Project goal
Empower actors involved in the development sphere at the local self-government level in order to enable them effectively manage the identification of local needs and development priorities, as well as active participation in political decision-making.
Project objectives
- Improve an enabling environment of local development actors (civil society organizations, social enterprises, municipalities);
- Promote civic engagement and activism via enhancement of cooperation among local development actors;
Build capacities of local development actors.
Donors and partners
The project is implemented through the collaboration of the Civil Society Institute and Ozurgeti Progress House, while it is funded by Bread for the World, a German foundation.
Project coverage
Adjara, Guria, Shida Kartli
Project timeline
01.10.2020 – 30.09.2023
Project Manager
Ia Gabunia
Project activities
- Provide legal assistance/consultancy and consultancy to local development actors;
- Ensure continuous monitoring of relevant legislation to prevent deterioration of an enabling environment of civil society organizations/social enterprises;
- Advocate for legislative packages (standardization of state grant funding; right to issue municipal grants) to ensure a favorable enabling environment;
- Develop relevant subordinate normative acts for local municipalities;
- Review legislative initiatives related to social entrepreneurship;
- Advocate for the establishment of a definition of social entrepreneurship in the legislative space;
- Facilitate roundtable discussions on social entrepreneurship for all stakeholders;
- Develop a strategic vision for the development of social entrepreneurship in Georgia;
- Create a manual on civic engagement for municipalities;
- Create guidebooks (effective communication with the public, monitoring, and evaluation of participatory budgeting process) supporting participatory budgeting process for target municipalities;
- Provide support to target municipalities in the process of participatory budgeting campaign;
- Develop specific action plans for target municipalities based on civic engagement benchmarking findings;
- Use a benchmarking tool in target municipalities (Phase II);
- Promote sharing of inter-municipal experiences;
- Organize annual national forums on civic engagement;
- Support public awareness-raising about civic engagement;
- Stimulate civic activism via organizing various annual competitions for local development actors;
- Provide continuous update, monitoring of www.csogeorgia.org, as well as the creation of new content to ensure civic engagement, awareness-raising;
- Offer a variety of online training programs in terms of civic engagement to local development actors;
- Mentor with target municipalities on issues related to participatory budgeting;
- Provide capacity building initiatives for youth and other local government development actors, aiming at stimulating civic activism and civic engagement.