About “Blejan” NGO
“Blejan” Environmental, Social and Business Support NGO was set up on November 12, 2017. The mission of the NGO is to maintain the environment and improve the social status of the people through the sound business environment and the implementation of green economy principles. In addition to the many goals of the NGO's activity, the most important goal is to support regional and international cooperation in the field of environmental protection and youth-related issues. During the ten years of its activities, the NGO has not done much to implement youth-oriented projects, but the projects implemented in these years highlighted the involvement of young people in environmental decision-making processes and their participation in other projects. The NGO has also supported the youth projects and initiatives implemented by other organisations both with its logistical base and experts. In 2012-2015, the NGO implemented the project of Aarhus Centers of Armenia, the geography of which has been Armenia and during which the role of the youth was again highlighted, and it was also re-launched and updated at www.aarhus.am. You can see all the information about the project on this site.

The NGO has a training film about environmental issues in the region and their solutions, printed booklets, manuals in Armenian, if needed you can become acquainted visiting the NGO website www.blejan.org. In 2016, with the support of the youth, the NGO implemented a very important project. It was called Transparent Local Self-Governance, the goal of which was to contribute to the formation of a transparent and democratic government at the local level in Gavar, raising public awareness and the youth involvement. The project had the task of raising awareness of the Gavar community, particularly the awareness of the youth on LSG processes, conducting trainings, consulting meetings, discussions, activating their civic motivation.

During the project, a meeting-discussion was organised with the support of the youth on the Gavar Community Development Project Report in 2012-2016, involving CSOs, media representatives, representatives of state and local government bodies and the active youth http://www.gavariqaghaqapetaran.am/news/316

With the help of the project's supporters, meetings have been organised with the representatives of different spheres, including education, health care, environment, agriculture, social, and through the meetings and discussions, community issues and recommendations were put forward for inclusion in the community development project.
Activities were carried out on the FB social network, a closed group of "Transparent Local Self-Governance" was created, which was a working group where weekly activities were discussed, but during the whole project weekly meetings were held for 1 or 2 times in Gavar Aarhus center, during which the issues of the project were discussed and solutions were given to them.
During the project, the youth participated in the first session of the newly elected council of the Gavar community, which was also broadcasted online, and after which the youth also shared all the information in social networks http://www.gavariqaghaqapetaran.am/news/317/

At the final stage of the project a team was formed and a meeting was arranged by all stakeholders (representatives from CSO, media, NGO, different sectoral groups, local governing and local self-governing bodies), selecting representatives to formulate recommendations and a package of proposals.
At the end of the project, a meeting for final outcome was organized with the project beneficiaries, representatives of local governing and local self-governing bodies, donors, representatives from media and NGOs. At the meeting a social video was shown and 8 local experts were given certificates.

This project was unique because it;

• contributed to the awareness of the youth in Gavar on LSG processes;
• facilitated the participation of informed groups in the decision-making process at the local self-government level;
• changed Gavar youth and local self-government bodies, led to new ideas and initiatives;
• promoted civic activism;
• encouraged other young people to show interest in participating in the local self-governance because the young people involved in the project shared the information, their skills and impressions with their peers;
• the program beneficiaries have developed their civic skills, stances, qualities of responsible and active citizenship.