In 2025, the Caucasus Institute, in cooperation with the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, implemented the project “Popular Participation in Legislation in Armenia”, aimed at strengthening structured civil society engagement in Armenia’s legislative and policy-making processes.
The project addressed persistent gaps in public participation by focusing on the institutional, strategic, and procedural challenges faced by civil society organizations (CSOs) when engaging with legislative institutions. Through a series of targeted policy workshops held in Shirak, Lori, and Yerevan, the initiative sought to enhance CSOs’ capacity to formulate evidence-based legislative proposals, improve advocacy strategies, and contribute to policy discussions in a more systematic and coordinated manner.
Workshops brought together regional and Yerevan-based CSOs with leading political and legal experts to:
- analyze existing mechanisms of public participation in legislative processes and their limitations,
- assess barriers to effective CSO engagement at local and national levels,
- develop practical, policy-relevant legislative initiatives through structured group work.
A core component of the project was the promotion of inter-regional cooperation among CSOs, facilitating knowledge exchange and the formation of networks capable of sustaining policy engagement beyond the project’s duration.
The project culminated in a final conference in Yerevan on November 26, 2025, where participating organizations presented their legislative initiatives to representatives of state institutions, the expert community, and international partners. The proposed initiatives addressed policy issues related to education, civic participation, and environmental and urban governance.
The project was funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and contributed to strengthening civil society’s role as a stakeholder in Armenia’s legislative development processes.
