On May 27, 2017, German and Swiss students and professionals from The Mercator Fellowship, together with ISET researchers, visited Kakheti for a wine tour.

The Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs is a project jointly run by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and the Stiftung Mercator, in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office, the Swiss Study Foundation, the Mercator Foundation Switzerland, and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Mercator Fellows work in international organizations or business enterprises for 13 months. They contribute to projects in a number of different areas, such as sustainable agricultural development, climate change, renewable energies, international human rights, peace, and security, among others. During their visit to Georgia, Mercator program directors and Fellows of 2016-2017 met with representatives of the Georgian government and the private sector to learn more about Georgia’s current policy agenda and economic development.

ISET researchers joined the foreign guests in a one-day tour to Kakheti. This was a great chance for both ISETers and the Mercator Fellows to exchange ideas and work experience. In addition, the possibility of engaging the next fellows of this program at the ISET Policy Institute was discussed.