Bulgarian municipality where there is a desire for collaboration between non-profit organizations and local authorities.