On January 28 CIPDD organized a round table meeting to discuss expectations of Georgia’s Civil Society towards the Eastern Partnership and new opportunities this initiative will provide to Georgia as one of the partner countries.

On January 27, 2010 CIPDD organized the Round table discussion to assess the situation in Shida Kartli after the August 2008 war, to identify most urgent problems of the region, and to find out what should be done there in the short term. On the meeting CIPDD presented the project Development of early warning system in conflict affected Shida Kartli region of Georgia (supported by the EC) and policy review Shida Kartli after the  August 2008 war: Challenges and Solutions by Erekle Urushadze, published with the financial support of the Thin Tank Fund of the Open Society Institute-Budapest.

The expected normalization in Turkish-Armenian relations may turn out to be the most momentous change in the security set-up of the South Caucasus since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Its results may even overshadow those of the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war which did not lead to a substantive shift in the region’s geopolitics. Many within the Georgian expert community think that the impending Turkish-Armenian deal implies inherent dangers for Georgia’s economic and security interests. Can Georgian government influence the process of normalization? CIPDD organized a discussion on January 20, 2010 in order to discuss this issue and to assess implications for Georgia.

In the framework of the European Commission (Brussels) funded project Development of Early Warning System in Conflict Affected Shida Kartli Region of Georgia CIPDD started production of monthly reports on situation in Shida Kartli. Reports for October and November of 2009 are available here. The project will last until September August 2010.

Cohabitation of multicultural nations is a historical heritage for the countries located along the Black Sea. Multicultural environment, the existing reality is also a challenge for a democratic country. Georgia is a country which is very famous for its multicultural environment and it is very important today to reinforce pluralism, intercultural dialogue.The Caucasus Institute is pleased to announce an international conference Culture dialogue for promoting the civil consciousness in Black See Region. Religious dimension of the intercultural education  to be held on 22 December 2009 in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

On November 11 CIPDD organized the discussion about the quality assurance system in general education. Discussion was organized within the CIPDD’s project funded by the OSI TTF.

On 25-27 October 2009 the CIPDD Chairman Ghia Nodia participated in the International Conference For Our Freedom and Yours! For Our Common Future!. The conference took place in Lviv, Ukraine. See Ghia Nodia's remarks on the plenary session – Our Region: Where Do We Go from Here. (Also posted on the website of the EastWest Institute).