Democratic participation Archives - Page 4 of 4

Safe Playground for Your Kids and Mine

The project: Safe Playground for Your Kids and Mine was an awareness-raising initiative promoting the public, particularly young women’s participation in decision-making concerning children’s outdoor playgrounds. To raise the voice of the parents from Yerevan, Mari organized training and workshops that resulted in developing a list of recommendations for the local decision-makers. In parallel with the training, the project monitored and assessed the conditions of the local playgrounds, including the study of heavy metals in soil and sanitary-bacterial research. Based on the above data, the field experts and civil society organizations elaborated on the document and shared it with the public officials. To reach broader audiences, Mari communicated the project deliverables via different media tools, such as radio podcasts, articles, and promo videos.

The project produced a handbook analyzing the playground conditions in Yerevan. Thus, Mari created a database showing the compatibility of the municipal playgrounds with the international standards. Through the training and workshops, the project informed more than 500 parents about playground issues and advocated their civic rights to demand better municipal infrastructure. The collaborative meetings with the local authorities improved equitable management and civic participation as well as public dialogue between the local administration and the community.

Project in media:

Children at Risk: Most Yerevan’s Playgrounds Found Unsafe, hetq.am

Unsafe Heavy Metal Levels Found in Yerevan Playgrounds, hetq.am

Միշտ չէ, որ աղբը աղբ է, hhpress.am

Radio- program “Yerevan”, Republic radio (from 1:00)

Country	Armenia
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Team

Enhancing Cooperation between CSOs & Young Civil Leaders Working in the Ararat Region of Armenia

To enhance the cooperation among civil society leaders in the Ararat region (Armenia), the project delivered eight workshop sessions at the host organization Impact Hub Yerevan. The workshop program comprised eight workshop sessions on the topics of good leadership, social entrepreneurship, effective management of non-profit organizations, media outreach, tourism, and environmental mainstreaming. The seminars engaged 12 young leaders from ten local communities. To present and share the future collaboration initiatives, Samvel organized one final event. Finally, young participants organized a tree-planting campaign in the Ararat village as the best project idea.

The project established an interactive platform for civic leaders from the Ararat region, where they can network with like-minded young enthusiasts. The capacity-building training increased the awareness of 12 local leaders. Hence, the project stimulated beneficiaries’ inclination towards leadership, social entrepreneurship, green initiatives, and other trending civic topics. The participants learned how to address the local challenges through applying the problem-solving tools introduced at the training. Therefore, young leaders became more aware of how to promote their activities via modern technologies. All participants actively participated in the tree-planting campaign held in the kindergarten yard of Ararat village.

Country	Armenia
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Young Changemakers of Dilijan

The project Young Change-makers of Dilijan was a capacity-building initiative engaging up to 50 teenagers from the town of Dilijan. To empower the local youth, Taguhi held workshops on various trending topics, such as active citizenship, human rights and equality, cultural diversity, tolerance, and volunteering. The young people attended the training on project management, budgeting, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and community outreach that increased their qualifications and practical skills. As a result of the interactive sessions and brainstorming, seven groups proposed and implemented their social projects. Given that, the fellowship formed an active group of Dilijan (long-time residents and newcomers) and created an inclusive platform in the local community center.

The training increased the awareness of 50 young teenagers of Dilijan, who proposed and implemented seven social initiatives. Thus, the project stimulated beneficiaries’ aspirations towards self-development, civic engagement, leadership, networking, and project management. Young people learned how to engage in participatory decision making at family and community levels by applying tools learned during the program. Taguhi promoted the concept of volunteering in the local community, as the engaged teenagers actively participated in the social projects during and after the fellowship action.

Country	Armenia
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Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters / Cross-Border Insolvency)

The project studied the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement from the perspective of Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Justice and Cross-Border Insolvency. The project was divided into two parts. In the first phase of the fellowship, Vitalii analyzed legislative acts regarding private international law (PIL) in Ukraine and the European Union. Then, he compared the legislation and explored changes in different areas, such as jurisdiction and choice of law over consumer and individual employment contracts, the establishment of non-state law, determination of the law applicable, “Avoidance of the Law” and overriding mandatory rules as restrictions for the law applicable to a contract. In the second phase of the project, he studied the Insolvency Recast Regulation of the European Union. In parallel, he researched Ukrainian legal acts focusing on the areas of bankruptcy procedures, the appointment of the main insolvency practitioner and synthetic secondary insolvency in Ukrainian realities.

The project produced two academic documents. The first paper explores the potentials of the Ukrainian legal system and its harmonization towards the European legislation, in particular, in the private international law and cross-border insolvency law. The second document provides throughout research and analysis of private international law and insolvency legislation in Ukraine and the European Union. As the research deliverable, Vitalii created concrete proposals on harmonizing the European Law in these two areas. Additionally, he reviewed the compliance of Ukrainian rules with the Recast Insolvency Regulation of the European Union. Due to the vague Ukrainian bankruptcy legislation, foreign investors tend to be skeptical about the security of their assets. The research also explored the above issue and produced relevant expertise.

Research paper ‘The implementation of Association Agreement: adaptation of Ukrainian laws to EU legislation (judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters: contractual obligations)’:

Research paper ‘The implementation of Association Agreement: adaptation of Ukrainian laws to EU legislation (judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters: cross-border insolvency)’:

Country	Ukraine
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