GREEN Caucasus - Enhancing Green Rural Economy and Energy in Republic of Georgia
Research Location: Implemented: Republic of Georgia
Conservation Partners: CENN
Past Student Researcher
Madelyn Atkins '25, Major: Biology; Major: Environment and Sustainability (2024)Faculty Mentor
Dr. Daniel MaliniakProject Description
Multi-sector partnerships have become widely recognized as an effective strategy for ensuring sustainable and resilient conservation initiatives. Participatory research, which engages communities in generating knowledge to support their conservation goals, plays a crucial role in these partnerships. Such research helps align local communities, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies to promote conservation policies and management practices that benefit local constituents and ensure the long-term sustainability of natural resources.
In the Republic of Georgia, multi-sector partnerships and participatory research are especially important for enhancing the resilience of rural agricultural communities living in mountain ecosystems, particularly in the face of global climate change and environmental degradation. In 2024, Mads Atkins collaborated with CENN, a non-governmental organization that connects local communities and governments to promote green economies and sustainable development, to develop a dashboard for local communities to access and document the impacts of climate change on water resources and forest ecosystems in Georgia.
During the course of this research, Georgia experienced significant political upheaval with the Georgia Dream party taking power. This shift threatened the persistence of Western partnerships and led to protests and political unrest. In response to these developments, Mads’ project evolved to explore how changes in political support for multi-sector partnerships were influencing CENN and its participatory research efforts aimed at strengthening the resilience of local communities against climate change. While political outcomes are still unfolding, Mads’ research highlights that government support for multi-sector partnerships is crucial for the sustainability of participatory research initiatives.
