On August 14, 2015, pre-selected Armenian applicants met in the premises of Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) in Yerevan to kick off the “Dreaming of a Colorful Garden” project. The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by Candid Foundation from Germany together with EPF and the Humanitarian Research Public Union NGO from Azerbaijan.

The core component of “Dreaming of a Colorful Garden” is the compilation of an essay collection with contributions from young academics, journalists and civil servants from Armenia and Azerbaijan. In their essays, they will describe their ideas and visions of how life or aspects of life could change if there was a peace deal between the two countries in the next few years. During the Kick-off meeting, participants discussed the conflict, obstacles to a resolution and their personal experiences with young Azerbaijanis. They also had the chance to present their initial essay ideas and receive feedback on how to improve them.

After the Kick-off meeting, participants have a few days to go back and submit revised essay proposals incorporating the feedback from the meeting. Based on these submissions, final participants will be selected and invited to a 3-day workshop in Tbilisi in September 2015 with their fellow Azerbaijani participants.