The Council of Europe supported the representatives of the Tbilisi City Hall and Tbilisi district administrations to acquaint themselves with the participatory tools of the Council of Europe during a two-day learning initiative conducted on 23-24 February 2023.

The following participatory mechanisms have been introduced during the training: 1. “Civil Participation in Decision-Making toolkit” - a tool for analysis and mapping of stakeholders; 2. “CivicLab” - a tool to make consultation processes for policy development more inclusive; 3.“Uchange” gameboard – citizens’ education tool; and “Citizens Assembly” – a form of deliberative democracy.

The participants exchanged ideas and explored the relevance of each methodology in the local context. Practical sessions allowed them to work on relevant practical skills.

In addition, the participants gained practical competences to conduct and facilitate “CivicLab” consultations in their communities ensuring participatory decision-making with regard to prominent issues in the municipality/district. 

• “CivicLab will be a suitable methodology to develop different policy documents and “Civil Participation in Decision-Making Toolkit” will be relevant for infrastructure projects” - indicated the representative of the pre-school management agency in his feedback.
• “CivicLab can be effectively applied for planning public spaces in Tbilisi to take into account the views and needs of the citizens” – pointed out the representative of the Samgori district of Tbilisi municipality.

This event took place in the framework of the project “Strengthening Participatory Democracy and Human Rights at Local Level in Georgia”, implemented by the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity, Division of Elections and Participatory Democracy, and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023 with the financial contribution of the Austrian Development Cooperation.