Electoral assistance newsroom

Back Kick-off Meeting of the Council of Europe’s Project “Strengthening Participatory Democracy in Tbilisi City Hall in Georgia”

On September 22, a kick-off meeting of the Council of Europe’s project – “Strengthening Participatory Democracy in Tbilisi City Hall in Georgia”- was held at The Rooms Hotel Tbilisi.

The Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tbilisi, Natalia Voutova, and the Deputy Mayor of Tbilisi, Maia Bitsadze, addressed the participants with welcome speeches alongside high-ranking officials, namely the Chair of the Regional Policy and Self-Government Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, MP Zaza Gabunia; the Chair of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, MP Sopio Kiladze, and the Deputy Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Lia Gigauri.

The Head of the Municipal Department of Environment Protection of Tbilisi City Hall, Giga Gigashvili, and the Chair of the Property Management and Finance-Budget Commission of Tbilisi Municipal Assembly, Otar Grigolia has also addressed the participants about the practices of citizen participation at the municipal level. Council of Europe’s experts, Vazha Salamadze and Davit Losaberidze, reviewed the domestic and international practices of citizen participation and introduced the audience with the project’s planned activities.

The kick-off meeting was attended by active citizens, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders.

The Council of Europe’s project aims at strengthening and supporting participatory democratic governance in Tbilisi municipality – the largest municipality of Georgia. The project envisages forming an inclusive and sustainable coordination and discussion platform - CivicLab Workshop – that will include the representatives of the Tbilisi Municipality, citizens, and the wider civil society. The platform will discuss and decide on Tbilisi City Hall’s specific policy initiatives on renovating and/or building public parks and other green spaces. The project also aims at elaborating a conceptual and legal regulatory framework necessary for forming sustainable civil cooperation platform, together with holding capacity building training and information campaigns.

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