Are Georgian Cities Ready to Introduce Recycling?

40 transparent collection bins were installed in residential areas of Tbilisi and Batumi
Residents of Georgia’s two biggest cities, Tbilisi and Batumi, would welcome recycling if there was better access to
municipal infrastructure and services, a behavioral experiment proved. Initiated by the UNDP Accelerator Lab in
Georgia, the experiment studied household waste behavior to find out what measures would stimulate people to
separate waste, and how municipal authorities could support this process.

The experiment was carried out from September 2021 through January 2022, in partnership with the Tbilisi and
Batumi City Halls, municipal cleaning services and a consortium of civil society organizations
On 23 March, UNDP invited representatives of several Georgian municipalities, the private sector, civil society and
international organizations to discuss the experiment results and look into ways to increase plastic waste separation
among households.
The Tbilisi and Batumi City Halls have been great partners. I am looking forward to seeing ways to scale up this
work, so together we can find practical and affordable solutions to plastic waste recycling in Tbilisi and other
municipalities,” said UNDP Head Nick Beresford.
The social experiment in Batumi and Tbilisi kicked off in September 2021 when 40 transparent collection bins were
installed in the residential areas of the two cities. This was followed by a targeted educational campaign in several
pilot districts that aimed to check whether awareness-raising helps increase plastic waste collection. The results
obtained in the pilot districts were compared to other sites where no additional information was provided to the
residents.
The experiment revealed important behavioral patterns and provided ground for practical recommendations.
It showed that adequate infrastructure and public awareness could have a notable impact on waste management
practices. It also suggested that the use of transparent containers improves the quality of collected material as people
can see the contents of the bins.
In addition, the experiment revealed that visibly branded collection trucks could help overcome the popular notion
that collected plastic waste ends up in a landfill.
The probe on the awareness-raising aspect of the experiment proved that more educational activities are needed to
reinforce the recycling habits among the citizens.
Around 900,000 tons of waste is generated annually in Georgia and more than 75% ends up in landfill sites,
increasing pollution and posing long-lasting threats to the environment and human health.
Georgia’s 2016-2030 National Strategy on Waste Management outlines concrete steps to lead the country to
sustainable waste management policies and practices. Georgia is committing to recycling 50% of its plastic waste by
2025 and 80% by 2030.
UNDP will continue working with Tbilisi, Batumi and other municipalities to help introduce effective plastic waste
separation practices and promote sustainable lifestyles.
 25.03.2022

GreenHill Residence: Living in the Center of Tbilisi, in a

Green and Cozy Environment
When it comes to your dream home, it’s easy to imagine bright, sunny rooms, breathtaking( very beautiful) balcony
views, and a space that meets all your needs. Nowadays, living in a city center and at the same time in a green and
cozy environment has become quite a rare opportunity. It’s particularly noticeable when we talk about Georgia’s
capital Tbilisi. However, luckily, there are development companies that care for the ecology, health, and well-being
of their customers, and simultaneously( at the same time) manage to offer to them maximum comfort and
quality. Development company GreenHill Residence is one of them.

GreenHill Residence is a multifunctional complex in an ecologically clean and cozy environment in Tbilisi,
distinguished from all existing projects by its specificity, planning, comfort, and greenery. The company is building
residential, commercial, sports-recreational, recreational, and children’s zones in accordance with modern
requirements, on a 33,500 sq.m. piece of land. During the construction process, the principles of urban development
are being taken into account, and ecological safety and nature are protected.
GreenHill’s residential complex has many advantages, which will have a significant positive impact on the daily
lives of residents. The complex, located in central Saburtalo at University Street 24, combines a convenient location,
a view over Vere Valley, a protected yard, ecologically clean environment, sports and wellness complex, spa,
natural lighting in the rooms, and optimal planning for a harmonious life.
The construction of the project is divided into several stages. The first stage consists of four blocks that have already
been completed. The construction of the second phase of GreenHill Residence is underway, with the most reliable,
energy efficient and high quality building materials.
Notably, GreenHill Residence offers convenient and flexible payment options to customers, in particular: fi rst
installment payment from 10%, internal interest-free installment until the completion of construction, or mortgage
loans from any partner bank, such as TBC, Bank of Georgia. The company constantly offers customers special
promotions and maximum benefits.
GreenHill Residence creates a healthy environment for the perfect relaxation of its residents through various means,
including a gym, spa center, yoga, pools for children and adults, sauna, etc. so, it can be a perfect place for
enthusiasts of a healthy, active and sporty lifestyle.
Greenhill Residence is distinguished by the best, convenient location.
The construction is steady and solid. GreenHill Residence was constructively designed by a team of professionals.
The seismic strength of the building is calculated at 9 magnitude, which is 100% in line with all the norms in
Georgia.

16.03.2022
CinéDOC-School Sharing Documentary Films with Georgia’s Children
and Teens

CinéDOC-School is bringing outstanding documentary films for children and teenagers to different schools across
Georgia. GEORGIA TODAY went to meet Ileana Stanculescu, project co-ordinator, to find out more.

“We started to work on a pilot project in 2020, when, because of the pandemic, cultural events simply did not take
place or moved to the virtual space,” Stanculescu tells us. “The pilot project consisted of organizing online film
screenings and discussions for pupils as part of our year-long CinéDOC-Young screenings. Children could not go
out to cinemas anymore, because cinemas were closed or it was risky to have so many children in one space, so we
had to reach children in a different way. The idea came in a rather natural way, and the pandemic pushed it to be
realized.”
It was an idea they took to one of their top regional coordinators, Sopo Gogokhia, a teacher who is used to
organizing mini festivals and film screenings in the town of Chkhorotsku. Together with her and with the Coalition
Education for All, the CineDOC team developed a pilot project, first aimed at reaching pupils from Chkhorotsku and
Tbilisi, then reaching out to more and more schools from the regions.
“It went so well that we began considering including more schools and involving more teachers,” Stanculescu notes.
“But we had to find a way of doing it so that teachers organized the screenings themselves, otherwise the project had
no chance of growing.
In 2021, they published a Call for Teachers, those interested in screening and discussing documentary films in class.
They received applications from 67 schools from all across Georgia and immediately understood the potential of the
project. Many of the teachers who applied are civic education teachers, others teach history or literature; even a
teacher of mathematics applied.
“We re-built our website, so that teachers can have access to films via a password-protected online video library.
Our online platform for schools includes virtual cinemas, which can be accessed by children during online
screenings. Once the pandemic is over and pupils are back in class, teachers have the possibility to simply stream the
films directly from our website,” she says.
What is the CineDOC School mission, and who is supporting it?
The mission of the project is to bring good, engaging, creative documentary films to young audiences, while
involving them in discussions on different topics of social interest. But the selected films are not only reports about
certain topics: they are cinematic films that have strong stories, films with protagonists that go through some
hardship, or manage to achieve their goals.
Children can identify with the protagonists of the documentaries. While developing critical thinking, they will be
also exposed to the lives and stories of children from all across the world: from Venezuela to Japan. Such
documentaries have the potential to increase empathy, and to promote positive social interaction. Last but not least,
watching beautifully shot and edited films, as well as animated documentaries, positively impacts the social-
emotional growth of pupils and understanding of the world around them.

We are very lucky that this project is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, for which
quality education and civic education are core priorities. From this spring, we will also again have the Creative
Europe Program of the European Union as co-donor.
As we organize training sessions for the selected teachers, we also invite guest speakers from other European
countries. For example, guest speakers that represent the project One World in Schools, a documentary film
screenings project in the Czech Republic that reaches out to teachers and pupils from more than 3,900 primary and
secondary schools there.
Who chooses the films and which films are shown?
Within our team, we choose and discuss the selection of films from our large archive of documentaries that have
been screened at our festival to date. But we have also started to add new titles. Our festival has had a competition
for children called CinéDOC-Young, since its first edition in 2013, meaning we can look back to some experience in
programming films for young audiences.
In addition, we invited the selected teachers to join online film screenings and Q&A sessions with filmmakers
during our 2021 edition. Many of the teachers were impressed by films selected for the Focus Caucasus competition.
We asked them to make a list of films they would like to screen in class. After that, taking into account their
preferences, we included their preferred films in our selection too.(1)
What is very important for us is that all the selected films have an extraordinary visual style; that they are little
pieces of cinematic art. Some films are animated documentaries, suitable for younger children.

We are really glad to have been able to purchase screening rights to a series of short documentaries called “Kids on
the Silk Road”. “Kids on the Silk Road” is 15 stories about children between the ages of 11 and 14, from 15
countries along the old silk route. Each story shows how the individual child deals with life’s challenges, big and
small, which they face in their specific cultural and social contexts.
What’s the duration of the project?
We will implement this project at least until 2025, and we hope that we will be able to implement it later on too,
especially if teachers are able to screen films independently from us. Once the video library is established, with
some films purchased for a longer period of time, the teachers can easily continue to screen films without our direct
assistance.
Can you give us one or two examples of success stories within this project, or highlights, or moments which
touched you?
There were innumerable moments during which we were really happy with the results, especially when the
discussions with pupils lasted more than one hour, when you see that many of the teenagers and children were so
glad to discuss, to share their opinions, to ask questions about the films. Sometimes children have analyzed films in
better and deeper ways than any grown-ups could do. When the film directors were present at the online discussions,
they had so many questions and so many thoughts to share with them.
We also conducted a survey after a certain number of screenings, in order to receive some written feedback from
participating pupils regarding the films, the discussions, and overall format of the project. All of the surveyed pupils
expressed their wish that this project continues; some of them have written us that they wanted to be able to watch
such films more often; others wrote us that they would like to also learn filmmaking and to work on short
documentaries themselves.(B1.2 11:00)
What role do the school teachers play in the pre/post film screening? What has the feedback been like and
how can schools get involved?
The role of teachers is essential, especially during the pre- and post-screening discussions. The teachers moderate
the discussions with the pupils, they put the right accents, and they bring certain topics to their civic education, arts,
literature or history classes that films can highlight in a wonderful way.
But teachers are not only important during the discussions: they also advise us on which films to select, which films
are suitable for which age groups and which films we could add to our video library.
For example, teachers were impressed by an animated documentary from our archive. The film deals with the
destiny of Lithuanians who were deported to Siberia during Soviet times. The film is told from the point of view of a
grand-daughter who discovers old letters and photos taken by her grandparents in Siberia. While the story is really
sad, the film is made in a light way, and it is almost like a cinematic fairytale.
If schools want to get involved, they can contact us anytime, by sending us an e-mail to: cinedocschool@gmail.com.
Our colleague, Keti Tsirikidze, will be happy to answer all questions and to inform potentially interested teachers
about this year’s new call for applications.
What are the plans and goals for the future?
We have many plans and ideas for the future. One of them is to establish cinema clubs at the participating schools.
Some of the schools have already started with this activity. Cinema clubs could be like small, independent initiatives
run by pupils and teachers. They could also apply for co-funding from local authorities and organize “Film Summer
Camps”, for example. We will support them with films and, if possible, also with documentary directing training
sessions for children.
Another fun activity will be dubbing: we will invite pupils from different schools to a casting and select them to dub
the newly added titles in Georgian, Armenian or Azeri, depending on the region of the participating schools.
Dubbing films is always very enjoyable and fun, and is also a film literacy activity that increases the motivation of
children to watch documentaries.
Last but not least, we plan to cooperate with organizations from Europe that are active in this field, such as the
Finnish Valve Film School for children. The plan is to organize common screenings and common discussions during
which children from Georgia and children from Finland will discuss films together, in online sessions. And, once the
pandemic is over, we also hope to be able to visit, together with selected pupils and teachers from Georgia, the Oulu
International Children’s and Youth Film Festival in Finland.

11.03.2022
New Study of Attitudes(დამოკიდებულება) to Diversity in Georgia:
People Increasingly Positive about Minorities
The Council of Europe Office in Georgia presented(წარმოადგინა) the results of the project “Fight against
Discrimination, Hate Speech and Hate Crimes in Georgia” carried out( ჩატარდა) in 2018-2021 and the main
findings(აღმოჩენები) of the study “Hate Speech, Hate Crimes and Discrimination in Georgia:
Attitudes and Awareness(ცნობიერება) in 2021” conducted(ჩატარდა) under the project and comparing
the change in the public attitudes to diversity over the past three years.

The project carried out with funding (დაფინანსება)from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs(საგარეო საქმეთა
სამინისტრო) of Denmark, through its Neighbourhood(მეზობელი, სამეზობლო) Programme (DANEP),
aimed at providing expertise, building competences, advocating and raising awareness(ცნობიერების გაზრდა)
about equality and diversity in Georgia. To assess the evolution in the public’s attitudes towards hate speech, hate
crimes and discrimination, CRRC Georgia was commissioned to conduct a study through nationally
representative(წარმომადგენელი) survey(კვლევა), in-depth( სიღრმისეული) interviews and focus groups
in 2021 and compare the findings with the results of the similar study completed in 2018.
The study focused on the awareness, understanding and appreciation(დაფასება) of diversity in the Georgian
society; the protection(დაცვა) of minorities(უმცირესობა) and vulnerable groups; occurrence of discrimination,
hate crime and hate speech in the Georgian society and who it affects; public attitude to and knowledge of Georgian
legislation( კანონმდებლობა) against discrimination, hate crime, and hate speech; existing redress(მზაობა)
mechanisms and their effectiveness; different actors’ work in this field.
The study demonstrates(აჩვენებს) that knowledge and appreciation of diversity in Georgian society has
increased(გაიზარდა) between 2018 and 2021. Positive attitudes towards diversity in general increased from 56%
to 70%, a 14- percentage(პროცენტი) point increase. In 2018 the most common response to this question was
“don’t know” or “cannot think of a minority group”, named by 36% of respondents. In contrast, 28% of
respondents(რესპოდენტი) reported the same in 2021, a change of 8 percentage points. (აქამდე)
People are more capable of naming a minority group when asked what minority group comes to mind first. The
public has significantly(IMPORTANTLY) more positive attitudes towards diversity in general, and ethnic and
religious diversity, in particular. For ethnic diversity, the data show a 12-point increase in positive attitudes, from
56% to 68%. For religious diversity, the data show an increase of 14 percentage points from 46% in 2018 to 60% in
2021.
The pubic also began to recognise to a greater extent the importance of minority rights and their protection
compared to 2018. The number of persons thinking protecting the LGBTI rights is important rose from 33% in 2018
to 47% in 2021. At the same time, number of persons that thought the protection of LGBT rights was unimportant,
decreased from 44% in 2018 to 29% in 2021.
While the public’s attitudes have become increasingly positive about diversity, there has been little if any change in
terms of awareness of Georgian legislation against discrimination, hate crime, and hate speech. Knowledge of and
appreciation of existing redress mechanisms and their effectiveness also remain unchanged.

Gender Equality and Diversity Month in Georgia

BY MARIAM.MTIVLISHVILI
  
 March 4, 2022
 
in Highlights, Social & Society
 
Reading Time: 1min read

Source of image: Nino Zedginidze/UNDP

UNDP and Sweden are launching a month-long campaign to push for human rights, diversity, gender equality
and women’s empowerment

 
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of Sweden join hands with Georgia’s
Government, Parliament, civil society, UN agencies and other partners to stress the critical importance of upholding
human rights, achieving meaningful gender equality and respecting diversity.
The month-long campaign will focus on recognizing emerging challenges and presenting solutions for building a
fair, just and equal society.
The events and initiatives include:
 Research launch: ‘Gender Equality in Georgia: Barriers and Recommendations – 2021’.
 Conferences on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
 The first enrolment to the Women Entrepreneurs’ Development Program, established in partnership with the Bank of
Georgia.
 Presentation of “To Be a Woman”, an educational board game about equality and diversity.
 Inter-party discussions at the local level to enhance women’s political participation.
 Training sessions for women councilors, Mayors and Deputy Mayors.
 Signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the Labor Inspection Office. Launch of the Contact Center to raise labor
rights awareness among vulnerable social groups, including women and girls.
 A community-based campaign highlighting the historic role Peri-Khan Sofieva, the first Muslim woman democratically
elected to Georgia’s local governance in 1918 and allegedly the first Mulsim woman to be elected formally anywhere in
the world.
 Workshops in advocacy and political participation for women, including representatives of minority groups.
 Workshops for young leaders from across Georgia.

Follow the campaign on @UNDPGeorgia, hashtags: #breakthebias, #embracediversity

With Respect” – Baia Gallery Presents Merab

Abramishvili among its Modern and Contemporary Art
Collection
BY GEORGIA TODAY
 
 February 24, 2022
 
in Culture, Editor's Pick, Newspaper
 
Reading Time: 4min read

The past two years marked many changes in our lives and on the planet as a whole, among them the loss of some
great artistic figures. To recognize those lost artists, GEORGIA TODAY, in collaboration as BI Auction, is
continuing its series of coverage of artists who have passed, ‘With Respect.’

Baia Gallery is an art gallery specializing in modern and contemporary art with two locations in Tbilisi. Since its
foundation, the gallery has been at the forefront of the Georgian art marketplace with highly desirable works of
leading artists, historical scholarship, and insightful market analysis.
Established in 1992 by Baia Tsikoridze, Baia Gallery was the first private structure operating in this field. The
establishment of the gallery connects with events such as war and crisis. It is paradoxical because the gallery started
working at a time and in conditions that were generally unsuitable for the existence and development of such an
institution: in parallel with a civil war in Tbilisi and the war in Abkhazia raging.
“The war, fire, crisis, and an instinct for survival made for the setting up of the Orient Gallery (now Baia Gallery),
when in an old part of Tbilisi, on the abandoned and empty Chardin Street, we found a small, two-story house and
started to work under conditions unimaginable for a gallery as well as for any other institution,” Tsikoridze tells us.
“Under those circumstances, few factors made this possible, the first being the mutual desire of artists and the
gallery to collaborate.”
Since the day of its foundation, the gallery has been working in two main directions: cultural heritage from private
collections and contemporary art, thus operating in the primary and secondary spheres of the art market.
Cultural Heritage of Georgia from Private Collections is a project within the frames of which the gallery has been
studying and popularizing pieces of art kept in private collections. These items are often rarities in an artistic,
stylistic, or epochal sense: to extricate them from the hidden area of private collections, to study, exhibit and
popularize them, is an obligatory condition for researching the culture. Contemporary art covers those artists
acting in the two last decades of the 20th century and the present day.
From Here 11.03.2022
From its inception, Baia Gallery has presented and prepared exhibitions of such exceptional Georgian artists as
Merab Abramishvili and Irakli Parjiani.
“I discovered Merab Abramishvili’s many artworks at his retrospective exhibition in 2016 at Moma Tbilisi
organized by Baia Gallery. It was both stunning and impressive- artworks and the excitement of crowds,” says
Bengü Akçardak Küçük, BI Auction Co-Founder. “Although it is rare to find his artworks in museum collections,
his artworks have been successfully presented at not only our BI Auction events, but also at Sotheby’s many times,
with record prices.”
Tsikoridze, on behalf of Baia Gallery, tells us more.
“Merab Abramishvili has a distinctive painting style. His thorough knowledge of Georgian fresco and Persian
miniature painting have come together in his exquisite oeuvre. The artist has developed a technique that employs the
early Christian panel painting method. He hand-prepared his plaster grounds and painted with tempera: washing off
and repainting the surfaces several times, the translucent color palette becoming his trademark. The final glaze of
egg yolk gives a warmer tonality and smoothness to his panels. Abramishvili’s paintings speak of a meticulous artist
of strict discipline: a perfectionist.
“He was exposed to Georgian frescos from a very early age and later would frequently accompany his art historian
father on expeditions. Abramishvili, enchanted by medieval art, produced studies of frescos while on those trips. He
often described his oeuvre as an interpretation of icon painting. The noticeable two-dimensionality of his paintings is
also inspired by Christian imagery.
“Abramishvili has recurring subject matters. He frequently works on the theme of Paradise and scenes from the life
of Christ. His Paradise series is nostalgic for the absolute values that the artist’s surroundings were deprived of. The
art of Abramishvili is impregnated with the escapist sentiment. The intricate surfaces of mythological scenes,
heavenly animals, and rocking maidens are opposed to the turbulent surroundings of Post-Soviet Georgia.
Abramishvili’s canvases seem to offer an escape route to idealists, which developed into a trend for the artists of his
generation. Instead of focusing on the turmoil of reality, these painters were concerned with universal truths and, in
Abramishvili’s case, on harmonious compositional aesthetics that evoke sensations of serenity, kindness, and
steadiness.
“Merab Abramishvili is one of the contemporary Georgian artists whose works maintain a constant and growing
price index at auctions. The international institutions have defined the formal and consistent process of the sales
history of his paintings; the demand for them has increased, and the artist’s works have acquired the status of a solid
and reliable investment. It is not surprising that his painting, which is especially interesting as an example of the
synthesis of Eastern-Western culture, has justifiably gained international interest.
“Merab Abramishvili is represented in Georgia and abroad by Baia Gallery. Our gallery has organized more than ten
exhibitions of his works, including a retrospective one in 2016 at the Tbilisi Museum of Contemporary Art
(MOMA). We have presented the artist at the Sotheby’s London selling exhibition ‘At the Crossroads:
Contemporary Art from the Caucasus and Central Asia.’ We collaborate with the artist’s Foundation ‘Bison,’
publish catalogs and participate in determining the originality of his works.
By Mariam Mtivlishvili