Just like every Georgian family, ISET Policy Institute is preparing for the New Year, and we keep to our traditions and have cooked up a New Year Supra Index for our readers. The Index shows the cost of a standard festive supra meal for a family of five to six people in every Georgian region. The traditional dishes included in our calculations are: mtsvadi, satsivi (chicken in walnut sauce), khachapuri, trout, tabaka (fried) chicken, olivie salad, pkhali, cucumber&tomato salad, and for the desert, fruit and gozinaki (caramelized walnuts fried in honey).

The Constitution of Georgia states “The State shall take care of human health care and social protection, ensuring the subsistence minimum and decent housing, and protecting the welfare of the family" (Constitution of Georgia, Article 5, 2017). However, at the moment, Georgian legislation is characterized by a lack of laws and regulations that clearly define the responsibilities of public institutions to solve housing-related issues in the country. To address this issue, the Government of Georgia (GoG) has established a working group including key stakeholders operating on social housing issues, led by top representatives of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia.

A warm welcome back to all returning students, faculty, researchers, and staff. Special greetings to our new students who will henceforth be part of our strong academic and professional community. Also, warm welcome to our new and continuing international students and international faculty. We wholeheartedly offer ISET to be your home and family, as is Georgian and ISET tradition.

Almost as soon as they are through the front doors, new arrivals to ISET are told that the institute is like a family, and it does not take long before the truth of these words is proved. ISET alumni frequently come back to visit, and not just to pay friendly visits to their old professors: many have gone on to work prestigious jobs in both the government and private sectors or earn PhDs in American and European universities, and so return to ISET to present on topics that will be of interest to the community, both old and new.

Academic and research achievements aside, it is ISET’s community spirit that prompts alumni and visiting professors to recall their time at the institute fondly, and which also continues to attract BA and MA students hoping to become a part of the ISET family.