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On May 12, a workshop was organized for the Staff of the Parliament of Armenia entitled “Representation, parliamentary diplomacy and communication tools, a more transparent parliament for the public and the youth” within the framework of the EU Twinning Project “Strengthening the capacity of the National Assembly of Armenia to further support CEPA oversight and implementation.”

Maria Kamilaki, the Head of the Library Department of the Hellenic Parliament , gave a speech on the topic “The library of the Hellenic Parliament: from awareness to the citizen involvement to achieve sustainable development goals”.

The speaker presented the library of the Hellenic Parliament, its structure, referred to the stored books, exhibits and documents. According to Maria Kamilaki, everything that is not secret is open to the public. Not only the deputies and the staff, but also the citizens can use the materials and books in the library, as the Hellenic Parliament tries to break stereotypes and be accessible to everyone, unlike many other parliaments. It was noted that the oldest printed book in the library of the Hellenic Parliament was published in 1476.

The library organizes thematic tours for the citizens, they can also participate in the organized exhibitions, get acquainted with the works of art, documents, legislation, etc. The library of the Hellenic Parliament carries out various projects targeting different social groups. There are reading clubs in the structure. Seminars, webinars, etc. are organized, in which thousands of schoolchildren and students also participate. Online services are also provided. “Strengthening relations with the public, the involvement and also strengthening awareness that the parliament belongs to society are the purposes of all this,” Maria Kamilaki said. The library is also active in social media sites, YouTube.

Then Mr. Giancarlo Romanello, the Head of the Unit for Educational Projects in the Chamber of Deputies, presented the educational projects of the Chamber of Deputies.

Dr. Vasilios Svolopoulos presented the report “Parliamentary diplomacy in the European projects.”
Georgios Angelopoulos, the General Director of the General Directorate for Electronic Governance, Library and Publications of the Hellenic Parliament, gave a speech on the report “Information communication technologies for the transparent activity of the parliament: the example of Greece.” During the workshop, the guests got acquainted with the library of the Parliament of Armenia and the events being implemented.

Before beginning the work of the workshop, Maria Kamilaki and Georgios Angelopoulos visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial complex and laid flowers at the Eternal Flame in the memory of the Holy Martyrs. They visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute and met with the Director of the museum Harutyun Marutyan. During the meeting, the perspectives of cooperation between the libraries of the Parliament of Armenia and the Hellenic Parliament and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute were discussed.