With help of the regional project hub
organization, the Civic Integration Foundation, a Regional Civil Society Forum was
organized in Kvemo Kartli, at the House of Culture of Marneuli, to present the
activities of local CSOs and to promote volunteerism.

Both, Dominika Skubida, Civil Society
Program Officer of the EU Delegation in Georgia, and David Aprasidze, Project
Manager of the Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative pointed out
the importance of active civic involvement in the decision-making process as
part of their speeches.

Later on, several panel discussions took
place. The essence and the challenges of volunteerism were discussed by Lasha
Bakradze, Director of the State Museum of Literature, Oktai Kazumov, Doctoral A student from Tbilisi State University, Lika Kiladze, Chairperson of Board of
the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC), and Avtandil
Machitadze, one of EDEC’s TimeRepublik Experts.

The Needs and Challenges of CSOs were faced
by David Aprasidze, Temur Jaliashvili, Public Relations Manager from the Civil
Society Institute, Levan Paniashvili, Senior Lawyer from the Civil Society
Institute, and various representatives of local CSOs.

All-time, guests had the chance to
learn more about up to 25 local CSOs; their focuses reach from the support of formal
and informal education, as well as the ecosystem, overwork on gender-related
issues to children’s rights.

The forum was organized in the frame of the
project ”Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative.” It was developed
and is implemented by a consortium led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in
cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: the Civil Society
Institute (CSI), the Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), the Center for
Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and the Education
Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The initiative is funded by the European
Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.