From May 14-18, Pati Mamardashvili visited the Geisenheim University in Germany to attend seminars and give lectures to students. Pati’s visit was aimed at reinforcing cooperation between ISET’s Agricultural Economics Concentration and Geisenheim University.

Both teaching and research at Geisenheim Univerisity are practice-oriented and focus on viticulture, wine production, and wine business. During the visit, Pati had the pleasure to attend several seminars held by Peter Hayes – a well-known wine industry strategist and advisor. The talks addressed leadership in the wine industry, supply strategies, grower-buyer relationships, and a number of other topics.

In addition, Pati delivered two lectures to students of the International Wine Business program of Geisenheim University. The first presentation was about the Georgian wine sector, during which Pati overviewed the recent developments and challenges of the Georgian wine sector and concluded by providing recommendations for its further development.

The second presentation addressed the role of family farming in the sustainable development of countries. After describing fundamental problems faced by family farms worldwide, the presentation focused on introducing the Agenda 2030 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This was followed by reflecting on the role of family farming (and agriculture in general) in meeting the targets set in this agenda.

This exchange was an important step in further developing ISET’s cooperation with Geisenheim University. In the past, academic personnel from Geisenheim University also held presentations for the ISET community. In autumn 2014, ISET welcomed Dr. Sophie Ghvanidze, who delivered a presentation entitled “Does Country-of-Origin Matter? The Case of Georgian Wine for German Wine Consumer”. This was followed by a visit of Prof. Dr. Jon Hanf, who held a presentation entitled “Can Georgian Wine Gain Market Share in Germany?” in September 2016.

Such exchange activities contribute to the personal development of the participants, not only by acquiring specific knowledge but also by upgrading their soft skills (such as self-confidence, communication, and organizational skills) and improving their cultural intelligence. For the coming academic year, ISET is planning to send students of the Agricultural Economics Concentration t Geisenheim University and also welcome exchange students from Germany to attend agricultural economics courses and benefit from being engaged in research activities of the Agricultural Policy Research Center at the ISET Policy Institute.