Video: Afton Halloran, Elene Shatberashvili, Dmitry Kostarov discuss sustainable food systems transition

27.05.2021 (Caucasian Journal). Today at Caucasian Journal we are talking about sustainable food systems: The Nordic experience and its applicability for Georgia. Our guests are Dr. Afton HALLORAN, a Denmark-based expert in sustainable food systems transition, Elene SHATBERASHVILI from Elkana Biological Farming Association, and Dr.  Dmitry KOSTAROV, head of agricultural television channel Saperavi TV and independent winemaker. 

The interview is available in video format with Georgian subtitles, and as text. You may view the video discussion below. 

The full text of this interview is also available in English and Georgian:

▶ ქართულად: The Georgian text version is here.

▶ English text version is here.

To be first to view all our exclusive video interviews, please subscribe here to our YouTube Channel.

Afton Halloran, Elene Shatberashvili, Dmitry Kostarov discuss sustainable food systems transition

26.05.2021 (Caucasian Journal). Today at Caucasian Journal we are talking about sustainable food systems: The Nordic experience and its applicability for Georgia. Our guests are Dr. Afton HALLORAN, a Denmark-based expert in sustainable food systems transition, Elene SHATBERASHVILI from Elkana Biological Farming Association, and Dr.  Dmitry KOSTAROV, head of agricultural television channel Saperavi TV and independent winemaker.

Our  interview can be watched or read in two languages. Below we present the full English text version of interview. ▶ ქართულად: The Georgian text version is here. 

▶ For video version, click here.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of CJ:  I would like to thank Afton Halloran for making this interview for us, and my first question is: We know that Nordic countries are among the leaders in sustainable food systems transition. Why is it so, and if you share a little bit of your knowledge and approaches to this problem we would be very grateful.

Afton HALLORAN: Hi, my name is Afton Halloran, and I’m an independent consultant in sustainable food systems transitions. I work with different organizations and agencies to understand how they can transform the food system. So when we talk about the food system we need to talk about the different dimensions of the food system. For example, the human dimension, societal dimension, but also the economic dimension, the ecological or environmental dimension, even the political dimension. So when we consider all of these dimensions as a whole and how they influence food, and what we produce and what we consume, and everything in between, we see this as a system, as a whole.

So why is it so important to talk about the food system in the 21st century?

Laura Thornton: "Democratic backsliding is like the pandemic. It is contagious"

21.05.2021 (Caucasian Journal) Caucasian Journal’s guest today is Ms. Laura THORNTON, Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at German Marshall Fund. We are proud to add that Laura is our journal’s good friend and member of our Board. 

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal: Dear Laura, it is always a pleasure to meet you – virtually for the time being, but maybe also in person before long:  I know that you are planning to be back to Georgia soon. You have worked in Tbilisi for a long period as the head of National Democratic Institute, so you are one of the most competent international experts when it comes to Georgia’s politics and sociology. What’s your attitude to Georgia now, and will you be visiting us this time as an expert? 

 
Laura THORNTON: Well, I am not sure I am an expert, just an interested observer! My attitude toward Georgia is always one of hopeful optimism and desire for the country’s success. I believe Georgia faces similar challenges to many other places, including my own country. There is an alarming rise of authoritarian threats – both external and internal – which is impacting the quality of our democratic function. Deep polarization is paralyzing governance and thwarting democracy’s ability to deliver, which drives people into the arms of illiberal forces. Information integrity is the subtext of much of this, with disinformation efforts sowing discontent and exacerbating divisions. As I’ve said before, democracy is Georgia’s greatest asset and I believe in Georgian democrats to overcome these challenges by supporting pluralism, checks and balances, a robust civil society, and rule of law.

Ambassador Riina KALJURAND (video): "Estonians want to see the result, so we just do it"

18.05.2021 (Caucasian Journal). Today Caucasian Journal is honored to greet Her Excellency Riina KALJURAND, the Ambassador of Estonia to Georgia and Armenia. The interview is available in video format with Georgian subtitles, and as text. You may view the video discussion below. 

The full text of this interview is also available in English and Georgian:

▶ ქართულად: The Georgian text version is here.

▶ English text version is here.

To be first to view all our exclusive video interviews, please subscribe here to our YouTube Channel.

Ambassador Riina KALJURAND: "Estonians want to see the result, so we just do it"

18.05.2021 (Caucasian Journal). Today Caucasian Journal is honored to greet Her Excellency Riina KALJURAND, the Ambassador of Estonia to Georgia and Armenia. The interview is available in video format with Georgian subtitles, and as text - both in English and Georgian. Below we present the full English text version of interview. 

▶ ქართულად: The Georgian text version is here.

▶ For the video version, click here.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of CJ:  Hello and welcome to Caucasian Journal video interviews.  You are comparatively new head of the embassy in Tbilisi. How can you summarize your impressions so far?

Riina KALJURAND: Thank you very much for inviting me to this interview. Indeed I’m relatively new although I cannot say that that I arrived recently - it was already nine months ago, and I arrived in a quite unfortunate time - in the sense that it is or it was in the middle of pandemic. So the normal social life and communication with other diplomats has been very limited and restricted, and the traveling within the country has been very limited. Maybe I haven't done as much as I would have liked to have done by this time, and I haven't traveled as much as I would have liked to have traveled, but I still hope that the society and the country will open up, and I can catch up with this a little bit later. 

“The main pillar in our vision is the ethical aspect”: Guro RANES and Jan JOHANSEN explain why Norway’s roads are the world’s safest

04.05.2021 (Caucasian Journal). Today we want to present to our readers’ attention some literally vital statistics. In Georgia, the number of COVID-19 related fatalities in 2020 was 2,528. But during same year, 6,640 were injured in road accidents, and 450 people’s lives were lost – and that’s despite the curfew and other restrictions on mobility. 

Regrettably, the road safety gets modest media attention in contrast to tremendous coverage of COVID-related risks, while 6500 individuals have been killed in road accidents in Georgia over the past ten years. This death toll places Georgia on the very top of Europe’s most dangerous roads – see graphs below, based on two independent data sources: WHO and OECD. 

Norway has the Europe’s lowest road mortality level, according to the same graphs. That’s why we interviewed Guro RANES, Director of Road Traffic Safety at Norwegian Public Roads Administration (“Vegvesen”), and Jan JOHANSEN, General Director of Norwegian Council for Road Safety (“Trygg Trafikk”). 

▶ ქართულად:  The Georgian text version is here.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal:  Welcome to Caucasian Journal.  We are especially interested in the interview with you, because road safety is a particularly serious problem in our region. And you can see why, if you look at the graphs…

“The main pillar in our vision is the ethical aspect”: Guro RANES and Jan JOHANSEN explain why Norway’s roads are the world’s safest

04.05.2021 (Caucasian Journal).Today we want to present to our readers’ attention some literally vital statistics. In Georgia, the number of COVID-19 related fatalities in 2020 was 2,528. But during same year, 6,640 were injured in road accidents, and 450 people’s lives were lost – and that’s despite the curfew and other restrictions on mobility. 

Regrettably, the road safety gets modest media attention in contrast to tremendous coverage of COVID-related risks, while 6500 individuals have been killed in road accidents in Georgia over the past ten years. This death toll places Georgia on the very top of Europe’s most dangerous roads – see graphs below, based on two independent data sources: WHO and OECD. 

Norway has the Europe’s lowest road mortality level, according to the same graphs. That’s why we interviewed Guro RANES, Director of Road Traffic Safety at Norwegian Public Roads Administration (“Vegvesen”), and Jan JOHANSEN, General Director of Norwegian Council for Road Safety (“Trygg Trafikk”).

▶ ქართულად:  The Georgian text version is here. 

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal:  Welcome to Caucasian Journal.  We are especially interested in the interview with you, because road safety is a particularly serious problem in our region. And you can see why, if you look at the graphs…

U.S. Fulbright Graduate Student Program opens for Georgian citizens

02.05.2021. The United States Embassy in Georgia has just announced the competition for the 2022-23 Fulbright Graduate Student Program. This program supports study in a master’s degree program at a U.S. university in all disciplines, including business administration.

The Fulbright Scholarship is one of the most prestigious scholarships offered by the U.S. Government. The recruitment of candidates for the Fulbright Graduate Student Program is based on an open competition held by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy Tbilisi.

The program opening date for receiving applications is May 1, 2021.

 

“In Sweden, term “housewife” doesn't exist anymore”: Niklas LÖFGREN and Tiina BRUNO talk about paid parental leave and gender equality

18.04.2021 (Caucasian Journal). Is it good for the babies to stay at home with fathers? What are the benefits of gender equality? How generous are benefits paid to Swedish parents by the government? How are private companies motivated to contribute?

Within the framework of Caucasian Journal’s Best Nordic and Baltic Practice Program, our guests today are Niklas LÖFGREN, Spokesperson for family economics at Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) and Tiina BRUNO, a senior advisor and lecturer in methods for increasing gender equality, social sustainability and inclusion in companies and societies, CEO of the consultancy firm Föräldrasmart Sverige and founder of the concept Parentsmart Employers. 

▶ ქართულად:  The Georgian text version is here. 

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal:  

Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce a parental leave giving both parents the same possibilities of staying at home with their child. I believe this happened in 1974, correct? In a few years you will mark 50th anniversary of this reform, which seems revolutionary even by the today’s standards. How effectively did it perform over the years?

Niklas LOFGREN: The first years after the 1974 reform was introduced men in Sweden were reluctant to use parental benefit even though they could. The right was equal but you could also give away that right to the other parent, and most fathers wanted to do just that. The first year 99,5% of all days were paid out to women and only 0,5% were paid out to men. The development towards an equal usage went slowly, and after 20 years it still was only a 90/10 split. That’s why the government introduced 30 days that you had to use yourself as a parent. It was “use them or lose them” 30 days. This was a small kick in the butt for the reform which increased the speed towards a more equal usage. From one year to another, more children got more fathers staying home with parental benefit, and also for a longer period of time. 

Laura Thornton becomes Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at German Marshall Fund

31.04.2021. The German Marshall Fund of the United States announced the appointment of Laura Thornton as director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Previously, Laura Thornton worked at leadership positions as the head of  National Democratic Institute in Tbilisi and International IDEA in Stockholm.

We are pleased to congratulate Laura, who is a member of Caucasian Journal's Advisory Board. She has contributed several articles to Caucasian Journal. The latest one, entitled “How does democracy work six feet apart?“, can be found here.

GMF President Karen Donfried said: “GMF’s mission, strengthening transatlantic relations in the spirit of the Marshall Plan, is rooted in the values of democracy. Laura’s wealth of experience promoting democracy will be an asset to our work at a time when threats to democracy are proliferating globally."