The eco-village is a developed village

On October 12-13, the members of Community Business Council (Vayots Dzor region) from Agarakadzor and Khndzorut villages visited the CBC members of  Gegharkunik region, got acquainted with their activities, factual work implemented in their community, as well as developed tourism products.

As an important component of the meeting, the CBC members visited also Kalavan community, a small village located in a remote area of the region, yet well – known both in Armenia & beyond as an eco-village that has adopted the main principles of sustainable development.

The participants were greeted by former Head of the Time Land Foundation, now Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Robert Ghukasyan, who presented the model of the community, the pathway of their development, the challenges of the community and the vision of development all villagers in the region shared.

The CBC members had the chance to share their stories, gain new knowledge, learn all the know-hows, discussed the environmental issues in their community (illegal hunting, logging, etc.), and the progress achieved due to the current project aimed to activate the rural life and adopt a vision for sustainable development.

Inspired by the meeting with Robert Ghukasyan, the CBC members returned to their communities, realizing that infrastructure inaccessibility is not always an obstacle to establishing an eco-community and that sustainable development principles can be applied in every community.

  The project is implemented within the framework of “EU for Tourism: Community-Based Rural Tourism and Cultural Events in Gegharkunik and Vayots Dzor Marzes” project, funded by EU and jointly with World Vision Armenia