Armenian Public Officials meet with their counterparts in Brussels

To get closer to the EU integration process, 4 public officials from the key ministries - Foreign Affairs, Economy, Finance and Justice - visited Brussels through the EU Skills project from 21 to 26 March.

The EU Skills project was supported by the Prime Minister of Armenia.

The programme started with a 2-day seminar in the College of Europe in Bruges which was put together on the request of the British Council Armenia and was concentrating on the Eastern partnership and EU-Armenia relations.

All the sessions were in an interactive format providing an opportunity for the public officials to meet with not only with university professors and researchers but also practitioners and discuss and debate issues related to the Armenia integration to EU. The key topics discussed have been on the EU institutions and decision-making process, especially the changes after the Lisbon Treaty; Trade; Justice and Home Affairs; Eastern Partnership; Association Agreement, etc.

 The next stage of the programme was visiting Brussels and meeting their counterparts in

the European Commission from relevant agencies to discuss practical issues and processes that Armenia is currently engaged in. Officials have been hosted by Eastern Partnership Unit, International Relations Office, DG Justice, and others. Public officials also had the opportunity to visit the EU Parliament and have meetings with a few Think Tanks engaged in European Integration issues.

 "I have participated in many interesting study visits, but the visit organised by the British Council was distinguished by its really useful programme. This was the first time when participants had a free programme and were given the opportunity to openly discuss the topics and issues that they are interested in," said Karen Gasparyan, the Head of EU Affairs Division, EU and International Economic Affairs Department of the Ministry of Economy.

The respond from Mher Margaryan, Head of the EU Division of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs was, "We had very productive meetings with our colleagues in different EU institutions. These meeting gave an opportunity to discuss in details our next steps and we got significant information that we can use during the EU Armenia negotiation processes". 

The EU Skills project was supported by the Prime Minister of Armenia. Throughout the 2 years of its implementation, 100 public officials passed EU Skills trainings on various areas delivered by UK experts / trainers. Last year they had the opportunity to visit Lithuania to study the EU integration process of a newly accepted EU member country. The project will come to its end by the end of April with the presentation of the EU Skills book summarising the information about EU structure and institutions and the EU-Armenia relations, the first comprehensive book in the field.

EU designers selected through the Fashion Road: Dialogue across Borders project  

In the January issue of our newsletter we presented the Fashion Road: Dialogue across Borders project and the Armenian designers who will participate in the project. We have already selected and are happy to present to you our European designers who will work with the Armenian designers to develop the collection reflecting the cultural heritage of Armenia, the UK, Germany, Romania, Denmark and Czech Republic. The collection is aimed to promote debates about the importance of diversity, intercultural dialogue and cross-border cooperation.The European designers will visit Armenia in the beginning of May for the international seminar and for their cultural residency in Armenia.

Geannine Pollazzon, United Kingdom

Geannine Pollazzon

Raised in Rio de Janeiro, Geannine Pollazzon became fascinated by the stark contrast of the wild nature interacting with urban land escape. After studying Architecture and Design in Brazil, Geannine moved to London. Geannine graduated from University of East London in 2007.Soon after graduation she worked on the ateliers of Alexander McQueen and Giles Deacon. Geannine launched her label in 2009, with a Capsule Collection of 12 Black Dresses.  

Pavel Ivancic

Pavel Ivancic, Czech Republic

Pavel Ivancic graduated from prestigious Central Saint Martins in London in MA Fashion. He opened the MA Fashion show at London Fashion Week in 2007 with his graduate collection. He recently lives in Prague and works under the label Muset that he co-funded in 2003 with his wife Radana, who is also a designer. Pavel has won many international awards, including AltaRomaAltaModa Next Couture Award 07, the designer of the year 07 at the Czech Grand Design awards and the Chloe Award 06 among other. In 2010 he represented the Czech Republic with an exclusive collection on EXPO 2010 in Shanghai.

Ida Gro Christiansen

Ida Gro Christiansen, Denmark

Ida Gro Christiansen is about to complete her Bachelor's degree in Fashion Design at Kolding School of Design, Denmark. Gro is inspired by the challenges of society and odd cultural tendencies, but also by everyday life. Gro's professional skills include the management of various design processes, narration through design, material experiments, knitting, cutting and sewing, etc.  

Andra Clitan, Romania

Andra Clitan

Andra Clitan holds a B.A. and a M.A. in fashion design from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Currently she is a Ph.D. candidate at the same University, having as a research theme traditional holidays costume in Maramures. Born and raised in Maramures, a famous region in Romania where tradition is best preserved and cherished, Andra Clitan had the opportunity to be in contact from an early age with traditional art and costumes and this had a strong impact on her identity as a young fashion designer. She participated in various fashion events in Romania and abroad (Italy, France, and Germany).  

Melanie Freier

Melanie Freier, Germany

Melanie Freier first moved to Berlin in 1998 and started studying cultural studies and philosophy at the Humbolt University.During that time she did an internship at a local fashion label and decided to transfer into fashion. In 2002 she started at the Royal Academy of Antwerp.In 2004 she moved back to Berlin and continued her study at the University of Arts in Berlin. In 2009, she graduated her degree with a reflection about "The Artists Uniform" at the University of Arts in Berlin. "The Artist Uniform" was shown at exhibitions in Berlin and Vienna and is going to be shown at a private showroom at the Art Basel 2011. At this point she is working as a lecturer for Prof. Grit Seymour at the fashion department of the University of Arts in Berlin.

Wo/Men in Politics continues to deliver

The Wo/Men in Politics project ended last year but the public and the project team does not feel it as there are a number of activities that still continue and keep the debates going on.

Arevik Saribekyan, the British Council Armenia director, Davir Sargsyan, the director of the National Library of Armenia and Karine Atshemyan, MP.

Among other activities that we already reflected on in our previous issues - Na/Ne media award, formation of the cross-party group in the National Assembly - we now have the handbook From Women Politicians to Women Politicians which was published through the project with the support of the project partner Armenian Association of Women with University Education.

After receiving the books from the British Council, the National Library of Armenia approached us with the request to organise a book discussion with the project participants and the members of the National Assembly. "The book is unique and as far as I know it is the first publication in Armenia which cascade the skills developed by the project participants to their peers and the wider audience of women planning to make a political career", said Davit Sargsyan, the director of the National Library of Armenia.

Sona Poghosyan was the participant of the project. She works at the hospital of the Ararat city and at the same time she is the director of the Women Council at the Armenian Republican party of the Ararat region. She said that it was very difficult to start her political career, but she always feels the help and encouragement of her family. She stated that the project gave her both knowledge and confidence to advance in her career and it helped her to enlarge her network and work with women from other parties.

The discussion lasted longer than planned. MPs had a lot to share from their experience, women had a lot of questions and there were a lot of issues that remained unaddressed. It has been decided to organise series of sessions in the library with targeted areas / issues and have open debates about the challenges and the possible solutions for women who want to pursue their career in politics.

Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) certificate for English teachers

The British Council offers current and future English language teachers and lecturers a unique chance to gain Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) certificate by University of Cambridge, which aims to increase teachers' confidence and enhance job prospects by focusing on the core teaching knowledge needed by teachers of primary, secondary or adult learners, anywhere in the world. This certificate gives teachers a qualification recognised internationally by a number of organisations, universities, colleges and many other institutions. Check out more at our website.

Upcoming events

In the frame of Fashion Road: Dialogue across Borders project international seminar followed by master classes will be organised. Afterwards cultural residency programme for the project designers will take place.

When 3-15 May

Where Cafesjian Center for the Arts

British Council in partnership with the Cafesjian Center for the Arts organise story telling and drawing event for school students.

When 20 and 21 May

Where Cafesjian Center for the Arts and Khnko Aper Library

As the UK's principal cultural relations organisation the British Council is strongly committed to the policy of Equal Opportunity and is keen to reflect diversity at every level within the organisation and in all programmes and activities.

You can find more information about our approach within the organisation and how we build Equal Opportunity & Diversity into our programmes and projects in Armenia and worldwide at our  website.

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