Imereti. The members of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security have met on October 31 with the CSO representatives, where the creation of the public council was discussed. Following the determination of the work format with the Committee, the Council will be actively involved in the law-making process.

Tbilisi. The CSO "Walk on Feet" offers to the public a cycle of videos, which depicts the problems existing in the cities of Georgia, creating obstacles for the pedestrians.One of the most recent videos concerns the ongoing constructions in Tbilisi, building restoration works, the quality of side-walks and the anti-sanitary conditions in underground passages."Walk on Feet" is the organization that supports pedestrians in the cities and tries to protect the rights of pedestrians. It hopes to convince the authorities at the national and municipal levels to assist the pedestrians and pursue better policies in this respect. Source:the official page of the organization "Walk on Feet" in the social network.

Adjara. The representatives of the Greens Movement have organized a meeting on October 31 in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center on the "Waste management issues in Georgia". Discussed at the meeting were problems experienced by the public due to the contaminated environment. Representatives of the "Greens Movement of Georgia / Friends of the Earth - Georgia" focus on the development of the waste management programs and find it important to raise the public awareness and share information on the urgency of reducing the waste volume in order to solve this problem, for which the representatives of the Greens Movement of Georgia find it necessary to secure the state support and launch the waste processing plants at the locations identified by the specialists.

Tbilisi. The CSO "Green Alternative" published the list of recommendations on the measures to be taken in the environmental and power sectors.The statement highlights certain issues concerning the improvement of environmental governance and achieving more sustainability in the power sector. In the organization's opinion, their majority requires urgent attention. The recommendations Source: greenalt.org

Kvemo Kartli. On October 25th, the Ratevani RWC organized a training for the local population in Kazreti Village on the following topic: Gender Equality and Women’s Rights. The aim of the training was to provide detailed information to active women about the various aspects of Gender Equality and Women’s Rights.  On the next stage, Ratevani RWC is planning to organize workshop for interested individuals on Community Mobilization and Involvement.   The project "Strengthening and Engagement of Rural Women in Natural Resources Management in the South Caucasus Countries” is implemented with the financial support of EED. Source: cenn

Adjara. The beneficiaries of the Club for the Elderly have visited the Kobuleti Local History Museum. The beneficiaries have seen up to 3,500 unique exhibits put up on show in the museum.The excursion was organized by the Association "Deserving Old Age" as part of the project – "Social Center for the Elderly" (donor - the EU). The organization arranges frequent cultural events, information meetings and other initiatives for the beneficiaries that promote active involvement of the elderly in the public life. For full text. Source: awa.org.ge

Kakheti. Within the framework of partnership of the school-based clubs, the Education Development and Training Center has established the civic club in the Telavi Public School #4.This Club plans to organize in the school the civic activities, with the schoolchildren being the beneficiaries.

Imereti. On October 26-28, 2012 within the framework of the project "Leaders’ Academy,” which is implemented by the Polish organization "Foundation for Sustainable Development (FER)” in partnership with the Tkibuli District Development Fund, CENN, Elkana, and the Black Sea Eco-Academy (BSEA), training on Project Cycle Management (PCM) was organized in the village of Keda municipality.  The training was attended by the beneficiaries of the aforementioned project from the Keda, Ambrolauri, Chiatura, Tkibuli and Terjola municipalities.  The aim of the training was to transfer necessary information on proposal writing, Project Cycle Management (PCM) and fundraising to the attendees. During the trainings, the participants prepared small initiatives and the selected projects will be financed by the Polish organization "Foundation for Sustainable Development (FER)”. The trainings were conducted by trainers invited from Elkana and BSEA.  After the completion of the small-scale projects in November, local leaders will be exposed to monitoring and evaluation, and review the lessons learned.  The project "Leaders’ Academy” is implemented with the financial support of the Polish development cooperation programme 2012 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Programme "Support for Democracy”. Source: cenn 

On November 2, Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) will host discussion about the Role of Civil Society in Political Transformations. EPF also marks the 5th year anniversary of EPF’s work as a locally registered organization. Participants will discuss the role of civil society in the process of political transformation. The discussion will center on addressing the following questions: Are the actors outside political institutions and the state becoming increasingly important for political life on all levels?  Is the concept of Western political theory useful to describe political reality in Georgia?  How and in what way is civil society affecting political and state institutions?  What consequences does this have for a society’s ability to negotiate its own future?  The event will take place during 16:30 – 19:30 at Sheraton Metechi Palace, Tbilisi.  For full text Source: epfound.ge

Tbilisi. The civil society organization "Women's Fund in Georgia" organizes a large-scale meeting with the grantees. The third (last) day of the meeting will be held today, attended by the women's organizations, initiative groups and individuals who had received grants from the Women's Fund. At the end of the week the organization will disseminate detailed information on the meetings. For full text (Geo) Source: the official page of organization "Women's Fund in Georgia" in the social network.

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has developed the online module of court statistics, which is an important statistical information resource within the judicial system of Georgia. Statistical and dynamic data are visually represented by categories, which enables the users to search for information and compare the data. The online module of court statistics is already available on the official web page of the Supreme Court of Georgia: www.supremecourt.ge. The court statistics module was developed as part of the project of the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) - "Improving Public Accountability and Degree of Transparency of the Georgian Judicial System". The project is implemented within the framework of the "Civil Initiative for Independent Courts" program of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF), which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the East-West Management Institute (EWMI). The module was developed through cooperation with the Supreme Court of Georgia. For Full text Source: idfi.ge

Imereti. On October 30, the schoolchildren of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades of the Kutaisi Public Schools have visited the Government of Georgia house, as part of the Civic Education and Teachers' Training Program. The visit aimed to inform the civic club members about the purpose of the Government house. The representative of the Government house has briefed the students in details about the specifics of this work. The Civic Education and Teachers' Training Program is implemented by PH-International with the financial support of USAID. For full text (Geo) Source: kedec.ge

Adjara. On October 30, the Batumi Branch of the Civil Society Institute has organized a public discussion in the conference hall of the Batumi ShotaRustaveli State University on "Citizen participation in the planning process of urbanization of Batumi's territories". The meeting aimed at informing the local populations of the self-governing city Batumi about urban issues, as well as receiving/developing of opinions and recommendations from and by the population. The local population, representatives of CSOs, government and media, as well as urbanists and architects have participated in the public discussion. At this meeting the Civil Society Institute has presented the results of the study carried out during the 13 public meetings, at which the population could grant priorities to those programs that the self-governing city has to take into account when drafting the 2013 budget. The event was held with the financial support of the USAID program "Democratic Governance in Georgia" (G3), local government component (C2).

Imereti. With the assistance from the Belgian EVS volunteer, the charity humanitarian center "Apkhazeti" has received the donation in the amount of 500 Euros from the organizations "GemeenteMiddelkerke" and "CelOntwikkelingssamenwerking". According to the official web page of the center "Apkhazeti", this amount will be spent on the rehabilitation of the sports hall of the public school of village Baisubani, Lagodekhi District. There are up to 250 pupils in the school, including the children of the Baisubani-based small family type home. "Following the rehabilitation of the sports hall it will be possible to organize the soccer, basketball and other gaming hobby groups during the winter months, which will uphold the development of children living in this village and their involvement in the sports activities", – says the statement released on the organization's web page. For full text Source: chca.org.ge

Kakheti. The British organization "EveryChild" has delivered a training course on October 30 in the Telavi Civic Engagement Center. The training aimed at educating the teachers of adolescents from the children's homes about different approaches to children in order to adequately overcome the difficulties in the process of upbringing. According to the organization's representative Marina Shaghashvili, "EveryChild" implements this program together with the Government of Georgia since 2000: "The organization works on these issues for a long time. The seminar's purpose is for the teachers to better fathom the children's psychology".

Imereti. The Gelati Rural Women Council (Tkibuli Municipality) formed within the framework of the CENN initiative - "Strengthening and Engagement of Rural Women in Natural Resources Management in the South Caucasus Countries”, has established an Eco Club "We Need a Clean Environment” based at the Gelati public school.  The Gelati RWC and Eco Club, with financial support of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation, implemented the project "Modern Life without Drug Addiction”. The project aimed to raise awareness on healthy life style among youth. On October 20, an educational seminar was organized within the frame of the initiative, which was attended by school children of the Gelati Public School.  In addition, within the framework of the initiative, on October 25 a screening of a documentary film on drug addiction "Street Life” was held and facilitated discussions were conducted. On October 29 the schoolchildren organized the meeting with a narcologist.  In the future, the Gelati Rural Women Council is planning to implement more joint projects with the Eco Club.  Source: CENN

Tbilisi. Interested persons can get familiar with Richard Bellamy's book "Citizenship: A Very Short Introduction" in the Regional Development and Local Self-Government Resource Center of the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development. In this book Richard Bellamy discusses citizenship and its importance, as well as various citizenship models. In addition, the book focuses on the transformation of the idea of citizenship from ancient Greece until today. Field: civil. For full text. Source:participate.ge

Kakheti. On October24-27, at its own initiative, the "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation has organized a training for journalists in human rights and healthcare issues. Up to 20 journalists from various media outlets have participated in the training. For full text. Source: Page of "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation in the social network.

Kvemo Kartli. The presentation of the Georgian library took place on October 23 in the Azerbaijani school of village Dzvel Kveshi. The Georgian library functions for 4 months already, and the Georgian language lessons are delivered in the readers' hall of the library. To support the project, the school administration has purchased additional books. During the presentation the schoolchildren and teachers from neighboring Azerbaijani schools have visited the library, who have shared the experience of their peers. Representatives of the local self-government municipality have also attended the presentation. The Georgian library was set up as part of the small grants program of the Civic Education and Teachers' Training Program. For full text. Source:civics.ge

Adjara. On October 29, as part of the project "Re-Animation", the youth organization "Art Way" has organized a performance attended by the members of the Union for the Blind and the residents of "Savani". The performance was staged by taking into account all specificities that are required for the blind to comprehend the performance. This performance was staged in Georgia for the first time. Over the period of six months, all blind persons living in Adjara will have a possibility to attend this performance once a month. The project is implemented with the financial support of the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) and USAID. The story about the performance.

Adjara. On October 29, the East-West Management Institute has met with the Batumi-based partner CSOs in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center, as part of the "Policy, Advocacy and Civil Society Development in Georgia" program. The meeting aimed to inform the CSOs about the new grant and various type of training-courses. At the meeting, the plans of EWMI G-PAC were discussed in detail, and at the discussion that followed, local CSOs had an opportunity to express their views and recommendations.

Imereti. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has delivered a seminar on October 26 in Kutaisi for the regional media representatives on the issues related to access to information. Representatives of print and television media from Kutaisi, Zestaponi, Batumi and Ozurgeti have participated in the seminar. At the meeting the journalists were briefed about the history of freedom of information, Georgian and international legislation on the access to information and modern trends, as well as the issues of access of public information in the administrative bodies, etc. Alexander Kashumov, expert invited to the seminar has shared his experience with the Georgian journalists. The documentary was also shown at the meeting, which relates about 5 stories about successful journalist investigations by the Bulgarian journalists. The discussion was held at the end of the seminar. One-day seminar was organized as part of the joint program of the European Council and EU - "Supporting the Freedom, Professionalism and Pluralism of Mass Information Means in the South Caucasus and Moldova". For full text. Source:idfi.ge