Rustavi Innovation Hub together with the Polish partner organization Urban Workshop is starting a new project.
The goal-helping CSOs in Georgia better define challenges and successfully apply for funding to tackle them
The project Know Your Challenge is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Polish Challenge Fund, with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

Rustavi Innovation Hub • რუსთავის ინოვაციების ჰაბი in partnership with Rustavi Municipality City Hall, is starting a new project within the framework of Mayors for Economic Growth. The project is financed by the United Nations Development Program.
The overall result to be achieved by Rustavi municipality is to foster the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem for youth by facilitating their participation in hackathons and urban planning processes for the city's sustainable green development. This will be accompanied by hands on practice of the civil servants in designing municipal services by using the latest tech solutions together with the city youth.

Project duration: 10 months
Donor: UNDP under Fostering Decentralisation and Good Governance at the Local Level program.

Goal of the grant: The goal of the project is to address the challenges in the target municipalities, increase cooperation between the parties and strengthen inter-sectoral co-financing processes through their institutionalization.
The goal of the project is to increase the cooperation of the parties in the process of solving the challenges in the target municipalities and to strengthen the inter-sectoral co-financing processes through their institutionalization.

Output 1. Inter-sectoral platforms for cooperation are created

Output 2. Practical legal mechanisms for co-financing of local initiatives are established and adopted in the target municipalities

Output 3. Co-financing and crowdfunding mechanisms are introduced in practice within target municipalities, that supports their institutionalization

Output 4. Co-financing principles and mechanisms introduced in target municipalities are generalized to other municipalities

Project duration: 10 months
Donor: UNDP Czech
Project partner: Czech NGO "MEPCO"- it will help us to bring Czech experience to Rustavi


Project goal is to create innovation participation tools in the city. Activities planned: Creating the communication strategy for local government, which will support the participation for citizens. Development of mobile application, which will be used by citizens to send their ideas, initiatives or concerns to the government. Also participate in decision making. Citizen Awareness Campaign.

Project Dyration: 12 months
Donor: Czech-UNDP
Partner: Czech organization MEPCO (INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY CENTRE FOR MUNICIPALITIES
The specific objective of the project ACROSS is to facilitate transfer of Czech Know-How and innovative solutions toward enhancing decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) addressing Georgian urban development challenges in the Kvemo Kartli partner region (GE), more specifically in the city of Rustavi.

Project ACROSS will implement innovative approach of coordinated effort among quadruple helices key players (public, business, education and non- governmental organizations), supported by the digital platform for matchmaking and exchange of good practice. The resulting impact shall increase economic activity and engagement of the interested public in the City of Rustavi (GE).
To reach the objectives, the project ACROSS will:

(At Development Stage)
• Map existing ecosystem in the city of Rustavi, identifying the key players of quadruple helix and services they provide and gather relevant contacts (Innovation Atlas),
• Develop joint digital platform of key players within the ecosystem to foster communication and cooperation on common goals,
• Create a quadruple helix working group
• Create support scheme including:
o regional quadruple helix strategy and action plan,
o policy recommendation paper
• Organize study visit to Czech republic to share best practice

(At Implementation Stage)
• Organize 3 co-creation and knowledge transfer workshops and roundtables of the working group to discuss possible joint activities and interventions with direct impact in the region
• Develop a list of enterprise/business requirements towards the employee market and match education opportunities in the region to meet these requirements
• Organize awareness raising information campaign for citizens to learn about employment/ other economic activity opportunities
• Organize 1 conference for Rustavi citizens to capitalize on the project results – presenting newly created comprehensive offer involving all quadruple helix players to increase economic activity in the of the citizens (employment opportunities, education opportunities, entrepreneurship activity, etc.)
• Develop a Feasibility study providing an innovative and replicable solution to the development challenge.

Project duration: 12 months
Donor: UNDP
Creating models of collaborative governance practices for sustainable urban development in the priority areas of education and industrial/economic development for reducing labor migration from Rustavi to Tbilisi and beyond, creating new jobs for youth and development spaces for inter-generation collaboration for urban development in the city of Rustavi through institutional capacity building of the Rustavi City Hall Innovation Hub; development of Rustavi Innovation Hub as a local governance centre of excellence for capacity transfer of the innovative participatory practices, partnership models and new generation of skills development for civil servants to other municipalities.

The expected results are as follows:

1. Models for youth alternative entrepreneurial and tech skills development for improved employment opportunities piloted;
2. Participatory governance models piloted to transform grassroots participation into action-based participation at individual level (Orbeliani); strategic planning (Foresight) and solution building (Urban Game);
3. Pilot public-private sector partnerships for renewable energy and plastic waste management through application of behavioral science and alternative finance (crowdfunding) approaches;
4. Develop service lines for the new generation skills development for the local civil servants for knowledge transfer;
5. Foster external partnerships with the cities of Poland, Czech Republic and other countries successful in local governance innovative practices for further partnership and capacity building;