Vahan MARTIROSYAN, Armenia
PROJECT: Zero Waste Communities

Skilled in IT and intercultural communication, Vahan is working towards raising Zero-Waste standards in Armenia.

Through applying his IT skills to civic engagement projects, he aims to tackle the environmental challenges through experiential education. In 2018, Vahan was selected for the Eastern Partnership Regional School of Social Entrepreneurship offering him the intensive workshops and a ticket to the “Youth for Entrepreneurship Conference” in Vienna, Austria. He is volunteering for the various large-scale programs, including the EU Neighborhood and Enlargement as a Young European Ambassador and ABCD Innovation Center as a Youth Worker.

Vahan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Intercultural Communications from the Yerevan State Linguistic University after V. Brusov. As an exchange student selected for the U.S Department of State’s Global Student Leadership Program in 2019, he studied Civic Engagement at the Bard College, USA.

“Eastern Partnership Civil Society Fellowship was a chance for me to apply my skills before I would be satisfied with my knowledge. As I young leader still in my early stages of education, I gained the most valuable assets for my future: leadership skills and emotional intelligence, that will make me competitive in any sphere.” – Vahan Martirosyan.

Zero Waste Communities

The project aimed to develop a culture of waste management in Armenia through training and environmental campaigns. To achieve the latter objectives, Vahan organized a number of educational, community outreach and dialogue-building activities.  First, he held intensive one-day training in four Armenian regions of Shirak, Tavush, Gegharkunik, and Kotayk. Then, to promote zero waste principles, Vahan engaged partner organizations from Gyumri (Youth Initiative Center), Dilijan (Youth Cooperation Center), Gegharkunik (Ajdahak Environmental Center), and Yerevan (Armenian Progressive Youth) and installed zero-waste stations in their offices under the guaranteed control. Following this, the project team organized a massive cleanup and recycling campaign in Yerevan and other municipalities. Last but not least, to highlight the project deliverables, Vahan held the final conference in Yerevan involving local and international experts, local youth, civil society and municipality representatives to discuss the ecological challenges and their mitigation measures.

The project enhanced the mindset of 150 young people from the Armenian regions and up to 100 youngsters in Yerevan on waste management and engaged the local NGOs. Also, through installing four waste sorting bins, the action encouraged the local communities to separate waste and recycle it on a regular basis. As a result of the cleanup campaigns, 5 tons of sorted waste were accumulated from landfills and sent to recycling within 3 months. Besides, the project served as a bridge for the civil society organizations, local municipalities and small recycling enterprises and urged them to collaborate in terms of waste management.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1253256278211038

Fellowship Programs 2019
Country Armenia
Areas of Interest Awareness raising
Community mobilisation
Topics Economic development
Environment & climate change
Project duration May 2019 - November 2019