Planning for the future: Georgian and Lithuanian LAGs share experiences and discuss trans-national collaboration

"Today is a very important day because our colleagues from Lithuania have been sharing their experiences and there is the potential to implement trans-national projects with them and to develop strategies to work together in the future" said Nino Tikurishvili, GALAG Chairperson, speaking at a meeting between Georgian and Lithuanian Local Action Groups (LAGs).

On the 5^th of October 2023, Zugdidi LAG hosted a joint meeting of the Lithuanian Local Action Group Association and the Georgian Association of LAGs (GALAG) with the support of Action Against Hunger (AAH). The meeting in Zugdidi came at the end of a long tour organized by GALAG where LAG members from Lithuania had the opportunity to visit and learn about the projects and activities of Georgian LAGs. During this tour, participants travelled first to Tskaltubo LAG, then up into the mountains of Svaneti to meet Mestia LAG and, finally back down to Zugdidi.

“For me and many members of the group, this is our first time in Georgia. We are enjoying all of the amazing food and learning about the activities of the Local Action Groups here. The people are amazing with lovely hearts and all of the conferences were interesting” enthused Kristina Švedaitė, Lithuanian Kaunas district LAG representative.

Earlier in the day, the members of Zugdidi and the Lithuanian LAGs convened at Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Governor’s office to share their knowledge and experiences of community-led local development. The event began with a welcome speech from AAH’s representative, Nino Logua, who welcomed everyone, providing them with a brief background to Zugdidi LAG and a description of events to come. Then the Deputy Mayor of Zugdidi Municipality, Konstantine Kakava, welcomed the 45 guests and highlighted how important the work of the Zugdidi LAG has been to the economic and cultural development of Zugdidi. Finally, GALAG’s Nino Tikurishvili spoke about the importance of inter-LAG and trans-national cooperation.

Zugdidi LAG members also spoke at the meeting about their experiences on a recent learning tour to Austria which was organized by AAH and where they were joined by members of Akhmeta LAG. The LAG members also used this opportunity to highlight the transnational projects that they have been involved in, such as the Georgian/Moldovan Youth Project  where local youth from both countries are creating walking/tourist trails and which will culminate in joint event to mark the opening of the Urta-Tsaishi trail.

The Lithuanian LAGs then provided a multi-media presentation which gave an overview of the community-oriented projects they run throughout Lithuania, many of which focus on tourism and improving the local economy of the villages through touristic attractions.

This part which was most interesting to me was when they (Lithuanian LAGs) shared information about their social projects, especially for youth because we face many of the same problems. Many young people choose to emigrate due to a lack of prospects the villages of Zugdidi and Lithuania, so I enjoyed hearing about the work that they do to engage, empower, and involve young people in improving their own communities” explained Ana Emukhvari, Zugdidi LAG Board Member

Finally, there was a question-and-answer session, but the real discussion and collaboration occurred when everyone met over lunch, which gave the participants the opportunity to interact and discuss matters in a more informal setting. “At lunch we had an opportunity to discuss potential future cooperation …and discussed the possibility of implementing projects together. Some of Zugdidi LAG’s priorities and directions match very well with those of Lithuania so it is a really good opportunity for the LAGs to cooperate together and implement transnational projects in the future” said Nino Logua, AAH Project Officer.

We exchanged contacts and discussed future collaboration. It is very important to take their experience, and the European approach to LAGs, into account. We are a very young LAG, so we still have lots to learn, especially from European countries which have a high level of experience and expert knowledge”, stated Zviad Karchava, Zugdidi LAG Board Member.

This event was organized by GALAG, and supported by Zugdidi LAG and Action Against Hunger with financial support from the Austrian Development Cooperation