On September 29th and 30th, 2020, a conference was held respectively in Moldova and in Ukraine under the joint partnership of ALDA, the Kettering Foundation and KAS – Konrad Adenauer Stiftungon the topic of “Empowering local authorities and civil society to deliver solutions with participative democracy: implementation in Moldova and Ukraine”.
Both online events saw the participation of ALDA Secretary General Antonella Valmorbida and of Eastern Partnership Coordinator Alexandru Coica and Assistant Viorica Bulat, as well as of the delegates of the local LDAs and of a selected number of key stakeholders involved in the research project behind the matter at discussion.
“It was a small project, but with great results […] and we invite you to make such projects again in the future” commented the Mayor of Cimislia (Moldova), Mr Sergiu Andronachi; “The report aptly shows the current situation, it is well-prepared and well thought out and we are waiting to have Ms. Antonella as a guest again“. The representative of the Comrat Town Hall, Ms. Irina Cara took the occasion to congratulate the work as well: “Thank you for this project: it was a wonderful workshop in Comrat, we received a lot of information“.
The Deputy of the Dnipro City Council, Mr Artiom Pavlov, similarly expressed his enthusiasm, highlighting that the cooperation with ALDA is extremely important for the Dnipropetrovosk region and remarking that “We appreciate this fruitful cooperation and hope to demonstrate a closer approximation of the local government in Ukraine to the high European standards in the nearest future“.
On ALDA’s side, it was highlighted that local public administrations must engage all citizens even if they seem like a weak link, as this creates the critical mass for cooperation that is necessary to produce change; and encouragement was provided as per the immense work that can be done together for the better of both local authorities and citizens.
All in all, the events were fruitful and satisfactory: in the words of Alexandru Coica, “The most important thing for us was to hear that the comprehensive research work that was done is useful for local authorities and grassroot civil society. I was delighted to hear that all engaged stakeholders will use the recommendations to improve their work“.
We’re very much looking forward to continuing these wonderful collaborations in the Eastern Partnership!