Successful Mission to Georgia

Tbilisi, Georgia - Last week, the BBSEA Senior Programme Manager Glenn Pearce-Oroz completed a successful mission in Georgia to engage with key partners and to promote the Eco-Innovation Challenge.

During the visit, Mr. Pearce-Oroz met with a range of key stakeholders from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA), Regional Environmental Centre for the Caucasus (RECC), the Georgia Agency for Innovation and Technology (GITA), the Investors Council, the EU Delegation to Georgia, the Maritime Transport Agency, the Maritime Academy and the World Bank Georgia Country Office.

There was positive movement forward In terms of the Eco-Innovation Challenge in Georgia, for example:
- A discussion with Georgia’s Agency for Innovation and Technology (GITA) focused on aligning our strategies to support Georgia's growing tech ecosystem.
- A meeting with the EU4Innovation East, a regional project, advanced our plans for close collaboration to harness the startup ecosystem across the Eastern Partnership countries.
- RECC convened a group of stakeholders from public, private and civil society sectors to learn more about the EIC.
- RECC and the World Bank convened a workshop in Batumi on plastic pollution for local stakeholders who also learned about the EIC.

These initiatives and emerging partnerships will be vital for the success of the Eco-Innovation Challenge, which is now accepting applications to find and support innovative solutions to address Black Sea pollution.

From left to right: Avtandil Kasradze - GITA Chairman, Glenn Pearce-Oroz - UNOPS BBSEA Senior Programme Manager, Elena Aladashvili - UNOPS Senior Project Manager, Kevan Darsalia - GITA Deputy Chairman