On November 15, the meeting within the framework of the Open Government Partnership took place in the City Hall of Rustavi municipality.
Representatives of different NGOs attended the meeting together with Eco Centre. The Mayor of Rustavi opened the meeting.
The OGP model is based on the horizontal cooperation and aims to actively involve the civil society in the decision-making process.
Rustavi is one of several municipalities in Georgia, that are involved in the OGP process.
Through the partnership, representatives of civil society and the municipality work together to create three-year action plans with particular steps.
Many important issues/problems, throughout the city, have raised during the meeting, however, after a discussion parties have agreed to prioritize the ones that involve the common interest of the whole city; consequently, at this stage, the action plan will focus on two directions: environmental issues, empowering the non-governmental sector.
Our team is pleased about stressing the environmental issues within the OGP program. However, to our belief, the action plan, drawn up within the OGP, should not cover the same issues as the Action Plan for Improving the Ambient Air Quality in Rustavi, to properly distribute and maximize the use of the resources of the NGO sector. On top of that, we emphasized the importance of additional consultations and considering the opinions of the civilians while developing the general plan for the city; This will serve the purpose to avoid a chaotic urban development, such as it is in Tbilisi.
Regarding empowerment of the civil sector, the following issues were emphasized: the importance of the intensive meeting with the mayor; discussing the different ways of problem-solving through joint effort; engaging the civil sector in urban development, and in shaping the city policy.
