Innovation and Challenge Grants Program

1. Collegium of Independent Education Consultants – developing a professional rehabilitation service model for adults with autism and advocating for its adoption. Project duration: 15 February 2023 – 15 March, 2024. Project budget – $ 25,000.
2.  Lomeki – awareness-raising campaign to save the Truso valley’s (Kazbegi) landscape and historical heritage by highlighting its significance, engaging professionals, and communities, and advocating the government to enforce the law on Truso’s Protected Landscape, which was enacted in 2021 to effectively manage and protect the valley. Project duration: 15 February – 15 March 2024. Project budget – $24,998.45.
3. Initiative Peace and Development – Maintaining and updating informational page dopomoga.ge and a Facebook page to offers consolidated information on services, opportunities, and support to Ukrainian citizens in Georgia. Coordinating humanitarian efforts; promoting goods/services produced by Ukrainian citizens in Georgia and voicing their needs. Project duration: 15 September 2023 – 15 March, 2024. Project budget – $ 16,100.
4. Tsertili – fostering students’ engagement in discussing and resolving vital societal issues. Project duration: 1 August – 31 January 2024. Project budget: $ 29,889.50.
5. Human Rights and Social Justice Research Center – conducting an intensive awareness-raising and advocacy campaign to urge the government to effectively address the problem of air pollution in Poti. Project duration: 15 February, 2023 – 1 February, 2024. Project budget – $ 24,978.
6. Civic Initiative – Including elderly population in the social processes: piloting an elderly-orientated program in Sighnaghi municipality (Kakheti) and advocating for the adoption of this program by the municipality. Project duration: April 15, 2023 – 4 January 2024. Project budget: $ 24,995
7. New Thinking Institute – engaging ethnic minority youth from the Kvemo Kartli municipality in public processes through mobilizing, educating, and supporting young activists to carry out civic initiatives. Project duration: 15 February – 15 December 2023. Project budget – $23,670.
8.  Scene of Change – analyzing modern methods and practices of management for the cultural sector; cooperating with cultural workers to introduce these practices as well as identifying other pressing issues in the sector. Project duration: 15 February 2023 – 15 January 2024. Project budget – $24,978.
9. Foki Pachulia – forming a network of active citizens and engaging them in the promotion of democratic principles. Project duration: 1 August 2023 – 15 January 2024. Project budget: $ 9,993.
10.  Parents for Education – building and empowering a network of parents throughout the country to engage them in decision-making and contribute to the creation of a child-oriented school environment. Project duration: 15 February 2023 – 15 January 2024. Project budget – $ 25,000.
11. Art Union – Collective Failure – Raising awareness about environmental challenges and fostering civic engagement in the Vere Valley. Project duration: 1 August – 30 November 2023. Project budget: $ 10,000.
12. Dmanisi Initiative Group/Meeting Point Dmanisi –  project aims to create alternative cultural and social spaces in Dmanisi. Through theater performances and other forms of art, the project will engage diverse groups locally and identify, discuss, and address the factors affecting community development. Carrying out a crowdfunding  campaign with the purpose to build a social/cultural space in Dmanisi. Project duration: 10 September, 2022 – 31 October, 2023. Project budget  – $ 24,907.
13. Initiative Peace and Development –  Maintaining and updating informational page dopomoga.ge and a Facebook page to offers consolidated information on services, opportunities and support to Ukrainian citizens in Georgia. Coordinating humanitarian efforts; promoting goods/services produced by Ukrainian citizens in Georgia and voicing their needs. Project duration: 15 February – 15 September, 2023. Project budget – $ 24,970
14. Eco Centre (Gavigudet) – reducing air pollution in Rustavi through citizen awareness, engagement, and advocacy. Project duration: 1 August 2022 – 31 August 2023. Project budget – $ 24,992.
15. Towards New Possibilities – empowering women from ethnic minority villages in Samtskhe-Javakheti through creating a safe space for women to socialize, gain knowledge on various subjects, and plan joint activities. Project duration: 1 September 2022 – 31 July 2023. Project budget – $ 20,164.
16. Youth Initiative for Changes – this project aims to bring new life to the Bolnisi cinema and create a multifunctional space for the social and cultural engagement of local communities, including ethnic Azerbaijanis and Armenians. Project duration: 1 September 2022 – 20 August, 2023. Project budget – $ 22,372.
17. Public Movement Chiatura of the Future –empowering local communities in Chiatura to effectively voice and resolve their problems. Project duration: 1 August 2022 – 30 April 2023. Project budget – $ 24,720.
18. Guild – protecting and empowering cultural workers in Georgia by raising awareness of their legal rights and ways to protect them. Project duration: 1 August 2022 – 31 May 2023. Project budget – $ 21,804
19. Center for Civic Activities – Addressing the shortage of kindergartens and promoting  access to preschool education in Georgia’s ethnic minority and mountainous regions through citizen engagement and advocacy. Project duration: 1 August 2022 – 31 January 2023. Project budget – $ 23,800.
20. Childhood Cancers and Superheroes – Awareness-raising on childhood cancers, advocacy for improving treatment and care for children with cancer, supporting affected families. Project duration: 1 August 2022 – 28 February 2023. Project budget – $ 21,328.
21. Democracy Defenders – Countering pro-Russian propaganda in Tbilisi and regions through supporting and building the capacity of activists’ networks. Project duration: 1 September 2022 – 8 March 2023. Project budget – $ 23,785.
22. The citizen group Dopomoga Ukraini – operating an informational page dopomoga.ge that offers consolidated information about the free services and other types of support offered to Ukrainian citizens in Georgia. Operating  associated Facebook group and Page to serve as forum for Ukrainian citizens to communicate their specific needs and receive assistance. Coordinate humanitarian assistance and other support activities; Project duration: 3 June – 3 December 2022.  Project budget: 18,490 $.
23. East European Center for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD) – promoting and strengthening the European Forum Georgia through series of dialogue sessions with wide array of stakeholders in Tbilisi and the regions. The discussions focused on strategies and mechanisms for ensuring the democratic development of the country. In parallel, preparing possible scenarios of socio-economic development for the country and proposing relevant strategies and solutions to various stakeholders. Project duration: 1 April – 31 August, 2022. Project budget: $ 29,975

Act Now / Rapid Response Grants Program

1. Center for Civic Activities -Investigating the possible causes of the tragic landslide in Racha (08.03.2023) and evaluating the effectiveness of the state’s response to the disaster. Project duration: September 1 – November 30, 2023. Project budget – $ 10,000.
2. Virtual Academy of Democracy – Coordinating the efforts of CSOs to advocate for Georgia to be granted EU candidate status. Project duration:  September 26 – November 28, 2023. Project budget: $ 10,000.
3. The citizen group Dopomoga Ukraini – უკრაინისთვის – launching an informational page dopomoga.ge that offers consolidated information about the free services and other types of support offered to Ukrainian citizens in Georgia. The page brings together verified resources on a number of topics, including medical services, legal assistance, accommodation, education, psychological services, and employment opportunities. Its associated Facebook group, which already boasts membership of more than 2.7 thousand people, aims to serve as forum for Ukrainian citizens to communicate their specific needs and receive assistance. Project duration: 25 March – 25 May. Project budget: 9,800 $.
4. Orbeliani Georgia – #MoreForUkraine event – Holding the solidarity fair for Ukrainian citizens in Georgia MoreForUkraine which brought together more than 50 businesses, NGOs, universities, and consultants who offered Ukrainian attendees various services, legal advice, educational and employment opportunities available to them. A crowdfunding campaign was also launched prior to the event through the Orbeliani Meti platform, which aims to create targeted and ongoing assistance for specific needs communicated by Ukrainians living in Georgia. Project duration: 28 April – 28 May, 2022. Project budget: 8,874 $.
5. Solidarity Community – Awareness-raising campaign in upper Ajara to counter pro-Russian narratives and reduce the influence of radical groups. The project team will hold informational meetings and discussions with teachers as well as any interested citizens in the municipalities of Khelvachauri, Keda, Shuakhevi and Khulo. The Solidarity Community will also coordinate its efforts with local and Tbilisi-based civil society organizations that are working on countering disinformation and propaganda. Project duration: 11 April – 11 June, 2022. Project budget: 3,443 $.
6. World Experience for Georgia – Assessment of the short and medium-term impact of the war in Ukraine on the energy security of Georgia. The project team will develop policy papers outlining the current threats against Georgia’s energy sector in the short and medium-term. The policy papers, which will also provide concrete and actionable recommendations, will be presented to the Government of Georgia and disseminated to the public. Project duration: 11 April – 11 June, 2022. Project budget: 4,200 $.
7.  The online media platform Indigo – Developing media products on some of the most debated issues related to the Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on Georgia. The topics will include Georgia’s immigration policy toward Russian citizens; Georgia’s economic dependence on Russia; Georgia’s EU integration perspective in the context of the war; Russia-Georgia post-war relations; and Georgia’s relationship with the West. Project duration: 11 April – 11 June, 2022. Project budget: 10,000 $.
8. Center for Civic Activities (CCA) – citizen mobilization and advocacy campaign in Racha to protect the more than 100,000 hectares of the Racha-Lechkhumi forest that were auctioned off by the Georgian government in April. The campaign also advocates for the establishment of a national park in Racha that includes the recently auctioned territory. Project duration: 24 May-24 July, 2022. Project budget: 7,900$.
9. Psycho-Rehabilitation Center Empathy – documenting Russian war crimes during the invasion of Ukraine by gathering evidence from testimonies of Ukrainian refugees currently residing in Georgia; submitting the documents to the relevant institutions in Ukraine and/or internationally. In addition, offering needs-based psychological assistance to the refugees to help them cope with their traumatic stress, as well as legal assistance. Project duration: 29 April – 29 August 2022. Project budget: $10,000.

List of the projects implemented under ACCESS project is available here – Completed Grants – ACCESS