Dear friends, In this Newsletter you will find our information about the latest developments in the activities of the KNIA members. We hope it will be interesting to you to read about them.

We are delighted to introduce Madlen Giorgadze, the English language teacher from Kutaisi Public School №9 who has been given the status of a leading teacher. Her professionalism, diligence, and impeccable love for his work are truly unmatched. She is a teacher who embraces innovative approaches, a teacher thinks outside the box. A teacher with great enthusiasm who develops inspiring relationships with her students...

Editorial Board

I was raised in a family that cultivated spirituality through books, art, theater, exhibitions, and museums. I am a teacher, I teach not only a foreign language, but I try to blend teaching methodologies with uplifting phrases, vibrant colors, and the cultivation of educated, cultured, charming, emotionally-aware, and aesthetically-minded youth - our future.

I actively collaborate with the English Language Department of Akaki Tsereteli State University. This partnership has enabled me to integrate innovative practices into my teaching that align with the evolving model of education. My guiding principle is to put theory into practice, learning by doing. That's why at the end of the year we summarize what we have learned for the whole year turning he knowledge into a single performance, enriched with additional material. Here, every student is actively involved in his/her favorite role. On my own initiative, for the first time in Kutaisi, within the framework of the Antitobacco Company, I launched the campaign “Healthy Way of Life”. This annual campaign addresses various aspects of healthy living, aiming to raise awareness and promote positive lifestyle choices.

I am a leading teach at Kutaisi Public School №9 and a member of the Kutaisi Newport International Association. Kutaisi, with its diverse perspectives and vibrant culture, holds a special place in my heart. That's why I actively engage in its daily life, seeking to contribute to its growth and development in any way I can.

I'm proud of my profession! My motto: The future of the world is in my classroom.

Every child is unique, with different strengths and weaknesses. So, I aim to give every student a special and one-of-a-kind learning journey. They're getting more interested in the world and start thinking about their future. That's why I try to bring enthusiasm, cheerfulness, love and valuable knowledge inspired by this love to my lessons.

I want to raise a generation that can change the world for the better! I believe in the bright future of my students.

We love the English language. That's why our textbooks delve into the history, culture, and educational systems of foreign countries, as well as their holidays and traditions. We search, write, colour, create, have fun and learn a foreign language by doing.

How many sleepless nights, energy, emotions are dedicated to each lesson, event or project? The result - happy, knowledgeable, and confident students, with hope for the future! Students may fail to recall what a teacher said, but but they'll always remember how you made them feel. They like to work on projects and are happy to schedule the activities suggested by the textbook. At the same time, my 4th, 5th, and 6th graders actively take part in projects and competitions suggested by English Book Education, Macmillan Education, and Glory Future Foundation. They are leaders among Be Green Society and Glory Future Foundation.

6-year students from the public school 9 took part in Glory Future Foundation project-Knowing Each Other's Culture. They searched the information about location of Bangladesh, national flag, emblems and anthem, climate, clothes, cuisines, seasons of the year and animals. Did the handmade book with this information, colored pictures made the presentation of the book. They enlarged their knowledge about foreign country in particular about Bangladesh cultural heritage. They also participated in Art competition. They made pictures about the Earth and its survival. In recognition of successful participation in the both projects they were awarded with Glory Future Foundation certificates.

The 4th 5th 6th f-year students take active part in the competition proposed by English Book Education, Macmillan Education.

4th graders participated in activities at the initial stage - filled in crosswords, guessed coded words and searched for words connected to New Year which were scattered in a word index. They presented compositions about Christmas, Santa Claus, first footing. They read Letters sent to Santa, sang Christmas songs and read poems. The classroom was decorated with colorful Christmas and New Year's posters made by them and with the students themselves dressed up for the New Year.

5th graders talked about Christmas traditions in Georgia and the UK. The game of letters they presented with red cards and the inscription SANTA CLAUS, was the most impressive. The students made New Year's promises, read New Year's expressions, congratulations and sang Christmas songs. They also made Video clips, posters, New Year's uniforms.

6th grade students were very original for the Christmas contest. They studied and sang the song “Last Christmas“ with their own accompaniment. They also congratulated English Book Education. They talked about Christmas traditions in different countries of the world and presented posters. All students participating in the competition were awarded with special certificates.

It was costumed a show where 6th graders played sketches, talked about the Halloween, sang songs in English.

The contest evaluated: 1 - Easter in Georgia. 2 - Easter in the Ukraine. 3 - Easter in Greece. The fifth-year students searched the information about Easter traditions of these countries. Created books, with many colored illustrated posters, video clips and presented all this information, discussed about the similarities and differences between Georgian, the Ukrainian and Greek Easter traditions.

Participation in such competitions and projects, along with the certificates awarded to them, can inspire the bright students to engage more in discussions and express their thoughts and emotions in English.

We moved to a renewed school. I started our first English lesson in all classes with a project - the future belongs to those who believe in their dreams. The Future Belongs to those who Believe in the Beauty of their Dreams!

The ideas of the children about the best future of their school were used for the project. Blackboards and classrooms were decorated with drawings, posters, and slogans made by the students of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Inspirational, encouraging sentences or expressions about learning, school, education were heard during the lessons.

Welcome to our Classroom, where the Magic never Stops and the Adventure never ends!
Amazing Things Happen Here!
We Do All Things in Love!
Get Ready for a Colorful Year - Explore, Learn, Have Fun!
Education is the movement from darkness to light!
We Can Change The World!

Integrated lesson Time is Precious! The English language (Madlen Giorgadze), mathematics (Eka Bokhua), the Georgian Language (Tatiana Gotoshia) the fifth-year students spoke about the history of sundial and the principles of their operation. They determined the angles according to the hands of the clock, listened to the text in English, identified specific details and performed writing activities. They talked about the regime of the day according to the hours. In relation to Georgia, they mentioned that a person should walk the path from birth to death in a good way. That man is proud of the past, creates the present for the best future.

My young pupils proved with their activity that time is really precious! It was a lesson full of surprises and a world of wonder involving the most gifted thinking students.

The last chord of the lesson was the students' phrase - Let Our Smile Change the World! But don't let the world change our smile!

With this, we said that the students of Kutaisi Public School will use all resources to be proud of the school, which was, is and will be the strength, pride and honor of our city!

"When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not

designed to make you comfortable.

It is designed to make its inhabitants comfortable."

Clifton Fadiman

Marine Metreveli - Rural Tourism Expert, Executive Director of NGO, International Center

                            for Caucasus Tourism, Tbilisi, Georgia

                            Member of Newport (UK) - Kutaisi International Association

Mzia Kokhia, - PhD, Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia

The presented article is written within the framework of the project "Healthy Soil for Food Safety", which was established and is currently being implemented by researchers from the Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia. The project is funded by the Rustaveli Foundation. The purpose of my invitation to the project is to help beneficiaries from different regions to raise awareness about rural tourism in general and its importance for organic farming in particular. To be honest, for me it is quite a different challenge to contribute to a rather innovative profile project, and therefore the value of my responsibility is much higher.
Along with poverty alleviation, migration reduction, gender equality, environmental conservation, rural tourism remains a leading player and, consequently, the main promoter of the spread and development of organic farming, which provides the basic background for the production of safe food that retains such a high value.
What is the reason for the proposal to provide the project beneficiaries with a training consisting of two topics, namely rural tourism and its relationship with organic farming? Excerpt from the project "Healthy Soil for Food Safety" For interdisciplinary development and synergistic effect, joint use and implementation of biological control and organic farming methods is planned in the regions of Georgia. In addition, it is planned to involve the local population in rural/agro-tourism, which will be provided by an agro-tourism expert who will share the who will share best practices from developed countries. During the training, the expert will raise awareness of the local population in this area.
Ms. Marine Metreveli, as a rural/agritourism expert, will work with local people to promote these tourism destinations. Under her guidance, beneficiaries will be selected and trained in European hospitality standards. . . . Trainer will conduct training for beneficiaries on the following topics:

    •  International hospitality standards for rural/agro-tourism.
    •  Role of agritourism in agritourism development.
    •  Farmer and tourism
    •  International standards for country family hotels
    •  Priorities and importance of organic tourism for environmental protect Positive and negative environmental impacts of agritourism

Appropriately 15 years working as a consultant and trainer for sharing the accumulated knowledge in the field of rural/agritourism with the beneficiaries as potential rural tourism entrepreneurs among farmers. It is well known that Georgia is an agricultural country and many farmers have already signed up for rural tourism to get an additional source of income along with the opportunity to serve tourists There are many benefits to developing rural tourism in Georgia: it can strengthen the local economy, create jobs and new businesses; develop and promote training and certification programs to introduce young people to agriculture and the environment. Rural tourism helps preserve rural lifestyles and landscapes, and provides an opportunity to provide "sustainable" or "green" tourism. Organic farming is a cultural evolution that originates from an ecological culture. In addition, the focus on these products is driven by the demand for healthy food with high quality standards that limit the use of chemicals. The connection of organic agriculture with rural tourism and tourism services is evident. They play an important role in the future development of rural areas. Therefore, one of the objectives of this project is to identify and explore those factors that have helped rural communities to successfully develop rural tourism, in particular organic agritourism, and its entrepreneurial economics. 15 years working as a consultant and trainer to share the accumulated knowledge in the field of rural/agritourism with the beneficiaries as potential rural tourism entrepreneurs among farmers achieved considerable results. It is well known that Georgia is an agricultural country and many farmers have already signed up for rural tourism to get an additional source of income along with the opportunity to manage service of the tourists There are many benefits to developing rural tourism in Georgia: it can strengthen the local economy, create jobs and new businesses; develop and promote training and certification programs to introduce young people to agriculture and the environment. Rural tourism helps preserve rural lifestyles and landscapes, and provides an opportunity to provide "sustainable" or "green" tourism. Organic farming is a cultural evolution that originates from an ecological culture. In addition, the focus on these products is driven by the demand for healthy food with high quality standards that limit the use of chemicals. The connection of organic agriculture with rural tourism is gradually becoming as positive evidence. Therefore, one of the objectives of this project is to identify and explore those factors that have helped rural communities to successfully develop in rural tourism.
Nowadays rural population in Georgia faces an acute environmental problem: how to save the ecology and produce eco food products. A great attention should be paid to the production of ecologically pure food and increase of agricultural crops productivity using organic fertilizers to protect soil and crops from contamination with nitrates, phosphates and other mineral fertilizers. Rural tourism the same as agritourism and farming tourism has become one of the popular forms of tourism as major part of the country territory belongs to villages of 9 regions. Georgia is an ancient country, renowned for its fascinating history, 8,000-year-old winemaking tradition, the majestic Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea coastline, climate and biodiversity, healing mineral waters, national parks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These offerings are further enhanced by its warm hospitality and unique cuisine, making Georgia a delight for green tourism enthusiasts from around Tourism in rural regions of Georgia has a long tradition; however, many structures had been developed during Soviet times under the framework of a centrally planned economy and forced collectivism. Today, Rural Tourism is widely discussed by the national government and international cooperation partners as a for regional development and an alternative source of employment in agricultural areas. The purpose of this study is to develop suggestions for the institutionalization of Rural Tourismin the country and to propose relevant actions. Research methods comprised a document analysis, qualitativeinterviews with various stakeholders, and focus group discussions. We analyzed recent tendencies and challenges of rural tourism development in Georgia with a focus on the concept of community-based tourism and integrated rural development. We also review the challenges of the current structure of tourism marketing on the national level with regard to Rural Tourism products. The key findings of the research include recommendations to create a central leading structure for rural tourisational level, which will work on strategic issues and general norms of Rural Tourism.

At the same time, we propose the development of destination management organizations, which will integrate general provisions in regional legislation and marketing in close cooperation with lstakeholders Followed EU Leonardo project Georgia launched involving rural population in the tourism industry initiated not leaving their households and raising capacity for management and finding financial sources.
Thousands of local people from EU countries were invited to participate in a training course on rural tourism management, i.e. the basic principles of organizing activities adapted to the International Rural Hospitality Standards. The future entrepreneurs faced a number of challenges dictated by regulations and requirements. Most of the motivated locals were successfully certified and started preparing to receive guests committed to rural tourism.
A little later, the same processes started in Georgia. In 2007, thanks to mountain resort village of Utsera, Upper Racha region: Experts provided the population of Utsera with the first training and best practices. POVERTY ALLIMINATION THROUGH RURAL TOURISM STARTED WITH VILLAGE UTSERA, ONI DISTRICT, UPPER RACHA REGION, GEORGIA. In 2014 was published the first book: “Sustainable Rural Tourism International Standards in Georgia” (Metreveli, 2014).

This issue is presented to every certified beneficiary.

FOLLOWED UNWTO

PROGRAM ST-EP

Sustainable Tourism - Eliminating Poverty Large-scale rural tourism is not yet a mature practice in Georgia, but experts are all optimistic about its prospects since many rural areas are rich in tourism resources, which are attracting more and more holiday makers.
Tourism is one of the engines of world development, which can help three fourth extremely poor population living in rural areas worldwide to better shake off poverty.
The advantage of rural tourism lies in the fact that poor people can gain benefits from other's business strategies and existing markets, the official said, and it can drive a large number of people out of poverty. So we should encourage tourism enterprises to employ poor people in large numbers and to provide job opportunities for them.
The root of poverty lies in low-level skills of people, experts hold, while rural tourism can not only help to better economic conditions of farmers, but create opportunities for them to raise cultural and sci-tech quality.

Tourism is an effective "exploring way" of poverty alleviation, said an official from the National Tourism Administration. People who get rich through tourism have a lower rate of returning to poverty and they can be embarked on the road of wealth faster (Metreveli, 2016). International Center for Caucasus Tourism in the partnership with Kutaisi Newport International Association holds that the function of rural tourism should to be reflected in various aspects our comprehensive and collaborative activities. We've adopted the decision to add RT issues to the priorities. We make sure that development of rural tourism should be combined with the building of a well-off society in an all-round way and the tackling of problems related to local population alternative income, living conditions raise in rural areas and especially women's involvement in tourism industry.

References:

M. Kokhia, V. Merabishvili, E. Kakhiani 2016. Georgia - Marvelous Land of Tourism. Researches and Reports. Tbilisi, LTD “BENE”, P. 225

M. Metreveli, 2014. “Sustainable Rural Tourism International Standards in Georgia”, LTD “BENE”, Tbilisi, P. 45

M. Metreveli, 2016. If you want to achieve a success in tourism management, this book is for you”. LTD “BENE”, Tbilisi, P. 85

And finally, one more good news:

Kutaisi State Academic Song Choir participated in INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS & CONTESTS FIESTALONIA “Golden Voices of Monseratt” and received Grand Prix. Congratulations!