Last week was really busy but rewarding for us! We successfully launched our Communication Labs for civil society organisations in Georgia and Armenia – our capacity building programme aimed at empowering civil society organisations and helping them develop their own communication campaigns.
Georgia Kick-off Event, 6-7 November: Over two dynamic days, 10 outstanding teams from various organisations gathered to embark on a mission to create impactful communication campaigns. From climate action to social entrepreneurship, these brilliant minds are diving deep into critical issues.
Insightful talks from Yvonne Gogoll (Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission), Natalia Voutova and Tsisana Khundadze (Council of Europe Office in Georgia) and Nino Zautashvili (Journalist and Producer, Host of the Community-oriented TV Program ‘Real Space’ at the Georgian Public Broadcaster) added a layer of inspiration.
Meet the Georgian civil society organisations participating in the Communication Labs:
- Animal Project
- CARE Caucasus
- CENN (Caucasus Environmental NGO Network)
- Democracy Laboratory
- ForSet
- GAFE (Georgian Association for Equality)
- Institute for Democracy and Justice
- PAAG (Public Advocacy Association of Georgia)
- Shame Movement
- Social Enterprise Alliance
Armenia Kick-off Event, 9-10 November: In Armenia, 12 dynamic organizations from Alaverdi, Dilijan, Vanadzor, Chambarak, and Yerevan have embarked on a mission to address crucial topics such as human rights, transparency, education, environmental awareness and social cohesion.
Bruno Montariol and Tatevik Davtyan from the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia shared valuable insights on the pivotal role of communication in advancing civil society, and Tin Geber, Computational Artist & Creative Strategist; Managing Director at Greenhost presented his vision on what CSOs should do with AI. Yekaterina Poghosyan from Democracy Development Foundation and Armine Tokhmakhyan from Transparency International Anticorruption Center presented the results of the communication campaigns of Armenian CSOs Communications Platform CS4YOU.
Meet the Armenian civil society organisations participating in the Communication Labs:
- Armenian Lawyers’ Association
- Armenian Progressive Youth
- Centre for Community Mobilization and Support NGO
- Coalition to Stop Violence against Women
- Dilijan Community Center NGO
- Direct Democracy NGO
- Erasmus Student Network Yerevan
- FemForward NGO
- Freedom of Information Center of Armenia
- National Trans Coalition Human Rights NGO
- NGO CENTER Civil Society Development Organisation
- STEM Society
Many thanks to our amazing mentors (Hayk Abrahamyan, Mariam Gersamia, Lisa Glonti, Siranush Gyurjinyan, Mariam Khuroshvili, Mikheil Kurdadze, Seda Muradyan, Raffi Niziblian, Lilit Sargsyan and Nino Topuridze) for guiding the teams through this intensive process and a special shoutout to our local partners, Innovative Education Foundation in Georgia, and Democracy Development Foundation in Armenia, for their instrumental support in making the Kick-off Events a success.
The #CommLabs journey has just begun, and we can’t wait to see the campaigns developed by the participants and witness the impact these campaigns will create! For the next 2 months, the selected teams will collaborate, innovate, and shape communication initiatives that make a real difference. By the end of this capacity building process, 6 best campaigns will get funding for development and launch!
