On March 21st and 24th, 2014, the Training Center of the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF) launched training courses for twenty young people on the following topics: “Social Media”, “Advocacy Planning” and “Communication and Presentation”.
The training sessions were conducted within the framework of the project – “Youth Engagement in Civic Life” – funded by the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
The first session was devoted to social media. The following issues were discussed: Social media channels, the difference between traditional and social media, how social media is replacing traditional journalism and the role of social media in information dissemination.
After determining the concept of advocacy, the key elements of an advocacy plan were examined during the second session, namely: defining the problem, gathering information, planning of the campaign, creating major messages, implementation and evaluation. 
Communication and presentation skills useful for planning and implementing advocacy activities were highlighted. Participants were particularly interested in non-verbal communication and body language.
The training was interactive, full of practical examples and exercises. The tasks were assigned to participants, after which they presented their small-scale projects and received comments and suggestions from the trainers.
The major goal of the training was to give young people the opportunity to acquire skills and to analyze the key factors that they should use in the implementation of an advocacy campaign.
Similar training sessions have already been held in Zugdidi and Telavi.
At the final stage, the young participants of the project will choose a specific topic and implement an advocacy campaign.
The project is being implemented in Tbilisi, Zugdidi and Telavi with the support of the “Association of the Civil Society Development Centre”, “Saunje” and Charity Humanitarian Center “Apkhazeti”.
