Podcast

Areg Gevorgyan, CEO of Innovative Solutions and Technology Center (ISTC) speaks to EVN Report about their mission in identifying problems in higher education, modernizing IT curricula and working with different universities to cover the gaps in the technology ecosystem in Armenia. The center also works on challenges facing the IT/High-Tech workforce in Armenia, the creation of viable IT startups and how to transition Armenia into a regional IT/High-Tech center of excellence.

To understand the threats to Armenia’s forests and issues that need to be managed and understood if Armenia wants to rapidly increase its forest cover, EVN Report spoke with Alen Amirkhanian, the director of the Acopian Center for the Environment about policy failures, conservation and protection, reforestation, afforestation and the potential role of protected areas in the development of tourism in Armenia.

Archaeologist Dr. Lori Khatchadourian spoke with EVN Report about her current archaeological and ethnographic research in Armenia that focuses on the afterlife of socialist modernity, focusing on the forces shaping industrial ruination. Khatchadourian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University, the co-director of a long-term field project in Armenia called the Project for the Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasian Societies (Project ArAGATS), co-director of Cornell's Landscapes and Objects Laboratory and co-founder and co-director of the Aragats Foundation.

Armenia has a waste management crisis. Harutyun Alpetyan, the lead expert for the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment’s Waste Governance in Armenia program, spoke to EVN Report about the development of a national solid waste governance policy, strategy and roadmap based on the principles of a circular economy.

World renowned violinist Sergey Khachatryan and his spouse Angela Garcia Lopez talk to EVN Report about their shared passion for music and Armenia, the need for a change in mentality, education, work ethic and much more.

There are a host of problems and challenges with the healthcare sector in Armenia. Some of those include the double burden of disease, a surplus of doctors and surgeons (including more MRI machines in Yerevan than in some European cities) on the one hand, but poor health outcomes on the other; issues with health infrastructure, human resources, public health, medical education and the fact that less than 1.5 percent of GDP is spent on healthcare in the country. Pediatric surgeon and Assistant Professor of Surgery at UCLA, Dr. Shant Shekherdimian speaks with EVN Report's Maria Titizian about some of these issues and more.

EVN Report editorial board member Sara Anjargolian speaks to Nermine Mitry, a former diplomat turned visual storyteller & food writer about the healing power of food and her experience working with the Syrian-Armenian community in Armenia. Check out Nermine's food blog to learn more.

The first Workshop on Graphs, Combinatorics and Probability took place in Armenia. Mathematicians from all over the world participated in the workshop the purpose of which was to collaborate on solving open problems in mathematics, in particular, in the area of combinatorics and graph theory. EVN Report’s Maria Titizian spoke with two of the organizers, Liana Yepremyan, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford and Perouz Taslakian, Applied Research Scientist at Element AI and former Chair of Computational Sciences Program at the American University of Armenia.

Board member of the National Democratic Institute and former DNC Chairman Governor Howard Dean speaks with EVN Report's Maria Titizian about the need for idealism in politics, the role of women and the importance of an engaged populace.

Author of EVN Report's White Paper "Transitional Justice Agenda for the Republic of Armenia," Dr. Nerses Kopalyan speaks about the imperative of transitional justice to help heal Armenian society and restore trust and faith in institutions.