Resources: skills, time, links or projects, etc.
- Liana: World Vision organized projects in villages. Locals come up with their small agricultural projects and get start-up funding for starting business – to produce and sell in their areas (up to 5 million AMD grants); USAID is doing smth similar. Liana is a council member and policy maker at World Vision, can create cooperation. Has volunteers. Center of small and medium business is funding agricultural projects.
- George: UNDP community development project: create farming cooperatives, in the North East (Tavush), creating infrastructure (irrigation, pre-school buildings, etc); skills: writing project in a way donors like. UNDP is a conservative organisation in terms or work style, they do traditional development; Engineering, from end of July full time free, no job. A friend in US who works in Soil association, certifying organic products. UNDP supported organic cheer production last year so perhaps they can support Vayots Dzor village. Knows people who can create future’s markets and prices.
- Arpine: SHEN NGO work with village communities in the bordering areas, including organic agriculture, infrastructure, training, etc. Vikram who can organize organic farming production and consumption. Contacts in Teghut. TRANSORMER truck which will move to different towns and villages and carry out cultural and educational projects, can also be festivals, art events, etc… (Utopiana)
- Nane: Polish Embassy project: agro tourism, creating hostels, touristic business, eco-tourism, winery, etc. Organic cheer production in Vayots Dzor region. Journalist – can prepare articles, PR, work with media; need to have a fridge storage or some other natural ways of preserving the food. Knows people who collect and produce herbs.
- Karen: has contacts in Armavir & Yerevan and other regions with people who are potentially interested to create cooperative, new ways of communicating and cooperating for farming. Social capital as activists. Computer engineering.
Problems:
- Apathy, little experience and trust in self-organisation, democratic decision-making
- Lack of knowledge, skills, expertise about human rights, political landscape, communication and community organizing skills, business-organizing skills.
Need / Goal:
- Create autonomous organized communities/groups, who will be economically & politically independent;
- Empower the villagers to have an understanding of the political and economic contexts, their own rights, the importance of working together in democratic and innovative formats, produce and sell effectively;
Gap: market researchers, community organisers, people who know how to start cooperatives
Key steps:
- Find someone/project which is working on a systemic level to address the issue of productive work; Find a really good project and build on that (Contacting Tatev Foundation)
- Research other success stories – what did they do to become successful;
- Find people with expertise in community organizing and in setting up community enterprises (find an enthusiastic community);
- Go to villages, organize community meetings, step by step create a good example of self-organization
- Working out loud: (1) share other success stories, through the prism of our own project idea & share our own project idea
Creative call for participation (what would we need from people outside?) 1 paragraph
Dear Edgeryders,
Our team wants to start a holistic community development project in Armenia. The aim is to create a strong, independent community, which will be self-organized, aware of their rights, of political and economic context and innovative ways of community-organization, co-production, cooperation among community members.
We are looking for successful examples, which worked in different countries (especially in post-soviet countries) and which demonstrated a systemic approach for the change. In order to start the project we also need specialists and activists who are good at community organizing, setting up cooperative production, giving consultation in agriculture, economy, alternative energies, etc. People who can write articles, make videos, spread information, recruit volunteers are also very much needed, as well as different technologies.