The first national meeting of the InoHub Platform "Learning, Sharing, Leading" brought together 28 young leaders and members representing eleven regional Youth Labs from across Georgia. Held in Borjomi, the gathering helped participants turn the broad objectives they developed during the Summer Camp for Democracy and Human Rights into concrete initiatives addressing local community needs.

The Youth Labs initiative, established earlier this year, supports young people in different regions of Georgia to work together on issues such as civic participation, equality, inclusion, and community well-being. InoHub serves as the national platform that connects these Labs, enabling young people to share experience, strengthen skills, and collaborate on projects that promote democratic values and human rights at local level.

According to one of the Youth Lab leaders: “the InoHub platform gave us even more motivation to continue our joint efforts and to strengthen our connections with peers across different regions.” Another participant emphasised how the InoHub platform and the Youth Lab network created a genuinely open, warm, and motivating environment that inspires young people to stay engaged. They highlighted the importance of the connections formed across regions, noting that these relationships strengthen their commitment to continue their work and learn from one another.

A representative of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia joined the discussion to share insights on their work, current human rights challenges, and opportunities for co-operation. Mentors, who have been accompanying the Labs since the summer, continued to play a key role by guiding participants through the development of their initiatives and helping them strengthen their skills and confidence.

Drawing on peer exchange, practical thematic workshops, expert-led sessions, and co-creation exercises, participants strengthened their teamwork, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and project development competencies. These processes also contributed to important behavioural shifts participants highlighted during the reflection sessions, namely, greater confidence in collaborative problem-solving, a stronger sense of ownership over local challenges, and a more proactive approach to engaging with stakeholders and mobilising resources. As a result, the Youth Labs were able to map their regional presence, refine project concepts, build partnership strategies, develop communication approaches and resource mobilisation strategies.

At the end, each Youth Lab presented an executive plan for local initiatives they will deliver over the next months, addressing priority issues such as civic participation, inclusion, youth engagement, environmental protection, and community-based human rights education. Participants also contributed to shaping criteria for the future InoHub Impact Awards, an upcoming recognition mechanism to highlight innovative and impactful youth-led initiatives.

The first InoHub meeting represents an important step in establishing a national youth participation platform that supports meaningful and sustainable action. Grounded in peer learning, shared responsibility, and local ownership, the platform empowers young people to become multipliers of democratic values, community resilience, and a strong human rights culture across Georgia.

This activity was organised in the framework of the Project „Advancing Participatory and Human Rights-based Local Democracy in Georgia” implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2024-2027, with the support of International Partnerships Austria.