On 29 March, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Council of the Elders of Vardenik Community and the “Community Pulse” NGO in the scope of the “New Development Plan of Vardenik Community: Tourism and Agriculture” project.

This project is implemented within the framework of the sub-grant provided by the EU-funded “Constructive to Commitment Dialogue” project.

The Council of Elders convened an extraordinary session to sign the memorandum. The parties mentioned that this is an exceptional phenomenon when the community council officially cooperates with the civil society organization.

Mr. Artush Khachatryan, President of the “Community Pulse” NGO and “New Development Plan of Vardenik Community: Tourism and Agriculture” Project Manager noted that although previously there was cooperation based on the oral agreement, however, currently the cooperation is officially confirmed, which is inspiring.

Mr. Hovik Hoveyan, the Community Head mentioned that the community benefits as a result of this cooperation. As a result of the project implementation, residents of the community will gain new knowledge, will be engaged in organic farming, which is good for the health of the population and is profitable as well.

According to Artush Khachatryan, the objective of this project is to promote organic agriculture and rural tourism in the community. As a result, residents of the community will have the opportunity to have their own businesses and would not think of emigration, and the emigrants in their turn will think of returning and developing their own community.