February 25, 2020. Bulachauri – CENN will organize the next meeting of the Steering Committee established within the EU-supported ENPARD projects, “Keda LEADER” and “EMBRACE Tsalka.” The event will take place on February 25 at the Bulachauri Green Center.
For now, the Keda and Tsalka Local Action Groups (LAGs) have been established and are actively working within the aforementioned projects, and local development strategy documents for both municipalities have been developed. Taking into account the needs specified in the strategy document, Keda Municipality successfully completed the second grant competition and funded more than 40 projects.
During the meeting, the invited guests will get acquainted with the activities carried out within the framework of the projects, as well as discuss potential activities of the projects in order to effectively collaborate with other projects within the ENPARD program for successful future activities. In addition, representatives of the various ENPARD Programs and LAGs will present the results achieved within the project, which will facilitate the development of cooperation between projects.
The event will host representatives from the Ministry of the Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Georgia, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia and other ENPARD partner organizations in the country. This networking platform will be a good opportunity to strengthen linkages and partnership opportunities among participants, exchange feedback or suggestions for further development and share experiences.
The EU-supported ENPARD projects “Embrace Tsalka” and “Keda Leader is implemented by CENN in partnership with the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Institute of Democracy (IoD), Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR), the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA) and Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS). The project aims at diversifying the local economic activities, improving investment climate, and empowering competitive agricultural and environmental practices in Keda Municipality via bottom-up strategic planning of rural development.
The EU is supporting agriculture and rural development in Georgia through its ENPARD Programme. Implemented since 2013 with a total budget of EUR 179.5 million, the main goal of ENPARD is to reduce rural poverty in Georgia. The first phase of ENPARD in Georgia focused on developing the potential of agriculture. The second and third phases of ENPARD focus on creating economic opportunities for rural population that go beyond agricultural activities. More information on ENPARD is available at: www.enpard.ge.
More information about the Keda and Tsalka Local Action Groups (LAGs) is available on the official websites: www.kedalag.ge and www.tsalkalag.ge
Media Contacts:
• Marie Kikvadze, CENN Communications Assistant, +995 577 95 90 20, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Tamar Khuntsaria, Team Leader, ENPARD Communication Unit, +995 595 98 99 16, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
February 11-12, 2020. Keda Municipality - in the framework of the EU ENPARD supported project “Keda LEADER” implemented by CENN, a training course was held for the project beneficiaries.
The purpose of the training was to raise the awareness of the beneficiaries about the conditions of fish rearing, production activities and stages, basic economic calculations of production and production of fish and spawning and fish transportation.
During the training, the participants were introduced to all the necessary stages of fish breeding, such as: selection of the area; Measuring and calculating water consumption; Water management in fish tanks; Food supply; Use of chemicals and medicines; Control of the number of spawns and fish and control of industrial performance.
January 28, 2020. Within the EU ENPARD supported project “Keda LEADER” 19 youth in the age of 12 to 15 participated in an activity called “Heave Hoo Games”. The event was held in the Keda LAG office.
Heave Hoo Games are a random collection of funny group games that involve competition, knowledge, team spirit and speed. The participants were split up in two competing teams and collected points for the accomplishment of the tasks.
The goal of the event was to understand the mechanisms of a group and how every individual can contribute to the strength of a team. Just like the motto “Together we are stronger”.
CENN, together with the Institute of Democracy (IOD) and Keda LAG, is announcing the 3rd grants competition 2019-2020 under the EU-supported ENPARD project, ‘Keda LEADER’.
The grant competition starts on November 7th and will end on December 16th at 17:00.
The objective of the grants competition is to improve the well-being and livelihoods of local Keda communities, enhance economic opportunities in rural areas and implement innovative projects in line with the program, ‘Keda Leader’as well as local development strategy priorities.
The priority areas of the grants competition include:
- Agriculture, primary production, as well as processing local products and regional value chain development;
- Promoting tourism development (guesthouses and winecellars will be provided with funding only in special cases);
- Non-agriculture activities;
- Education, culture, and sports;
- Environmental protection and sustainable resource management;
- Social and non-commercial activities.
Both commercial and social projects and initiatives will be supported within the competition.
Participation is open to both individuals and legal entities registered in Georgia, who implement or plan to implement their activities in Keda Municipality.
Those intending to participate in the competition are asked to examine the strategic directions identified by the Local Development Strategy of Keda and the Grants Manual. Interested candidates must complete the Application Forms and submit it to the following email address This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or bring the hardcopies to the LAG office at 10 Tbel Abuseridze Street, Keda town no later than 17:00 on December 16, 2019.
All documents to complete the application are available in the Georgian language on the following website: http://bit.ly/2JYgq9R
For additional questions, please contact us:
+995 599 189 269
+995 577 104 833
+995 514 401 001
Please note, the grants competition consists of the following stages:
Stage I – Applications
Stage II – Interview and monitoring
Stage III – Approval of Grant
Applicants may submit only one application for the grant competition.
Applications can only be submitted in Georgian. The foreign language documentation attached to the application must be accompanied by a notarized Georgian translation.
The EU-supported ENPARD project is implemented by CENN in partnership with the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Institute of Democracy (IoD) and the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR). The project aims to diversify local economic activities, improve the investment climate, and empower competitive agricultural and environmental practices in Keda Municipality via bottom-up strategic planning in rural development.
The EU is supporting agriculture and rural development in Georgia through its ENPARD Programme. Implemented since 2013 with a total budget of EUR 179.5 million, the main goal of ENPARD is to reduce rural poverty in Georgia. The first phase of ENPARD in Georgia focused on developing the potential of agriculture. The second and third phases of ENPARD focus on creating economic opportunities for rural populations that go beyond agricultural activities. More information on ENPARD is available at: www.enpard.ge.
Environmental specialists from CENN conducted classes on Sustainable Development Goals, climate change, sustainable management of forest resources, sustainable waste management and circular economy, water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) issues, natural disaster risks and mitigation measures. In addition, camp participants learned about the European LEADER approach to rural development and the work conducted by Local Action Groups in Georgia.
Within the framework of the camp, participants visited GWP’s water filtering facility, where leading engineers of the company hosted a tour showcasing the complete water treatment cycle. The site visits continued to the National Geographic Georgia publishing house, where the camp participants met with the editor-in-chief of the magazine in Georgia and discussed the work, values and vision of the magazine on an international level. The last site visit was to Kriala Ltd., a paper production company, where participants learned about the paper recycling and paper production process.
The green camp participants also became acquainted with the principles of outdoor ethics and their recreational impact on nature. In order to translate their newly gained knowledge into practice, camp participants hiked around Truso Valley. Together with experienced guides and camp leaders, participants had the chance to observe natural resources, flora and fauna in the valley.
Upon completing the camp program, the participants will join the Green Camp Alumni Network and will have access to participate in future opportunities within CENN’s environmental youth initiatives.
The camp was made possible with EU support under the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development - ENPARD Georgia. The camp was organized by three ENPARD projects – EMBRACE Tsalka, Keda LEADER implemented by CENN and the Promotion of Rural Development and Diversification in Khulo Municipality implemented by Caritas Czech Republic (CCRG).
The representatives from the two LAGs and CARE International in the Caucasus participated in the two-day meeting, organized under the EU’s ENPARD project Keda LEADER by the Center of Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), the partner organization of CENN. Participants at the meeting discussed their experience with LAG operations. The Lagodekhi LAG shared its practical knowledge on the grant competitions, monitoring and evaluation schemes, achievements and challenges as well as coordination with local stakeholders and organizational sustainability of the LAG. Site-visits and meetings with local EU beneficiary entrepreneurs and social programs were also held during the study visit in Lagodekhi Municipality.
According to the Keda LAG participants, information and knowledge exchange during the visit in Lagodekhi was very important to develop partnership and gain valuable knowledge about the best practices.
During the next two days, Keda LAG representatives will work on the organizational strategy of the LAG. The experience and knowledge, gained during the study visit will be considered during the workshop.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The EU and CENN or its other donors unless otherwise stated.