The main topic of the activity was the principles of democracy. The meeting was interactive and engaging. It included methodology for active participation, individual, peer and group working.

That`s what has made students amused and highly motivated for even writing their visions about the constitution and it is so much hopeful that they had mentioned such crucial topics in their documents as developing the medicine, prevention of the violence, the possibility of increasing financial aid, development of the educational system, freedom of speech, fair compensation, the strictest punishment of criminals, a strategy for protecting the ecosystem and etc.

The next discussion was about12 steps of EU candidacy conducted by the civic education expert Nino Gvaramadze. Attandees were teachers of different schools in Telavi.

The discussion was focused on the principles of democracy and the participants shared their opinions regarding the most important principles of democracy: rule of law, elections, multi-party system, political tolerance; economic freedom and the transparency.

The presentation was interactive, the participants discussed the opportunity given to Georgia and as well as 12 recommendations of the EU during the group activity. They were instructed to link each recommendation to a specific principle of democracy.

Speaker Nino Gvaramadze spoke about the role of implementation of recommendations in the formation of a democratic country. The participants shared the opinion that the implementation of the recommendations will be a step towards democracy for the country.

An important meeting for increasing civil awareness was organized in the public school N1 of Afeni village of Lagodekhi municipality where the film “Bullying” was shown to the audience.

Students, teachers and the parents attended the activity. The film was followed by a discussion, where the parents noted that they recognized themselves and their children in the film, which made them think about and honestly discuss the issue of bullying.

The relevance of the topic was caused by the current processes, because different forms of violence are common in schools. At such times, immediate response is important, it is necessary to recognize bullying and help both the bully and the victim. After the meeting, the parents expressed their desire to continue such meetings. 

“Bullying and its faces were well presented in the film. This film taught me that we should never ignore bullying cases.”

Marita Asanidze

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia lasted from 7 to 12 October. During this time, the caravan team held about 20 events for teachers, students, refugees, and civic education experts in different regions of Georgia. More than 400 people took part in these meetings.

On 14-15 October, the final event of the Caravan will be held in Georgia. More than 50 people from different countries will come to Caravan Saray to discuss the results and lessons learnt from the Caravan, as well as the prospects for future Caravans.

Caravan in Georgia is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. The local partner of Caravan is a Civic Education Teachers’ Forum (CETF, Georgia).

Read more:

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia has started

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan continues its journey across Georgia. Day 2

See the programme of the EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia. Day 3

Caravan of Citizenship Education in Georgia. Day 4. Samtskhe-Javakheti region

Caravan of Citizenship Education in Georgia. Day 5. Kvemo Kartli

Сообщение The EENCE Caravan of Citizenship Education in Georgia is over! See you at the Caravan Sarai! появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

Within the framework of the project film screening was organized in the Marneuli public school N2 by the civic education teacher Temur Sukashvili and the members of eco-club “For our future”: Nuivar Zeinalov, Tural Zargarov and Lana Songulia.

During the activity documentary films “16-year-old wives” and “Poonams` Fortune” were screened to the students and their parents. The main concept of the films is about the topic of early marriage, which is still is a crucial issue and an important challenge for the region. 

During the event, parents has discussed their role and the importance of the school and the society in the problem-solving process. They also remembered their past and underlined that they will not be willing and will not allow their daughters to get married and start a family in early ages.

“It was very interesting to lead the discussion, the parents were actively involved, and although everyone had the same position regarding the negative sides of early marriage. Bu despite this, the discussion was still quite diverse”

Lana Songulia 

Kvemo Kartli region was the host of other activities as well. Two workshops were held on the topic “Youth for Change – Advocacy Mechanisms and Good Practices” in two municipalities – Marneuli and Bolnisi.

14-20 years old youngsters attended the training in both locations where the following topics were discussed: civic participation forms, main aspects of the Association Agreement (AA), advocacy mechanisms, holding campaign – planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Towards the end of the workshop, participants had an opportunity to work on identifying a specific challenge in their communities. They brainstormed with the stakeholders as well as planned a campaign to address the identified issues.

“Youth in Bolnisi need such types of activities, as youth lack an opportunity where they can discuss such topics and exchange ideas”. 

Salome, 16 years old

Similar to the previous days, the main goal of the events was to increase the awareness about the civic values ​​and discuss the current situation regarding the teaching of civics in Georgia. For this reason, the meeting with civic education experts from Georgia and an international experts was organized.

Representatives of universities, schools and other educational actors took part in the discussion facilitated by civic education expert Natali Gamtsemlidze and Maka Bibileishvili.

During the meeting, current challenges of teaching process of civic in Georgia was discussed. The participants underlined that higher motivation of the students is necessary in order to increase the interest about the subject. 

Civic education expert and the lecturer at European University – Nino Gvaramadze mentioned that sometimes when students start learning civic education at their first month of their studies, most of them are not much aware of the subject – for example competences for democratic culture, but hopefully in the process of learning they understand that there is nothing difficult in it and what is more important, they start understanding the significance of the issue. Once more this proves that it is necessary to increase the accessibility of civic education for all students.  

While discussing the topic, participants mentioned that students in highly democratic countries have an opportunity to put gained education into practice, which frequently is not available in Georgian environment which is the most important challenge in some of the participants opinion. And besides that participants also underlined that it is necessary to increase the level of collaboration among different actors in civic education to ensure high quality teaching and the sustainability of the outcomes.

Caravan in Georgia is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. The local partner of Caravan is a Civic Education Teachers’ Forum (CETF, Georgia).

Read more:

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia has started

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan continues its journey across Georgia. Day 2

See the programme of the EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia. Day 3

Caravan of Citizenship Education in Georgia. Day 4. Samtskhe-Javakheti region

Сообщение Caravan of Citizenship Education in Georgia. Day 5. Kvemo Kartli появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

Tamar Karaia discussed the issue of radicalization and the violent extremism with around 70 students attending the meeting from the different faculties of the university.

The presentation was devoted to discuss the challenges of the modern word, the fight for womens` rights, discrimination, radicalism, extremism and terrorism.

Together with the speaker, the audience discussed the well-known historical facts throughout the world history. The speaker emphasized the importance of the formation of civil society and noted that civil education plays an important role for democratic countries to overcome above mentioned challenges.

From the very first minutes of the start of the presentation, the students actively participated in the discussion and answered facilitators` questions ardently. The event was full of activities and here we can share impressions of some participant with a pleasure.

„The meeting was informative, quite productive, this was caused by the fact that many examples were presented in the presentation. It is also important that Mrs. Tamar had feedback with the students and there was a question-answer mode“.

Lizi Tevdorashvili

The day was full of activities focused on civic values, activism and democracy. An Ukrainian expert Oksana Zamora conducted the next meeting with students about the following topic “Integrity concept in daily life.”

The goal of the activity was to raise participants awareness on the perception of integrity as a core value for a person, student, employee, citizen – all social roles we perform consciously or unconsciously in the society.

About 60 students expressed their interest and attended the meeting. The facilitator managed to keep their interest and lead the session interactively, raising many deeply philosophical questions and dilemmas which are crucial and challenging for young people. 

The main focus of the meeting was about people’s behavior in a daily life, why individuals make concrete decisions, what is the basis of people’s behavior. 

The issue of misinformation was also mentioned during the session. The facilitator thinks that the media, modern technologies and received information influence on our inner beliefs during the decision-making process.

Besides the state university, students, teachers and the members of the administration of the local college “Opizar” had an opportunity to attend an interesting meeting conducted by civil education expert Lela Javakhishvili.

The meeting – effective civil engagement mechanisms to solve the problems in the community – was oriented on the importance of citizens in new democracies to acquire civic competences and apply them in daily practice.

The facilitator discussed the principles of active citizenship, 12 principles of democratic governance of the Council of Europe, the role of elections in democracy and the use of technology, significance of participation of youth.

The presentation also included information about the mechanisms of electronic involvement of citizens in the Georgian Parliament, as well as on the level of local and the central government. 

“All citizens must be the change we want to see in the world.“

Rati Tatalashvili

 “Public awareness should be increased, even with such trainings and meetings. The fact that people are not interested in details, should be changed. Thanks to the Caravan.“

Mariam Khitarishvili

Continuing the topic of democracy, a human rights defender and non-formal education trainer from Ukraine Nazarii Boiarskyi organised an interactive discussion on “Promoting Democracy in Educational Institutions”.

Using the example of the story of a Ukrainian teacher who uses rap in her teaching, the participants moved on to the topic of democratic schools. During the discussion, participants assessed the level of democracy in their educational institutions and shared tools to ensure it.

“We teach democracy through democracy and for democracy. That is why it is important that teachers themselves transmit democratic values and be its supporters”

Nazarii Boiarskyi

Caravan in Georgia is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. The local partner of Caravan is a Civic Education Teachers’ Forum (CETF, Georgia).

Read more:

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia has started

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan continues its journey across Georgia. Day 2

See the programme of the EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia. Day 3

Сообщение Caravan of Citizenship Education in Georgia. Day 4. Samtskhe-Javakheti region появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

The meeting with relocants and refugees was interactive. Its participants – 15 people from Belarus and Ukraine – tried to understand their roles and realise who they are, what they want and what is necessary for a healthy psychological state.

On the same day, another meeting was held at Shota Rustaveli University of Batumi. Citizenship education expert Tamar Karaia gave a lecture to 60 first-year students of the integrated bachelor-master educational program of elementary level teacher training of the Faculty of Science and Education.

The theme of the meeting was “Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism”. During the lecture, Tamar Karaia informed the students about the Civic Education Teachers’ Forum, EENCE, German Federal Foreign Office, and the “Caravan” project itself.

The presentation focused on concrete examples of violence in the world, the fight for women’s rights, discrimination, xenophobia, and radicalization.

Discussing these issues is important for future teachers as it helps increase civil self-awareness on several topics, leading to a healthier future. The first-year students actively participated in the lecture process and answered the questions posed by the speaker.

We will now share the views of the students who attended today’s meeting:

“I really liked the meeting and the topic covered in the ‘Caravan’ project. I learned things that I didn’t know before, and I will use this knowledge in practice.”

Mariam Abuselidze

“I think the presentation was interesting. We received necessary and useful information for our future endeavors.”

Giorgi Nakashidze

The day ended with a discussion on an important topic, EU-funded grants and Internationalization, which was delivered by Ukrainian expert Oksana Zamora, currently based in the Czech Republic.

Relocated Ukrainians constituted the largest share of participants; therefore, the topic of individual grants was of the most interest to them. They were also interested in the development of Georgian-Ukrainian cooperation at the NGO level, which extended the session longer than expected.

The seminar aimed to promote the accessibility of grant funding for meeting the needs of civic society by active individuals.

The expert pointed out that each active citizen usually contributes to several fields, such as education and business, civic activism, media, or art. An overview of available sources of information about grant funding, funded projects, and partnership building was provided.

Caravan in Georgia is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. The local partner of Caravan is a Civic Education Teachers’ Forum (CETF, Georgia).

Read more:

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia has started

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan continues its journey across Georgia. Day 2

See the programme of the EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia

Сообщение The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia. Day 3 появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

The day started with the presentation of the modelling game “Sinoli” at the Shota Rustaveli State University in Batumi. The meeting gathered 27 motivated trainees, teachers from different schools.

The presentation was conducted by Maka Bibileishvili, a citizenship education expert. The participants of the meeting were also other experts Natalie Gamtsemlidze and Tamar Karaia.

The aim of the game was the influence of media on public opinion and citizens’ behaviour. The simulation game showed the participants the importance of balanced and objective information.

The presentation was interactive and did not resemble a standard lecture. The participants openly expressed their emotions, declared their interests and asked questions. Teachers who participated in the meeting noted that the situations described in the game were very similar to the situation in Georgia. They noted that today it has become difficult to distinguish misinformation from reality, and the media have a significant influence on the formation of public opinion.

“I think that meeting was useful. I will definitely use the experience I`ve gained today in my class at school. I strongly believe that the information that simulation games gives them will be used in practice”

Ketevan Surmanidze

„Caravan is really adorable project, which maintain principles of democracy. Meeting was such a pleasure for me and for all of the participants. I will definitely implement the received knowledge and an experience“

Nugzar Beridze

Another presentation of the game was held in parallel at School #15 in Rustavi. It was conducted by Sopio Bachilava, an expert in citizenship education.

The participants of the meeting were 23 civic education teachers, several schoolchildren, as well as the Chairperson of the Shida Kartli Regional Council Lia Gugunishvili.

The next meeting was also held within the walls of the University in Batumi. Sixteen teachers under the leadership of Nino Gvaramadze discussed the 12 recommendations of the European Union on the establishment of democracy. The participants of the meeting discussed the principles of democracy as well as each of the 12 recommendations.

The possibility of using these topics in the educational process was also discussed during the meeting. The participants shared the opinion that the implementation of the recommendations would be a step towards democracy in the country.

“The meeting helped me to understand how important it is to fulfill the 12 recommendations of the European Union in the process of developing Georgian democracy.”

Lado Shainidze

“The topic of the lecture was especially important to me, as I am a historian by profession. I gained even more in-depth knowledge about civil, state, administrative management”

Kemal Gorgadze

“Today’s meeting once again convinced me how important it is to receive news and implement it in school life. I will describe the project with three words: positive, democratic, equal.”

Natalia Kadagidze

Another information meeting was held at School #5 in Bolnisi, Kvemo Kartli region. Citizenship education experts Maka Kemkhadze and Keti Mukhiguli organised a discussion on how young people can get involved in issues important to themselves and society.

Another venue of the Caravan was the Centre for Management of Vocational Programmes and Continuing Education, where the project participants discussed the importance and peculiarities of using electronic and other mechanisms for teaching citizenship education in vocational colleges.

The participants received information from Lela Javakhishvili on how to request public information from different institutions, how to create a petition to be able to prevent/solve problems and issues in their community.

The caravan team also travelled to the seaside town of Chakvi, where they were received by students from the First People’s School. Here, the students, their parents and teachers watched and discussed the short film “Sky”, the main storyline of which is devoted to the issue of equality and humanity. The issue of socialisation of people with disabilities is an urgent challenge for Georgia today and therefore such discussions play a great role in the process of forming a democratic society.

The participants discussed the content of the film and talked about the main problems of people with disabilities and possible ways to solve them. The participants were maximally involved in the discussion process and noted that such meetings should be held more often.

“In my opinion, the film shows the problems of socialization of disabled people in a best possible way. I liked the project very much and I am glad that I got involved. I am attracted to such projects and I want them to continue.”

Salome Beridze

“The project is very important for raising civic awareness and establishing democratic principles. From this one meeting, we saw how much it is needed for parents to be involved in similar activities and it also appeared that they are willing to participate in the similar projects.”

School principal – Lela Kontselidze

Caravan in Georgia is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. The local partner of Caravan is a Civic Education Teachers’ Forum (CETF, Georgia).

Read more:

The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia has started

See the programme of the EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia

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The action-packed event took place at Marneuli’s N2 school, where 23 enthusiastic participants gathered. Led by Georgian citizenship education experts Keti Mukhiguli and Maka Kemkhadze, the session focused on the exciting topic of ‘Basic Principles of Democracy’.

The energy in the room was palpable as participants delved into the compelling topic of “Basic Principles of Democracy”.

This wasn’t just any lecture – the meeting came alive with interactive activities and stimulating discussions. An exhilarating game called “Brain Ring” put the principles of democracy to the test, ensuring an engaging and immersive learning experience for all.

Among the participants was a dedicated teacher who couldn’t hide her excitement as she declared that this day would be etched in her memory and in the hearts of all participants.

She emphasised, “This caravan is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before as it reaches far and wide, leaving behind the invaluable lessons of citizenship education wherever it goes. It will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the consciousness of all those touched by this extraordinary project”.

The next stop of the Caravan was in Bolnisi, municipality of the Kvemo Kartli region.

The aim of the project is really useful for the Georgian people, because nowadays it’s important to gain knowledge about democracy and women’s rights.

That’s why the main topic of today’s next session was “Women’s Activism and the Art of Expression”, moderated by EENCE member Salome Iobadze.

Gender equality in general is a serious issue and a challenge for the country today, and a programme like Caravan is very important for Georgian women.

The meeting was attended by local women from youth organisations, students and members of local self-government.

As a result of the meeting, the participants received information about the forms of expression of women’s activism, mechanisms of civil participation, etc. It should be noted that during the lecture they could not hide their excitement and were very enthusiastic. The atmosphere was so friendly.

The meeting was interactive and the participants were involved in the process as much as possible. During the discussion, participants emphasised the importance of formal and non-formal civic education in overcoming gender stereotypes, based on local examples or experiences.

Caravaners asked participants to describe the project in three words. They replied that the idea of a Caravan was important in their daily lives and that the project helped them to learn more about democracy and women’s rights. They also mentioned that they would share their experiences with their communities.

Caravan in Georgia is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. The local partner of Caravan is a Civic Education Teachers’ Forum (CETF, Georgia).

Сообщение The EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia has started появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

Click on “+INFO” to see the programme for each day of the Caravan in this country.

Caravan in Georgia is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. The local partner of Caravan is a Civic Education Teachers’ Forum (CETF, Georgia).

Meet the experts at Caravan in Georgia:

Oksana Zamora (Ukraine)

Oksana Zamora is an Associate Professor at the Department of International Economic Relations of Sumy State University (Ukraine) and is a co-founder of the Association of Project Managers of Ukraine, combining experience in project design and management in both academic and non-governmental sectors. 

She has participated in more than 30 training programs from Erasmus+, Youth in Action, FAP (USA), British Council, and EBRD. She serves as an education trainer and HEIs international development coach, and has contributed to the development of the Concept of the Future University of Ukraine by the Ukrainian Institute of Future, working on internationalization.

Nazarii Boiarskyi (Ukraine)

Human rights defender and non-formal education trainer working both in Ukraine and abroad. Nazarii represents the NGO Democratic Initiatives Incubator. He is a member of the Trainers Pool of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, an independent expert of the Eastern European Network for Citizenship Education (EENCE), and a facilitator of the British Council’s Active Citizens programme.

Author of 12 publications on citizenship education and the use of interactive teaching methods.

Nino Gvaramadze (Georgia)

Doctor in pedagogy, professor at the European University (Georgia), expert in Citizenship
Education at the National Center for Professional Development of Teachers. Nino has published
more than 25 works in the field of civic education. During the Caravan in Georgia, she will give presentations and discussions on the topics: Democratic Citizenship and Civic Participation.

Sophio Bachilava (Georgia)

The head of quality enhancement department at the National Palace (Tbilisi, Georgia). Her department creates NON-formal educational tools, and support teachers to implement these tools through the teaching process. She has years of experience in formal and non-formal education, she is a school teacher since 2016, she has been nominated on Teachers national award, she was among of 5 finalists.

Sophio conducted lectures at TV school. She is co-author of school textbooks in civic education. Sophio is youth worker, she has years of experience working with school civic clubs. She has a master’s degree in social work. She has an experience of working as a school social worker, she is co-author of professional literature in School social work.

Salome Iobadze (Georgia)

Salome Iobadze is an expert in Civic education Caravan in Georgia and member of EENCE NETWORK. She is a Chairperson of Women’s Democracy Network of Georgia. She has been contributing Women’s rights and Gender responsive policymaking and education for more than ten years as a trainer and as a holder of various positions in civil society sector. Salome has been engaged in the development of training modules and learning courses in various nonformal and Public sector initiatives. The field of her experience covers International Relations, Public Policy, Gender Studies and Leadership with the 10 years of work on women’s rights, gender equality and social and political rights. Salome has been engaged in the development of alternative shadow reports for international monitoring instruments as well.

Lela Javakhishvili (Georgia)

For around last 20 years I am managing the development of the citizenship education in Georgia.

I have developed formal and nonformal civic education curriculums for use with Georgian universities, vocational schools, and education specialists at different level of education in Georgia.

Nino Jibuti (Georgia)

Nino has extensive work experience in the development field performing for local and international organizations.

Her interests are good governance, rural development, social policy advocacy, and civic activism.

The majority of her social projects and community development initiatives focused primarily on empowerment issues and providing equal opportunities for the young people residing in remote areas of Georgia.

Keti Mukhiguli (Georgia)

Ph.D of Social Sciences, associate professor of Caucasus University (CU) and Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). Lecturer of Tbilisi Javakhishvili State University (Georgia) and expert in civic education.

Keti is a member of the board of directors of Civic Education Lecturers Association (CELA). She is a co-author of several manuals and text books for student and teachers, such as “Democracy and Citizenship”, Civic Education” for Professional Colleges, “Civic Education” (teaching methodology) for Teachers of Professional Colleges

Maka Kemkhadze (Georgia)

Chairmen of the youth network “Taoba” and the founder of the Georgian Federation of Children.

Maka has more than 25 years’ experience of managing and implementation of programs and initiatives in terms of raising civic self-awareness among young people and strengthening civil society.

Tamar Karaia (Georgia)

PhD in political sciences and associate professor at Tbilisi State University. Executive director of Civic Education Lecturers Association (CELA).

Co-author of several textbooks in civic education and the author of more than twenty professional articles.

The main research interest of hers is social movements, memory politics and civic education.

Сообщение See the programme of the EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Georgia появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.