The EU-funded Community Development through Social Entrepreneurship (CODE-SE) programme contributes to a sustainable community development and to enhancing the capacities of CSOs in generating income through running social entrepreneurship (SE) projects for the benefit of the communities in seven regions of Armenia.
Facts & Figures
Implementing organisations in Armenia: International Center for Intercultural Research, Learning and Dialogue (ICIRLD)
CRIS number: ENPI/2015/366-674
EU Budget: € 289 379
Duration: 21 months | October 2015 – June 2017
Location: Kotayk, Gegharkunik, Shirak, Syunik, Lori, Tavush, Vayots Dzor marzes/regions | Republic of Armenia
Objectives
Results
Testimony
“I receive calls, requests and questions every day from different regions that also have social entrepreneurship ideas they want to realise,” says Suren Mkhitaryan, the Project Manager of the programme. “One example of a successful case was the village Vardenik in Gegharkunik region where “Pulse of Community” Youth NGO came up with the idea to gather herbs and other organic foods from the mountains and introduce them to the bigger market. “Mountain goods” provides jobs for more than 70 families in the village and received a gratitude diploma from the President of RA. They called me today from Ashtarak asking for advice on starting something similar. These small cases seem trivial to the bigger picture. We’ve been told many times that the amount of our sub-grants, 7000 euros, is too little to start anything but experience shows these small scale initiatives solve local problems and then they spread across the country.”
ICIRLD was key at every stage of Sevan’s Bohem studio-teahouse’s creation: inception to business plan and branding consultation to shaping the future direction.
“The clash, the flow of ideas with the programme’s team was a powerful driving force behind our idea. Now we plan on expanding our space, on working with schools and art institutions to organise events and master-classes and get more customers at the same time. It’s not about the tea,” says Gohar Mnatsakanyan, the café’s Director and President of Sevan Youth Club, “It’s about the mood, the atmosphere we try to create.”