Logo (c) Leah Doellmann
Polis180 and GIP proudly present our #GEONext supporters from the private sector and their companies / organizations!
While our activities have established active networks among young people willing to engage in local politics, it is also essential to link them to a broader civil society field, including NGOs, private companies and the public sector. The aim of #GEONext therefore is to use civic education and international, cross-sectoral cooperation to prepare the next generation of Georgians to be civically engaged, know and exercise their democratic rights and responsibilities, harness technology, and build partnerships, including with the private sector, in order to demand and facilitate increased government accountability. For this, we are supported by 8 mentors from various sectors, covering between them the four central topics of digitalization, inclusion, climate/sustainability and regional economic development.
Climate Change / Sustainability
Mentors: Farid Askerov & Ketevan Maisuradze
Polyvim LLC is building a polyester synthetic fiber factory which uses raw polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) secondary bottles as a raw material in Tbilisi. Synthetic fibers are used in textile, furniture, clothing and raw materials for these and other related fields. First, they gather and separate consumed/used plastic bottles, depriving bottles from labels and caps. Then, after washing, crushing and other industrial activities they convert PET bottles scraps into PET flakes. The flakes are transferred to a second factory where they will become a raw material for Polyester staple fiber production site. The reclaimed fiber is later spun into yarn and a fabric is made, which is on its final level cut and sewn into a textile. Following the proprietary process, the company can produce fibers which are of top quality, and this makes them perfectly practical. Recycled Polymers including PET Bottles are not only protecting the environment but also influencing our daily life.
Regional Economic Development
Mentors: Mariam Zhorzhikashvili & Nino Khukhua
giz (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH) has been working in Georgia since 1992. GIZ’s country office in Tbilisi primarily manages regional programmes. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ works in Georgia and the two neighbouring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan in the following priority areas: Sustainable economic development; Democracy, civil society and public administration; Environmental policy, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources GIZ works with its partners in these areas in all three South Caucasus countries. This allows the countries to learn from one another and contributes to crisis prevention between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The regional programmes are also co-financed by other donors, primarily the EU.
Inclusion
Mentor: Giorgi Demetrashvili
Mentor: Ida Bakhturidze
Caritas Georgia was founded in 1994 to support and care for the many Georgian citizens, who encountered hardship after the beak-up of the Soviet Union and newly gained Georgia’s independence in 1991. As an officially registered Charitable Foundation, the mission of Caritas Georgia is to promote human development and social justice, bring relief to vulnerable and disadvantaged people in accordance with Christian values, encouraging their self-responsibility and dignity. Aspiration for attaining the mission and the objectives is most clearly manifested by dozens ongoing projects implemented by Caritas Georgia in following programs: Health and Social Care; Children and Youth Protection and Development; Development of Communities and Individuals; Emergency Response and Preparedness. Caritas Georgia main office is located in Tbilisi and there are around 10 focal points in the regions. By the beginning of 2020, more than 367 staff members and 120 volunteers represent Caritas in Georgia.
WECF was officially registered as a foundation in 1994 in the Netherlands as Women in Europe for a Common Future. During the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1992, women from the European region came together to create the network WECF, because they recognized the catalyzing role women play in sustainable development as defined in the United Nation’s report “Our Common Future.” WECF’s philosophy has always been to ensure that the voices of women and marginalized groups are heard at the policy table and to combine this with local actions in which they realize their priorities. This dual action-advocacy approach proved to be very successful and has become one of the strongest distinguishing aspects of our network. Today, the foundation works with over 150 partner organizations in our network covering 50 countries. Since 2016, to reflect the global scope, they are called Women Engage for a Common Future. WECF has been active in Georgia with its branch office since 2015.
Digitalization / Entrepreneurship
Mentor: Nini Mosiashvili
Mentor: Irakli Chkhaidze
Sweeft is an international Software Development and Digital Marketing company. It is a full-stack development and business-building agency, offering a wide range of creative and customized technology solutions. With a dedicated team of 400+ professionals, the company provides end-to-end mobile solutions, including iOS, Android, frontend, backend, and third-party integration. It also develops any type of web application and has extensive experience in Fintech and e-commerce, among other areas. Sweeft was founded in 2018 as an agency offering digital services to its clients. The list of its products include custom software development, digital product design, product consulting and founded analysis, team augmentation and most recently digital marketing as well. In 2021 Sweeft joined the Making Science Group (MSG). MSG is a leading digital marketing and data consultancy company, listedon BME and Euronext exchanges and with offices and subsidiaries in New York, London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Miami, Mexico, Dublin, Bogotá, Padua, Barcelona,Lisbon, Valencia, and Tbilisi.
8000 Vintages’ mission is to introduce the taste of Georgian wine to as many people as possible. The company started its journey of our business from the urban part of the city. They believe that local people are the best connoisseurs of Georgian wine. People who understand the wine are the motivation for wine-makers to produce a fine wine and continue working on the quality. To represent all the best wines of the country in their shop and bar, they created an independent tasting committee. About 100 new wines are tested every month during the blind tasting and select only the fine ones. So far, more than 1610 wines have been tried, out of which 790 bottles were selected. Equal opportunity is given to all kinds of winemakers, small ones as well as large producers who can provide their sample bottle of wine for the tasting and sell it in case it meets the requirements of the committee. All wines represented at 8000 vintages are Georgian and will always be!
Find out more about the #GEONext project groups here!
Project term
01 March- 31 December 2022
Our supporters
The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office in the framework of the programme “Expanding Cooperation with Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia”.
