On May 18-19, a two-day training on advocacy and civic activism was organized by the Eco Centre.
Students, pupils, teachers, and people of various professions from Rustavi, Gardabani, and Tsalka interested in environmental and advocacy issues participated in the training.
Within the framework of the training, we introduced the purpose of our activities to the participants, discussed the environmental problems in Rustavi, the challenges and achievements in air pollution, talked about environmental advocacy, the importance of civic activism. We talked about the essence, goals and objectives of advocacy. We introduced the stages of advocacy campaign planning and analyzed the interest groups related to the problem.
The second day of the training began with an information tour in the industrial zone of Rustavi. Some of the participants did not have information about the scale and reality of the situation at the industrial zone in Rustavi.
After the tour, the session was devoted to a discussion on the impact of air pollution on human health. The second part of the day was loaded with practical work. We conducted a problem tree analysis, and then the participants worked in groups on various problems and presented specific problems, their root causes and consequences using the problem tree structure.
At the end of the training, the participants discussed the importance of attracting and involving people in environmental activism, and we also emphasized the importance of individual actions.
Upon completion of the training, the participants received certificates.