From May 18 to 20, within the framework of the DVV International Georgia Country Office project, two important events were organised in Kazbegi for mayors and heads of municipalities from 13 municipalities across the country. Municipalities where DVV established Adult Education/Community Education centers were selected for participation. Along with the municipalities' leadership, directors of the centers were also invited. In total, 40 people participated in the events.
The first two days were dedicated to the workshop, which aimed at increasing awareness of the municipal leaders on Adult Learning and Education (ALE) issues worldwide, emphasizing the European experience. Ms. Iluta Krumina, Chair of the Board of the Latvian Adult Education Association, led this part of the workshop. She presented to the participants the Latvian experience of cooperation between municipalities and adult education centers, including communication methods, budgeting, implementation of joint projects, etc.
On the second day, the attention of participants was drawn to local self-government legislation and budgeting issues related to Adult Education. These sessions were conducted by Mr. Konstantine Kandelaki, Chairman of the Board of the International Center for Civic Culture and expert on local-self-government. Practical examples were analysed by participants with the assistance of the expert and concrete ways of supporting Adult Education in the regions suggested.
The third day of the event was dedicated to the "Adult Education and Local Development" conference facilitated by Ms.Iluta Krumina. In the framework of the meeting, space was created where mayors, heads of municipalities, and directors of AE centers could exchange, jointly discuss problems and challenges of their municipalities, and find common ground where Adult Education can facilitate solutions to community issues and contribute to local development. Several mayors presented successful examples of including AE in their budgets, including support to centers' infrastructural and programme costs.
"There must be a desire for cooperation, and initiating and organising it yourself is necessary, as others will not do it for you. As long as the participants tried to create the system and then discuss its development methods, there is hope that even one successful example will lead to more activity from the others," said Iluta Krumina.
The participants positively evaluated both the workshop and the conference. They thanked the German government and DVV International for their support and expressed their desire to participate in similar events.