A two-day training on advocacy and civil activism was held on January 20-21, organized by “Eco Centre”.
The training was conducted within the framework of the project ‘Access to a Healthy Environment in Rustavi’, with financial support from the Embassy of France in Georgia.
Young people from Rustavi, Tbilisi, and Marneuli participated in the training.
During the training, we introduced participants to the purpose of our activities, discussed environmental problems in Rustavi, challenges and achievements in air pollution, and talked about environmental advocacy and the importance of civic activism.
On the first day, we introduced participants to what air pollution is and why the air in Rustavi is polluted, discussed types of pollution and the main pollutants that are a problem for Rustavi; in addition, we talked about the impact of air pollution on human health. We ended the day with an information tour in the industrial zone, where participants saw the current situation, improvements, and remaining challenges in this part of Rustavi.
The second day of the training was devoted to discussing advocacy. We reviewed the essence, goals, and objectives of advocacy; young people received information on how to plan an advocacy campaign.
To better understand the information received and determine ways to implement it in practice, participants worked on identifying specific problems, their causes, and consequences using a practical exercise based on the ‘problem tree’ example.
Another practical work in which our training participants engaged in the advocacy strategy planning section was identifying and analyzing the activities of interest groups related to the problem. We also talked about the role of media in planning and implementing advocacy campaigns.
In the concluding part, we discussed with the youth the importance of each individual’s small contribution in improving global outcomes, and how to involve other people in environmental activism.
At the end of the training, participants were awarded certificates.
We are glad that about 20 more active young people have joined our network of environmentalists.