ISET is deeply saddened to announce that class of 2015 alumnus Artak Voskanyan lost his life in a car accident in his native Armenia on July 4th. The ISET community was devastated to learn of Artak's death. He is remembered as friendly, motivated, and keen to be involved in as many activities as possible. He founded the USA2Yerevan initiative and was an active, enthusiastic member of the university.

Looking down from the famous cross-path of the Georgian Military Highway, you will notice a beautiful little lake that was not there six years ago. The lake is a small reservoir that supplies power to the 8 MW Aragvi HPP. On May 19, the ISET community and guests from professional circles in the energy sector heard the story behind this hydropower plant in a seminar entitled “Small Hydropower – what’s special about it and how to implement it?” delivered by Hanness Posch, a civil engineer and entrepreneur working on hydropower projects in Georgia.

ძველად, განსაკუთრებით მნიშვნელოვანი კრიზისის შემდეგ, ადამიანები ყოველთვის ეძებდნენ ვიღაცას, ვისაც დააკისრებდნენ პასუხისმგებლობას მომხდარზე. უძველეს საზოგადოებებს ჰყავდათ განტევების ვაცი (ცხოველი ან ადამიანი), რომელთაც მსხვერპლად სწირავდნენ თავს დატეხილი უბედურების შემდეგ. ადამიანებს სწამდათ, რომ მსხვერპლი განწმენდდა საზოგადოებას და ეხმარებოდა მას ღმერთების სასჯელისგან თავის არიდებაში.

The 17th Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, held March 14-18, 2016, at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C., gathered stakeholders from government, the development community, private sector, and academia to discuss land policy issues worldwide. ISET-PI was represented by Pati Mamardashvili, head of our Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC).

On February 8, 2016, ISET hosted a workshop on Private Sector-led Agricultural Extension in Georgia. Organized by ISET in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, this workshop brought together chief executives of selected Georgian agribusinesses as well as representatives of the donor community, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Education and Science to discuss the possibilities for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for developing effective agricultural extension services in the country.