Written by Ia Goliadze, Tebea Mindiashvili, Eva Maria Planzer & Flurin Bastian Tippmann, a collaboration between students of the Tbilisi State University and the University of Zurich Viticulture, as a part of agriculture and tourism, thoroughly differs among nations by its structure and production methods. Some countries have their own traditions and specific directions toward the wine sector. Winemaking also has its economic load and perspectives by country. In this regard, it is quite compelling to compare how Georgia and Switzerland lead viticulture, what kind of methods they have, and how winemaking is worthwhile for the economic sector. Georgia, located in Eastern Europe, is generally considered a country of diverse capabilities and a long history of being one of the rich natural resources in the Southern Caucasus region. With approximately three and a half million people, Georgia as an agricultural state has a significant role in promoting rural tourism (Karzig & Schweiter, 2022). According to National Geographic, Georgia's agritourism is mostly favored in the wine-producing sector, named as the "Cradle of Wine" (National Geographic, 2018). Georgia has a competitive advantage among developed winemaking countries. More precisely, traditions of viticulture have an original varietal composition of wine production and accumulated unique experience is also another turning point for century-old wine history. Georgia's wine production is distinguished by 525 endemic grape varieties and roughly 30 types of grapes are used for commercial goals (Kutateladze & Koblianidze, 2021, pp. 18-19). Georgia has six main winemaking regions, most of them located in eastern Georgia.Wine production, as a part of agritourism, is significant to promoting the process of diversification and the country's capital income. Wine is Georgia's fourth largest export product in Europe (ცაცკრიალაშვილი , 2019, pp. 28-31 ). Apart from this, wine tourism is special for the rural areas of Georgia, most of which are trying to maintain their identity and search for ways of employment. Figure 1: The picture shows the vineyards in Lavaux, which is in the UNESCO World Heritage Listing (My Switzerland, 2023). In comparison to Georgia, Switzerland also has its own wine-producing heritage, but the scale of wine production in Switzerland is still relatively small in comparison to other wine regions. In Switzerland, wine tourism has gained significance over the last few years, offering the tourists a great wine tradition and picturesque wine regions. Vineyards span over various regions of Switzerland including Valais, Ticino, and the Eastern part of the country. According to the Guardian, Switzerland is considered a worthwhile wine destination (Williams, 2019).Cultural landscapes such as the Lavaux wine terraces (UNESCO World Heritage, see figure 1 above) in the French speaking part of Switzerland are considered a very significant element among all global tourism resources (Ruiz Pulpón & Cañizares Ruiz, 2019). The findings from Ruiz Pulpón and Cañizares Ruiz (2019) also demonstrate that the enduring cultural characteristics of vineyard landscapes, characterized by their heritage and aesthetic richness, can also ensure sustainable tourism, if suitable planning criteria are employed.

Parks are a good way of linking and promoting nature conservation and regional economic development. Switzerland has a nationwide system of nature parks with three denominations: 1. National Park 2. Regional nature parks 3. Nature discovery park. In this blog post we want to zoom into the 17 Swiss regional nature parks. These parks are designated areas of high natural and cultural importance in rural areas. The goal of these parks is to protect nature while also finding sustainable solutions for economic development in these areas. There is a national legal framing as well as adherence to UNESCO rule work (BAFU: 2024). This blog post discusses the two major pillars which constitutes the regional parks system: 1. nature preservation and 2. Economic development. A local market in Escholzmatt in the UNESCO Biosphäre Entlebuch, a regional nature park in Switzerland. Products produced entirely within the Biosphäre can be marked and sold with the parks label (photo source: www.parks.swiss). There are multiple requirements for a regional nature park in Switzerland, it should preserve and enhance the quality of nature and landscape (BAFU, 2007). This means that, on one hand, the landscape of the park must be distinctive and perceived as "beautiful", on the other hand, the habitats of the native animal and plant species must not be disturbed (Hammer et al., 2022). Habitats should be well connected and the landscape should be protected accordingly or even improved when building new infrastructure (BAFU, 2007). An example to increase the ecological diversity of regional nature parks is the renaturation of fens and raised bogs or other ecologically valuable areas. However, it is difficult to quantify the impact of a regional nature park on biodiversity (Hammer et al., 2022); it is easier to do so for economic aspects.The establishment – and arguably the success – of regional parks depends on the support of the local population, because the federal government only supports such projects (Ritzel et al. 2023). As support is often determined by municipal vote of the participating municipalities, the inhabitants must – aside from ecologic moral – be convinced by tangible economic impact. By laying an emphasis on sustainable economic development of the involved municipalities the park management can work with long-running support and funding to protect the environment long-term. The parks can for example impact the local economies with branding. The park brand can induce tourist inflows, help marketing products from such region and build a strong identification of the inhabitants with their region and regional economy. Assessing the economic impact of such parks, literature paints a more mixed picture: Farmers inside a park didn't receive negative economic performance but at the same time no higher performance either (Ritzel et al. 2023). Furthermore, the induced incoming tourists are mainly one-day visitors, which don't contribute much money to the region per head compared to overnight guests (Knaus 2018). Siegrist et al (2007) found, although the economic potential of the parks is rather low, they can have catalyst function, depending on the prerequisites. Therefore, we can conclude: the regional nature parks are an interesting tool of nature and landscape protection, while their effectiveness is still subject of scientific debate.

Note: This article first appeared on the Caucasus Data Blog, a joint effort of CRRC-Georgia and OC Media. It was written by Hans Gutbrod, who teaches at Ilia State University. Hans was previously the Regional Director of Caucasus Research Resource Centers. The views presented in the article are of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NDI, CRRC-Georgia, or any related entity. Analysing the most-visited Georgian-language pages on Wikipedia gives an insight into the priorities and interests of Georgian users of the site, with some surprises. In the depths of the internet, a little-known site listing the page views of different sites gives access to a particular treasure: the 100 most visited Georgian-language Wikipedia entries since 2015, highlighting what people have been drawn to over the last seven years. Some of the top pages may not come as a surprise to those familiar with the country’s attitude to its history and culture. For example, Georgian-language Wikipedia usage shows a strong interest in the country’s kings. David IV Aghmashenebeli (the Builder) is the third most visited page on Georgian Wikipedia, followed by Queen Tamar (5), Erekle II (10), Vakhtang I Gorgasali (11), and Parnavaz I (28). The first and only living Georgian among the top 100 is Georgian footballer and Napoli left-winger Kvicha Kvaratskhelia (48). Poetry, poets, and writers are also popular, led by Ilia Chavchavadze (8), The Knight in the Panther’s Skin (12), Vazha-Pshavela (14), Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani (20), Shota Rustaveli (23), Akaki Tsereteli (25) and Galaktion Tabidze (32), and playwright and director Sandro Akhmeteli (40). The painter Niko Pirosmani (56) is also among the top 10 artists that Georgians look up on Wikipedia. Composers, however, appear not to be looked up frequently. Is the curiosity genuine, or are children cribbing for school? Ilia Chavchavadze is most in demand in November (26,700 views) and of least interest in August (3,900 views). This pattern seems to align with the curricular season, though perhaps it is good if teachers encourage kids to wander the pastures of ‘the largest and most-read reference work in history’. Sharka Blue (23) was not a name I recognised. On inspection, it turns out that Sharka Blue lists ‘Assume the Position 4’ among her oeuvre. You would be wrong to expect that to be a tactical recommendation for a debating competition. The prominence of her page looks likely to be attributable to Georgian Wikipedia having a full list of her professional filmography — something that no other language appears to have. Only 60% of her page views are from a mobile device, when otherwise the average is above 80%. Sharka notwithstanding, women are systematically underrepresented in Georgian Wikipedia. Queen Tamar is the only woman in the top 20, and when speaking about her, many men — especially during toasts — will anyway insist she was so formidable as to be a mepe, a king. The next women are far down the list, with the Martyrdom of Shushanik (77), Queen Elizabeth II (79), and Saint Nino (84), making for a total of five women versus 25 men among the top 100 entries. Geographical information is highly sought after on Georgian Wikipedia. The fourth most popular entry is Ukraine, closely followed by the List of Countries (7), National Flags (15), Russia (18), the United States of America (22), and Earth (26). As might be expected, interest in Ukraine and Russia spiked in February/March of 2022. Mexico, an increasingly popular destination for those seeking to travel onward to the US, remains the 919th most visited page with stable interest across the years, suggesting that Wikipedia is not where potential migrants do their research. The word ‘tolerance’ (85) is amongst the top 100 Georgian-language Wikipedia pages, as is ‘liberalism’ (91). Otherwise, verbs (36), adjectives (49), metaphor (80), and synonyms (86), rank high, suggesting once again that a significant proportion of the online encyclopedia’s Georgian-language users may be students. One odd feature in Georgia, but also Armenia and Azerbaijan, is that the single most visited page is the entry for Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan politician, with half a million page visits in total. As less than 0.2% of the visits are from a mobile device, when otherwise this is how Wikipedia is usually accessed, there probably are bots at work. The high-intensity visits started in early 2020 and have been high since, with a short trough across the three countries at the same time in December 2021. The Georgian page for Puigdemont was created as a translation from the Russian entry. It has been reported that Puigdemont’s associates have visited Moscow, and may have even sought assistance there. Georgia's most viewed page after that? Ahead of the page for the country itself, it is the entry for Europebet. Perhaps eager customers have been jumping on the first link in Google, as an accidental (if potentially informative) detour before clicking through to the gambling site. An alternative interpretation is that people are impatiently clicking on the top listing in hopes of finding news of their favourite team. Such sporting enthusiasm is evident in article edits. Georgia’s most edited entry is that of footballer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (286 edits), followed by Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (107 edits, 83rd most viewed entry), as avid fans update their players’ scores. Major gaps remain in what is accessible on Georgian Wikipedia. For example, while according to WHO data, 28% of children in Georgia are overweight or obese, there is no entry on the subject in Georgian that parents or health professionals might use for reference. In Armenia, at least, the English entry seems to have been translated. Other entries remain stubs. The Georgian-language entry on inflation has 113 words. By comparison, those that read English can find an article that is more than 80 times as detailed, with over 9000 words, describing causes as well as methods of controlling inflation. With inflation in Georgia running at 12% per year, the issue matters for most families. Macroeconomic teaching and research on inflation in Georgia could be complemented by making information on the issue available to all. Wikipedia in the region rests on the work of few contributors. When it comes to Admins, the entire Caucasus contingent would fit on a mid-sized bus: 14 in Azerbaijan, 11 in Armenia, six in Georgia, five for Megrelian, and two for the Abkhaz language. When things are easy to improve, they should not ever be complained about. Wikipedia squarely fits into that category. Any user can help to add information, as long as it is well-documented with a reliable source. One would hope that universities get more engaged, too, to encourage lecturers and students to add their micro-contribution to knowledge – arguably the most fruitful assignment as it serves the world, not just a single assessment. Wikipedia, as it turns out, does not just hold information – it also holds information about information, in telling us what is of most interest. In this way, it opens yet another window onto Georgia and onto the world. This article was written by Hans Gutbrod, who teaches at Ilia State University. Hans was previously the Regional Director of Caucasus Research Resource Centers. This analysis is based on a presentation at the CRRC methods conference in June 2023. For a regional comparison, see this article on EurasiaNet. The author extends a special thanks to Giorgi Melashvili for pointing out how to retrieve the listings. The full list is here. The views presented in the article are the author’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity.