Facilitating cooperation among Georgia’s smallholders is one of the main focuses of the ENPARD project, of which ISET is a (small) part. ENPARD has been active in Georgia since 2013, and its work has been extensive and its efforts invaluable. An evaluation effort coordinated by the ISET Policy Institute has uncovered some interesting facts and figures from the comparative analysis between 2014 and 2015.

ISET Policy Institute presented research results on internal migration in Georgia at an international conference “Recent Migratory Processes and Europe: Challenges and Opportunities” that took place on September 29-30th in Tbilisi Biltmore Hotel. The presentation had already been given in the week before at a conference of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics in Kyiv, Ukraine, and two weeks earlier at a workshop on regional economics held at the Ural Federal University in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Tempelhofer Feld is a beloved communal recreation area of Berliners. Tempelhofer Feld is not just a park. It is a park built instead of an airport. In 2008, when the almost century-old Tempelhofer airport was closed, the city of Berlin declared the centrally located, 386-hectare (!) open space for public use. Today, the area has six-kilometer cycling, skating, and jogging trail, a 2.5-hectare barbeque area, a dog-walking field covering around four hectares, and an enormous picnic area for visitors – everything we, Tbilisi citizens, can only dream of.

An ISET-PI team led by EEPRC’s Head Norberto Pignatti is conducting a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the pension reform currently discussed in Georgia. The government of Georgia is considering to introduce a reform of the Pension system. The process is led by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development (MoESD).

Forecasters, professionals and amateurs alike, all got it wrong. The Brexit came as a surprise because the bookmakers (people who organize bets on developments in politics, economics, and sports) reported that about three times more money was put on the event that Britain would stay in the EU than on its alternative. With poll results being inconclusive in the weeks before the referendum, this led many pundits to believe that Britain would stay in the EU.