Tbilisi. The Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) publishes a blog post on a blog related to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development: www.asocireba.ge - All about association with the European Union on one site. “There are various opinions regarding those obligations that Georgia assumed based on the Association Agreement with the European Union. For this particular reason, to ensure that the society is not misled and gets more thoroughly aware of European values, legislation system and obligations that the EU Association Agreement entails, the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) has created a platform www.asocireba.ge. The website contains video tutorials, which take 10-15 minutes to let you get aware of what Europe is and what its values are, what the Association Agreement means and what obligations or benefits it may entail as for the country itself as for each of its citizens”, - is stated in the blog post. Read more… Source: csrblog.ge

17 January, Tbilisi - the National Volunteering Forum “For You, For Me, For Changes – It’s Time For Volunteering”, organized by Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) at the Georgian National University SEU in Tbilisi. “The forum was held within the framework of Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative, funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. The partner of the forum is Georgian National University SEU The forum was dedicated to promoting volunteerism in Georgia. During the forum the presentation of the campaign “This Country is Yours” and the award ceremony of journalists’ contest “Journalists for Social Change” was also held. At the end of the event an interesting presentation on the topic “Civic Activism, Volunteer Culture and Experience of the Regions of Georgia” was presented by journalist and director Goderdzi Sharashia. Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative was developed and is implemented by the consortium led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung“. Read more… Source: Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative

Tbilisi. The Civil Society Institute has identified winners in a competition “Journalists for Social Changes”. The competition is part of the campaign “ThisCountryIsYours” and aims at identifying journalists throughout Georgia who have regularly and competently covered challenges and development opportunities that civil society faces. Organizations, operating in regions of Georgia, had a possibility to select the best journalist who works in their region, as well as to nominate one representative of central media. On January 17, the Civil Society Institute announced the winners: Guria - Tamta Dolidze - TV Company “Guria”;  Adjara - Irakli Kurua – TV program Hashtag, Adjara TV;  Imereti - Tamuna Kavtaradze, Mega TV; Kakheti - Mariam Megrelishvili - TV “Tanamgzavri”;  Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti - Nana Khubutia - live press;  Samtskhe - Javakheti - Rusudan Gvaramadze - TV9;  Kvemo Kartli - Ekaterine Eradze - Marneuli TV; Shida Kartli - Nino Chibchiuri - TV Company “Trialeti”;  Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti - Marine Svanidze - kvira.ge;  Central - Mikheil Sesiashvili - Mtavari Arkhi;  CSI special prize - Netgazeti.  The civil campaign “ThisCountryIsYours” is carried out within the framework of “Civil Society Development Initiative”, implemented by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in cooperation with the Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is financed by both the European Union and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Tbilisi. A full of positive emotions two-day “Community Leadership Forum 2019” is over. The forum of his year was dedicated to the International Day of Rural Women. The forum was conducted within the framework of the project “Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” with the support of the European Union and Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Read more… Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On 27th of September, the launch of wide-scale public campaign - “This Country is Yours” was held at Ilia Chavchavadze Hall of National Library of Georgia.  The public campaign aims to strengthen civil society in Georgia, promote civil values, embrace civic activism and raise public awareness on CSOs and their work. At the opening of the event the Deputy Head of Cooperation Section of EU Delegation to Georgia, Catalin Gherman stated: “The EU remains a close ally and supporter of civil society. We count on you to help us devising the best policies and programmes, to be our eyes and ears when it comes to their implementation and to hold the government and authorities accountable to their commitments.”  “The project contributes to the empowerment of civil society, by enhancing its role and importance in supporting democratic processes in the country. It is achievable only through proactive and direct communication with society. Proper communication strategy is a gateway for gaining high credibility and public trust”- noted Team Leader of Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative, David Aprasidze.  The comprehensive study on public attitudes and widely believed stereotypes, related to CSOs and civic values, was conducted in the framework of the project - “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”. Based on the key findings, the communication strategy was elaborated. The strategy highlighted socially active groups: students, youth, civic education teachers, and media that represent major pillars of the campaign. The strategy also predefined particular behavioral change needs to be achieved within each target groups, along with effective communication channels and instruments.  “This Country is Yours” (Share Responsibility) is a value-based public campaign, developed under this strategy to evoke public awareness, that the route towards European type of society, where security and human rights are protected, economy and education are developed and social rights are guaranteed, relies on the values of civil society.” – underlined Vazha Salamadze, Director of CSI.  Media and other awareness raising products and activities, aiming to instigate the successful implantation of the campaign, were introduced at the event:  •Almanac “Freedom, Justice & Democracy in Georgian Thoughts”  •Short Self-Study Online Tutorials for Youth  •Online Course “Journalism for Social Change”  •Cycle of TV Shows in the Regional Media  •CSOs PR Guideline •CSOs’ Web-portal www.csogeorgia.org  •Social Media Campaign  •Promo and Advertising of the Campaign  •Contest for Journalists, Bloggers, School students and etc.  The representatives of local, international CSOs, donor organizations, central and regional media, youth, civic activists and other opinion leaders attended the event to support widespread launch of the campaign and create ownership among all development actors and thus encourage the synergy of various efforts.  The progressive development of the country relies on the common acknowledgement of each citizens’ role and responsibility in this process.  Public campaign “This Country is Yours” is part of the project - “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”, which was developed and is implemented by the consortium, led by the Konrad¬-Adenauer¬-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Tbilisi. 19 September, at the Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, Network of Centers for Civic Engagement hosted a presentation of State Grant Funding-Existing Situation and Perspectives. The event was organized by “Network of Centers for Civic Engagement”, in the framework of the project “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”.  As a part of this project, within the support of Civil Society Institute, the Network of Centers for Civic Engagement and the Green Caucasus conducted monitoring of the process of grant issuing by public institutions. The monitoring period covered grants, issued in 2016-2017. Core objective of this event was to examine the actual situation as it stands in terms of state grant funding in Georgia and to discuss possible perspectives in this sense and to present monitoring outcomes.  The director of the Network of Centers for Civic Engagement, Nina Khatiskatsi and Civil Society Program Officer of EU Delegation Georgia, Dominika Skubida welcomed the audience. “We note that the scale and scope of funding for Civil Society in Georgia remains still insufficient to meaningfully improve the sustainability of the sector. Enhancement of enabling environment for diversification of funding, including support for refining state granting system, is therefore our main priority aimed at this objective. We welcome therefore the commitment of the Government of Georgia under the Open Government Partnership Action Plan to increase efficiency and allow local governments to use granting mechanism” - said Dominika Skubida.  The first part of the event was dedicated to present the major findings of the monitoring conducted by both organizations. More specifically, some of the crucial aspects have been emphasized: how clearly the particular details related to grant issuance are defined beforehand and to what extent the state agencies fulfill their commitments, considering each stage of providing grants; as well as the experience of granted CSOs in terms of administering state funds. It is worth mentioning that neither monitoring, nor the reports intend to evaluate the quality of the grant projects or its’ content. The legal environment related to the state grant funding was reviewed during the second part of the event. Levan Paniashili, the representative of Civil Society Institute, talked about CSOs’ State Grant Funding Reform Concept, elaborated by CSI expert team. One of the primary aspects he mentioned were the challenges, which reveal the importance and the need of mentioned reform. Moreover, the speaker analyzed current situation in regard to the reform concept and shared the key findings and recommendations of the document, along with its reflection in the legislation. The representatives of the public institutions, media, local CSOs and international organizations attended the presentation. They had an opportunity to address speakers with questions and get involved in the follow up discussions, after the presentations. In addition, the call for applications for the second cycle of the sub-granting competition on the State Grant Funding Monitoring was announced. The participants were able to receive detailed information about the term and conditions.  Project “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” was developed and is implemented by the consortium, led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Project aims to improve working environment for CSOs in Georgia, to support their capacity building, accountability and transparency and to strengthen their ties and cooperation with other actors.