During the period of project implementation the project environment changed in the following way:

1.Mediation nowadays is becoming more actual and fast-developing issue in all partner countries on the national level.

2.System of education is also undergoing changes, either legislative, structural in all partner countries.

These changes transformed project goals into the following: 

1 To develop and implement Master's degree program "Mediation" – for Ukraine and Azerbaijan, Module in Mediation – for Georgia.

In accordance with the Georgian legislation along with the accreditation requirements, a separate master’s program in mediation cannot be completed in Georgia as the qualification of the mediator is not recognized by the national qualification framework. Therefore, ISU and BSU teams are working on creating a mediation module.

2. Establishing of the sustainable Mediation Federation is eligible for Ukraine; Georgia and Azerbaijan will cooperate with newly established governmental Mediation Structures.

Given that, at the beginning of the project there was no legal framework regarding mediation in Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, the project original proposal envisaged the establishment of a Mediation Federation as an NGO. However, in Georgia it is actually redundant since the Ministry of Justice of Georgia with the assistance of international experts drafted the law of Georgia on Mediation which was later endorsed by the Government and it finally enacted on September 19, 2019. Law on Mediation envisages the establishment of Association of Mediators of Georgia as a membership-based legal person of public law. It officially registered on 14th of December, 2019. The Association is vested the power of enacting the statute of the federation, approval of certificate program for mediators, common ethical standards and rules of disciplinary proceedings against mediators, planning and implementing the trainings and educational programs. The association will also keep a register of mediators.

Based on legislative changes, ISU and BSU will help the newly established Association and contribute to its development instead of creating a new MF. For this purpose, within the MEDIATS project, ISU and BSU teams were actively involved in negotiations with the Mediators Association.  It should be noted that the interest in developing and promoting the mediation institute is bilateral. ISU and BSU already started formal cooperation with Mediation Association of Georgia. 

On June 17, 2020 Irakli Porchkhidze, Dean of the School of Law, represented Ilia State University and Irakli Kandashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Mediators' Association signed the memorandum. 

The aim of the memorandum is to cooperate in current matters in the field of common interests of the parties, implement joint activities, projects, and initiatives for the development and promotion of the Institute of Mediation.

On 23 July BSU also signed memorandum of understanding with Georgian Association of Mediators. The signatories of the memorandum are Irakli Kandashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Mediators Association and Merab Khalvashi, Rector of BSU. The purpose of the memorandum is to cooperate on topical issues in the field of common interests of the parties, to implement joint events, projects and initiatives for the development and popularization of the institution of mediation. In the future, it is planned to establish BSU as the main mediation center in the Adjara region in the format of cooperation.

After the project started, there has been a positive development in Azerbaijan in terms of the application of mediation. In March 2019, the Parliament passed a Law on Mediation as part of the Strategic Road Map approved by the President which regulates and promotes mediation activities. 

According to current legislation, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the responsible body to prepare the proposal on establishing a Mediation Council and submit it to the President. Currently, the Cabinet of Ministers is working on the proposal and the final proposal is yet to be completed. Mediation will be applied to disputes regarding/arising from civil law and economic cases (including with foreign elements), family relationships, labor relationships, and administrative law relationships. The law also specifies that mediation organizations will be created and trainings will be provided in order to have specialized mediators. With that in mind, we can say that there will be a need in the labor market and current project and its objectives are very relevant in case of Azerbaijan. 

Mediation Federation created by the Government and successful partnership has been established between the Federation and both GSU and Khazar Universities. 

3. To promote mediation values within the society in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine – the goal remains the same. 

In comparison to the original proposal, the relevance of the project has only increased, the project fully complies with the national context of the countries involved, the fundamental needs of societies in the development of mediation as alternative way of dispute resolution, contributes to the development of a culture and values of mediation, including the need for an effective, fast and accessible mechanism to resolve existing and future conflicts.

Moreover due to development of the mediation processes on the state level, the profession of mediator is becoming more popular and in demand, that is favourable to the project, as it will be one of preconditions for enrollment of students to Program in Mediation and as a result will contribute to sustainability of the project.

Constraints of the project:

1. Due to the delay of the project financing all project activities are implemented with the delay. The new project timeline was prepared. The consortium plans to apply for project extension for 6 months, though National Erasmus Offices and EACEA expressed hope that the project activities will be implemented during 3 years without extension.

2.At the partner countries national currency undergoes fluctuations, in Ukraine UAH became stable for 9 month, that results in 15% of loss of Ukrainian HEIs amount spent at that period of time.

3.Due to the COVID 19/Coronavirus global pandemic, already has and may have more negative influence on the project, either in the postponing of the project activities or economic effects (currency drop, change in salaries of staff). Some of project activities are postponed, some will be organized online. 

4. Legislative constraints on the national level, described above, that changed the project trajectory.