Social Entrepreneurship Festival Held in Uplistsikhe
The medieval Georgian cave town Uplistsikhe, outside Gori, was a beautiful setting for ASB (Arbeiter- Samariter - Bund) to choose as a venue for an eye-catching social entrepreneurship festival this weekend.
Instantly grabbing the attention of tourists, passersby, and people who knew exactly what they were going to see, the festival proved a roaring success with the crowds.
The moment you stepped onto the territory, the atmosphere swept you up: an informal flair, with friendly lazy dogs laying around, children running, natural greenery, foreigners and locals wandering through the stands taking photos, and the Uplistsikhe complex in the background: a unique atmosphere of bonding and sympathy, which at the same time focused the visitors’ attention on the concept of social entrepreneurship, the central theme and main topic of the event.
From a mobile car workshop, natural juices, wooden crafts, wines, and handmade postcards, to scarves, carpets and Svaneti salt, it was a lavish illustration of emerging social enrepreneurial skills in Georgia.
The idea of organizing the festival belongs to ASB Georgia which opened its office in the country in 1992, initially focused on supporting IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons). After re-establishing its Georgia office in 2010 following a 13-year break, social entrepreneurship became a very active direction of its work, with projects having already been financed and realized in Pankisi, Western Georgia, and Gori. ASB also offers Disaster Risk Reduction and multi-lingual First Aid trainings.
Putting a strong emphasis on social enterprises for IDPs, ASB aims to promote the development of social services throughout Georgia by spreading information on a range of services to even the remotest regions, and providing technical and financial assistance to establish social enterprises in close cooperation with local authorities and with the engagement of local communities. ASB sees social entrepreneurship as an opportunity to support persons with disabilities, children and older people.
“We’re here to celebrate social entrepreneurship and to demonstrate the diverse places and possibilities that a social entreprise can work in. But none of this would be possible without the initiative, motivation and creativity of those here today. You are the driving force,” Matthias Wohlfeil, ASB country director, told Festival participants. He went on to note the importance of partnership between state and private sectors in order to make much needed changes in the social enrepreneurship sector. He then thanked David Oniashvili - Head of Gori Municipality for his assistance and involvement in the project.
“We wanted to organize an event to show the entrepreneurs from the Shida Kartli region and beyond. We believe that such festivals are a great tool to promote social entrepreneurship, to fill the existing gaps and to help eliminate social problems,” the ASB director said, highlighting the note-worthy fact that 90 percent of entrepreneurs are women.
“Social enterprises are of extreme importance to persons with disabilities who need social inclusion in our society,” Oniashvili said. “It is thanks to the hard work of ASB that so many people are now involved in social entrepreneurship and able to demonstrate their skills. Through social enterprises, they can participate in the process of the economic development of our country and play an active role in it.”
Nino Gugunishvili