The project European idea and European integration of Georgia has been completed.
The project was implemented through the following activities:
Lecture course
Within the framework of the project, a lecture course on the European idea and European integration of Georgia was prepared for students. The lecture courses have been printed and will be distributed to students from the next academic semester.
lectures
Three semesters of lecture courses were held during the project. The project beneficiaries were the bachelor students of Engineering Economics, Public Relations, Media Technologies, and a European study.
Since the lecture courses were held online throughout the project, an electronic version of the course was available, which was uploaded to the university’s e-learning format. Currently, the course is printed and will be distributed to students next semester.
409 students instead of 360 participated in lectures and seminars. During the project, the number of lecture courses amounted to 390 hours instead of the 360 hours established by the project.
The lecture course has been accredited for 6 years by the Ministry of Education of Georgia, and for at least six years, the lecture course will be available to students.
Conferences
In total, 3 international scientific conferences were held during the project.
The conference was supported by the Faculty of Engineering Economic, Media Technology, and International Relations of Georgian Technical University.
1. Conference Georgia and European integration – July 29-30, 2022
The venue: Tbilisi.The format: hybrid. The language: Georgian-English.
16 educational and scientific institutions in Georgia and abroad participated in the conference. 59 participants attended the conference including: professors, doctoral students, and master’s students.
2. Conference Georgia and European integration – September 28-29, 2022
The format: online. The language: Georgian-English.
12 educational and scientific institutions in Georgia and abroad participated in the conference. 41 participants attended the conference including: professors, doctoral students, and master’s students.
3. Conference “The Caucasus at the Crossroads: What Role for the EU?” – November 4-5, 2022
The venue: Tbilisi.The format: hybrid. English. The conference was held with the Association of European Studies for the Caucasus (AESC). President Thomas Kressmann.
The conference was opened by the Deputy Rector of Georgian Technical University, Professor Zurab Gasitashvili, and Ms. Evija Kotan, Deputy Head of the Policy, Press, and Information Department of the EU Representation in Georgia;
7 Georgian and 13 foreign educational and scientific institutions participated in the conference. The conference was attended by 34 participants, including professors and doctoral students.
Proceedings of the conference
3 issues of the collection of conference proceedings were prepared and printed. The name of the collection is Georgia and Europe. The scientific articles presented at the conference, which met the required parameters, were placed in the collection.
1. Georgia and Europe of the collection of conference proceedings # 1. The language of the articles is Georgian-English. The number of articles is 18. Page 143.
2. Georgia and Europe of the collection of conference proceedings # 2. The language of the articles is Georgian-English. The number of articles is 15. Page 126.
3. Georgia and Europe of the collection of conference proceedings # 3. The language of the articles is English. The number of articles is 15. Page 94. The collection includes both full texts and extended abstracts.
The articles that are planned to be printed in impact factor journals could not be included in the third issue.
Dissemination of the project
The main source of information about the progress of the project was:
Project website (http://jeanmonnet.gtu.ge/en/); Website of the Technical University of Georgia (https://gtu.ge/); websites of various universities; electronic media; Jean Monet’s Facebook club (https://www.facebook.com/groups/137679901609561), which was additionally created within the project; Jean Monnet Activities Official website; Information portal Interpressnews, etc. social networks of conference participants (Twitter, Facebook);
International scientific conferences; The proceedings of the conference “Georgia and Europe”; lecture – seminars.
Association of European Studies for the Caucasus (AESC), which became a project partner and has experience working on European integration projects in the countries of the South Caucasus, the Black Sea, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1446857182219265
Staff of the project
Basic staff
Emzar Pazhava Associate Professor of the Technical University of Georgia. Dr. Project coordinator. Author of the lecture course Georgia and European integration. Conference Moderator. Editor-in-Chief of Conference Proceedings;
Support staff
Oliver Reisner is the University of Illinois and Jean Monnet Professor Dr. Co-organizer and moderator of the conference;
Thomas Kruessmann professor at New Vision University. Dr. Co-organizer of the conference and president of the partner organization-Association of European Studies for the Caucasus AESC;
Nugzar Bardavelidze, Associate Professor of the Technical University of Georgia. Dr. Project moderator and editor of conference proceedings;
Liza Amilakhvari Associate Professor of the Technical University of Georgia. Dr. International and public relations of the conference.
Impact, visibility and dissemination of the project
At the local level, the project primarily had an impact on the direct target groups – students.
As a result of the lecture course, they received a wide range of knowledge on European ideas and European values, multilateral relations between Georgia and the European Union, the preconditions of European integration, and the dynamics of European integration processes in Georgia.
Understanding the importance of European integration in the development of the country helped them a lot. They considered the importance of Georgia’s European integration values and actively participated in the dissemination and establishment of these values. They were actively involved in international projects, both local and international levels;
The training course took a special place not only in social sciences and humanities undergraduate programs but in the technical sciences as well.
What concerns the results done by the project implementation, firstly, it was benefiting the Bachelor students of Engineering Economics and Social Sciences and correspondingly it will benefit the Faculty and the Technical University as a whole. It is also useful for the European Studies and Scientific Research Institute aimed at spreading European integrative values. The results of the implementation of the project also benefit the state sector, which has directly declared under the Constitution respect for Georgia’s European values and promoted the spread of these values in the country. The project is useful for the entire Georgian society, the majority of which support the country’s European orientation. It is especially important in the background when the country adopted the European perspective of becoming a member of the European Union. Since the project is aimed at the popularization of European values in youth, it is perfectly consistent with the objectives of the youth, particularly in the development of young people in European values and European integration issues. In addition, we believe that the target group selected by the project – students are the most relevant and adequate for the realization of the goals, tasks, and activities within the project.
Changes in the project
It is true that all the activities planned by the project were carried out, but the schedule and format of some activities planned by the project were changed.
Changes in the project took place due to the pandemic created in the world and among them in Georgia.
1. The teaching format was changed: instead of offline, learning was conducted online throughout the project.
2. The holding of conferences was postponed and the offline format was changed to hybrid.
There were also positive changes: instead of the planned 360 lecture hours, 380 hours were held. And 384 students participated in the lecture seminars instead of the planned 360.
Project management was informed about each of these changes.
