On 13^th of March, 2015 closing conference was organized by Regional Environmental Center of Caucasus Armenian Branch Office and Jermuk representatives in the frames of Local Environmental Action Plan project carried out in Jermuk city. The meeting was attended by the Mayor of Jermuk city, Mr. Vardan Harutyunyan, other representatives of the city government, representatives of Jermuk city, experts working within the project frames, GeoTeam representatives and REC Caucasus team. The aim of the closing conference was to summarize and discuss achievements and results that were achieved within the project, classify main issues, problems, initiatives, threats and opportunities for Jermuk city. Along with this the book for Jermuk LEAPs written and published by REC Caucasus team and Jermuk representatives was presented and handled to participants of the conference.

The LEAP project in Jermuk city was implemented successfully by highly coordinated work of the project team members Ms. Nune Haruytunyan, Ms. Dshkhuhi Sahakyan, Ms. Emma Avoyan, Mr. Tigran Oganezov, local experts, Jermuk city representatives, local authorities and Jermuk city local coordinator Ms. Lilit Zohrabyan.

The starting speech of the meeting was made by the Mayor of Jermuk City Mr. Vardan Hovhannisyan. He welcomed the participants of the meeting and talked about the benefits that projects similar to LEAP will have for their city. Mr. Hovhannisyan provided some background information about the city, its profile. He emphasized that there is an importance of finding out vulnerable sectors of the city and working on them in the frames of similar projects.

The representative of the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA, Ms. Larisa Kharatovna welcomed the participants.  She thanked the Regional Environmental Center of Caucasus Armenian Branch Office and mentioned that numerous projects have been implemented by the close cooperation of the Government of Jermuk with RECC. She summed up her speech by wishing good luck in further projects planned.

REC Caucasus director Ms. Nune Harutyunyan thanked all the participants for taking part in the conference. She mentioned that the current problems cannot be fully solved until all the parties taking part in the project change their mentalities, understanding that it is their own benefit to cooperate and help to solve the problems of their city. According to Ms. Harutyunyan the book for Jermuk has been written for the city population as an informative brochure about their city, its threats, strengths and opportunities. At the end of her speech Ms. Haruytunyan pointed that fund raising is a must to implement further projects on the city.

In his speech REC Caucasus project coordinator, Mr. Tigran Oganezov mentioned that during the project they have raised main threatening issues present in the city. They analyzed them, and calculated the amount of financial resources needed.

Project national expert Ms. Dshkhuhi Sahakyan emphasized the importance of struggling to keep Jermuk city the way it is, without harming its environment, but adding some new flavors to it. In her speech Ms. Sahakyan added also that the English version of Jermuk book must be available to internationally introduce the city of Jermuk. She pointed that the book is quite accessible, detailed and emphasizes on different sectors of the city with their full description.

According to the experts the book of Jermuk will serve as an informative guide for all those who want to get information about the city and its different sectors. It is an informative document about the city current situation. Experts also mentioned that the project was successfully implemented by the active involvement of Jermuk citizens which provided with more accurate data on different sectors. Due to the involvment the citizens turned their attention on the environmental issues of their own city.

Geoteam CJSC Sustainable Development senior manager Mr. Armen Stepanyan presented the Amulsar project. He also presented the mitigation measures that must be taken to minimize the negative impact on the environment of Jermuk as a resort cernter. He mentioned that before the project start-up they need to be assured that the population of Jermuk is aware and introduced properly to the project details to avoid further conflicts.

The Jermuk city representatives expressed their willingness to organize a separate meeting where the project of Amulsar with all its details (risks, negative environmental impacts from mining, opportunities, threats, alternatives, etc.) will be introduced. The suggestion was accepted and the meeting is going to be organized in the near future.

The closing conference focused mainly on the LEAP project benefits that were achieved as a result of the project implementation. As a summarization the following achieved due to the project implementation are present:

• Problems and urgent issues uncovered in Jermuk city;
• Active involvement of local authorities and city representatives in solving environmental issues of their own city;
• Attracting government representatives` and population attention on vulnerable issues of the city;
• Presenting the environmental description of Jermuk city about various sectors in Jermuk book;
• Calculating financial resources needed to solve the major environmental issues of the city;
• Presenting the city of Jermuk internationally (during conference in Geneva).

The project of Jermuk LEAP was successfully implemented and continuation of such projects is warmly welcomed by the city representatives.

On 13^th of March, 2015 closing conference was organized by Regional Environmental Center of Caucasus Armenian Branch Office and Jermuk representatives in the frames of Local Environmental Action Plan project carried out in Jermuk city. The meeting was attended by the Mayor of Jermuk city, Mr. Vardan Harutyunyan, other representatives of the city government, representatives of Jermuk city, experts working within the project frames, GeoTeam representatives and REC Caucasus team. The aim of the closing conference was to summarize and discuss achievements and results that were achieved within the project, classify main issues, problems, initiatives, threats and opportunities for Jermuk city. Along with this the book for Jermuk LEAPs written and published by REC Caucasus team and Jermuk representatives was presented and handled to participants of the conference.

The LEAP project in Jermuk city was implemented successfully by highly coordinated work of the project team members Ms. Nune Haruytunyan, Ms. Dshkhuhi Sahakyan, Ms. Emma Avoyan, Mr. Tigran Oganezov, local experts, Jermuk city representatives, local authorities and Jermuk city local coordinator Ms. Lilit Zohrabyan.

The starting speech of the meeting was made by the Mayor of Jermuk City Mr. Vardan Hovhannisyan. He welcomed the participants of the meeting and talked about the benefits that projects similar to LEAP will have for their city. Mr. Hovhannisyan provided some background information about the city, its profile. He emphasized that there is an importance of finding out vulnerable sectors of the city and working on them in the frames of similar projects.

The representative of the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA, Ms. Larisa Kharatovna welcomed the participants.  She thanked the Regional Environmental Center of Caucasus Armenian Branch Office and mentioned that numerous projects have been implemented by the close cooperation of the Government of Jermuk with RECC. She summed up her speech by wishing good luck in further projects planned.

REC Caucasus director Ms. Nune Harutyunyan thanked all the participants for taking part in the conference. She mentioned that the current problems cannot be fully solved until all the parties taking part in the project change their mentalities, understanding that it is their own benefit to cooperate and help to solve the problems of their city. According to Ms. Harutyunyan the book for Jermuk has been written for the city population as an informative brochure about their city, its threats, strengths and opportunities. At the end of her speech Ms. Haruytunyan pointed that fund raising is a must to implement further projects on the city.

In his speech REC Caucasus project coordinator, Mr. Tigran Oganezov mentioned that during the project they have raised main threatening issues present in the city. They analyzed them, and calculated the amount of financial resources needed.

Project national expert Ms. Dshkhuhi Sahakyan emphasized the importance of struggling to keep Jermuk city the way it is, without harming its environment, but adding some new flavors to it. In her speech Ms. Sahakyan added also that the English version of Jermuk book must be available to internationally introduce the city of Jermuk. She pointed that the book is quite accessible, detailed and emphasizes on different sectors of the city with their full description.

According to the experts the book of Jermuk will serve as an informative guide for all those who want to get information about the city and its different sectors. It is an informative document about the city current situation. Experts also mentioned that the project was successfully implemented by the active involvement of Jermuk citizens which provided with more accurate data on different sectors. Due to the involvment the citizens turned their attention on the environmental issues of their own city.

Geoteam CJSC Sustainable Development senior manager Mr. Armen Stepanyan presented the Amulsar project. He also presented the mitigation measures that must be taken to minimize the negative impact on the environment of Jermuk as a resort cernter. He mentioned that before the project start-up they need to be assured that the population of Jermuk is aware and introduced properly to the project details to avoid further conflicts.

The Jermuk city representatives expressed their willingness to organize a separate meeting where the project of Amulsar with all its details (risks, negative environmental impacts from mining, opportunities, threats, alternatives, etc.) will be introduced. The suggestion was accepted and the meeting is going to be organized in the near future.

The closing conference focused mainly on the LEAP project benefits that were achieved as a result of the project implementation. As a summarization the following achieved due to the project implementation are present:

• Problems and urgent issues uncovered in Jermuk city;
• Active involvement of local authorities and city representatives in solving environmental issues of their own city;
• Attracting government representatives` and population attention on vulnerable issues of the city;
• Presenting the environmental description of Jermuk city about various sectors in Jermuk book;
• Calculating financial resources needed to solve the major environmental issues of the city;
• Presenting the city of Jermuk internationally (during conference in Geneva).

The project of Jermuk LEAP was successfully implemented and continuation of such projects is warmly welcomed by the city representatives.