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Members’ participation and active involvement are two cornerstones of ALDA’s work and the basis of our strength and added value. 

This is not only a programmatic and theoretic approach, but also concrete actions taken by the Association, whose democratic life is relaunched and refreshed every 4 years, concurrently with the appointment of the Governing Board of ALDA, that has now approved as one of their first actions the activation and animation of the new ALDA Working Groups (WG). 

As you can read in our Strategic Plan the importance of sharing and exchanging knowledge and expertise with professionals is crystal clear, as well as the importance of boosting the democratic and participatory life of our association.

Thus, the intention is to create seven Working Groups which will be focused on the main areas of interests for ALDA and its members, as  reported below:

  1. Democracy and Local Development;
  2. Environment;
  3. Digitalisation;
  4. Cooperation between CSOs and the Private Sector;
  5. Eastern Partnership/Russia and Central Asia cooperation;
  6. South-Eastern Europe Cooperation and
  7. Middle-East, Africa and Turkey Cooperation

To participate  fill in this form

More in detail, each group will be animated and supported by a staff member, and co-chaired  by either a Governing Board or an Advisory Board Member appointed to that specific area and a willing member taking part in it. The objective is to set a fruitful exchange (mostly “digital”), while collaborating with ALDA Staff and among the members to turn the seven areas into events, meetings, and of course exchange opinions, cooperation, projects and expertise on that.

How to join? If you are already an ALDA Member and you are willing to participate do not hesitate to fill in this form, made specifically for you! Beside, this opportunity will be included in the Application form for new members. 

Apply by May 15th 2021. Please note: in case you are still interested in joining a WG, you can still contact us after the dealdline by email: membership@alda-europe.eu

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ALDA joins the Earth Day 2021 as a partner! Within the LIFE Metro Adapt project we will celebrate the Earth Day with the exclusive screening of the theatre performance “Pale Blue Dot” with the participation of the director and actor Andrea Brunello and the theater company Arditodesio.

On April 22nd, a month and a day after the spring equinox, the world celebrates the Earth Day, the largest environmental event that represents an extra opportunity to remind ourselves about the importance of protecting the planet, providing insights and essential information on the most urgent environmental issues such as global warming, deforestation, extreme weather events, air pollution. This year’s theme is “Restore Our Earth”, which “focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. In this way, the theme rejects the notion that mitigation or adaptation are the only ways to address climate change. It is up to each and every one of us to Restore Our Earth not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it. We all need a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods, health & survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity”.

April 22 at 8:15 pm: Celebrate the Earth Day with us!

More than 1 billion people in 192 countries join the Earth Day activities each year, with thousands of events organized both online and in presence. The Metro Adapt project, funded by the LIFE programme of the European Union, joins this initiative in collaboration with the theater company Arditodesio, projecting a unique and moving theater show “Pale Blue Dot” which aims to inform and create awareness on climate change.

This incredible initiative aims to explain the risks associated with climate change (e.g. extreme weather events, flooding, thermal anomalies, etc.) and the urgent need to regenerate urban areas that are increasingly affected by the extreme weather phenomena.

The story tells of the space probe Voyager 1 whose destiny entwines with that of its suicidal creator, that of his dreamer son and that of the Planet Earth. As the spacecraft gets farther away from the solar system, everything falls into perspective, it becomes painfully clear that our little Pale Blue Dot, the Earth, is the most precious spaceship and it needs to be protected with no hesitation and no compromise. What will happen?

The show aims to question each one of us on our duty to protect the planet, and wonders if we are really ready to do so.

The show will be broadcasted Legambiente Youtube Platform and Metro Adapt Facebook page.

  • Duration: 80 min
  • The play is by and with Andrea Brunello.
  • Directed by Christian Di Domenico.
  • Music by Enrico Merlin.
  • Promoted within the LIFE Metro Adapt Project.

Registration is mandatory at this link: https://bit.ly/39y93Tj

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XlAarfwEVE

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Re-conceptualising  tourism can be a solution for improving the sector while promoting the local economy and sustainable development. In this regard, the Co.Co.Tour project is doing a great job on safeguarding and promoting smart inclusive and sustainable growth of the Coastal Communities in the Mediterranean. 

In this purpose they have been working on the implementation of a common strategy based on community participation in the target areas. The establishment of a cross border eco-museum network has allowed the creation of a tourist package, the design of a smartphone application for visitors, and the improvement of the accessibility and participation of local workers and communities. This project represents a new phase of tourism in the region, which has already been proven to be a success in the cities of Himara (Albany), Herceg Novi (Montenegro) and Tricase (Italy), Corfu (Greece) and Messolonghi (Greece).

Co.Co. Tour has great potential to continue changing the tourism model in the entire Mediterranean region.

Co.Co. Tour has great potential to continue changing the tourism model in the entire Mediterranean region. By taking into account the specificities of rural hinterlands of the coastal communities, the project can provide matching resources for the potential applicants to the program. Local authorities have already recognized the importance of the implementation of the eco-museums model to support the sustainable development of tourism in the region. 

Within the PANORAMED initiative, a governance platform that supports the process of strengthening and developing multilateral cooperation frameworks in the Mediterranean region, the Co.Co.Tour project has been considered as the ideal example of how tourism can be transformed and developed in a sustainable way. Furthermore, benefiting from the above-mentioned initiative, the project is able to keep working on creating new opportunities and developing solutions to common challenges in the area. 

More information on:
LDA Nikšić
PANORAMED – Interreg 
Our previous news on Co.Co Tour

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From 1 to 17 the UN has defined sustainable development goals, which should guide our actions and become our compass. Yet, how can we turn those goals into actions, making them tangible and understood by all of us? Of course it is a great challenge, but with a little bit of effort everything is possible. Hence, when developing its projects, ALDA has those SDGs in mind and designs its activities in order to not only raise awareness on them, but also to stimulate a change and promote concrete actions for their success. Let’s have a closer look!

For example, SDG 4 stands for “quality education”, which goes from inclusive learning to guarantee good education as well as supporting lifelong learning. ALDA’s Piece project, just to mention one initiative, is intended to understand and react to the needs of different communities in Europe through trainings and education. In other words, empowering people, by giving them tools and knowledge to become a valuable resource for local societies. Hence, by designing this project, and by including different partners, the final outcome will be the promotion of positive and long-lasting change, while making SDG 4 as a tangible concept.

ALDA has SDGs in mind and designs its activities in order to promote concrete actions for their success

But let’s continue with other goals. The SDG 16 tackles “peace, justice and strong institutions”, concepts which are pretty often used and discussed,especially the fist and the second, but how we can really address them is a different matter. Following the example above-mentioned, starting from the Schumann Declaration, the DESIRE project is willing to raise awareness on this milestone in European Union history. In detail, the project will stimulate participants to reflect on EU values – be they peace, justice and solidarity – by using different artistic and visual tools. 

As the case of the two previous projects, also EPIC project is directed to understand and address the challenges posed by the integration of migrants in medium-sized realities. And how is this connected to SDGs? Here we come: not only SDG 10 but also 11 and 17 are taken into account. SDGs are in fact strictly related to one-another spurring an holistic approach, a circular action that involves all of these goals. In fact, EPIC project aims at “reducing inequalities” (SDG 10), by supporting and developing “sustainable cities and communities” (SDG 11), within which migrants will settle and actively join. Furthermore, by including different actors – from municipalities, to universities and CSOs, EPIC has turned goal 17 on “partnership for goals” as a concrete and successful reality.

Finally, our projects also focus on the environment and planet. Here we would like to introduce to you FOREST project. It goes without saying that the aim of this initiative is within the forestry sector.  Thus, it is willing to increase and unify the fragmented knowledge as far as forestry management concerns, both at national and international levels. In this case, the project has been tailored having SDGs 13 and 15 in mind. The former is intended to fight climate change, while the latter focuses on “life on land”, that means acting in order to protect ecosystems and biodiversity. By improving the level of professionalism and competitiveness of forest workers at cross-border level for example, the idea of the project is to safeguard these green realities which are the habitat for different species and are essential for actors as far as climate concerns.

These are a bunch of examples of ALDA projects, but if you check our page you will find plenty of projects, each of them related to specific SDGs.

We are also delighted to share with you the latest issue of the SDG Watch Europe Newsletter, on which you can find several articles from which to draw inspiration, including news on our projects!

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How to turn the relationship among European societies and migrants more inclusive? In order to answer this question, we would like to share with you reliable documents which have been published within MIICT project. Thus, the latter already presented recommendations to various stakeholders – be they decision makers, lobbying groups and other interest groups. Released in March 2020, the first policy brief highlighted nine key policy areas to be addressed in the context of integration of migrants in Europe: starting from employment, social inclusion and anti-racism, to housing, health, education, human trafficking, legal issues as well as information and communication technology. In addition, besides expressing several suggestions regarding these areas, it also underlines country-specific recommendations for Spain, Italy and Cyprus.

Nine key policy areas to be addressed in the context of integration of migrants in Europe

More recently, in March 2021, the MIICT project issued a second policy brief  to present further recommendations on existing policies around migration issues. It is by capitalising on the findings from its first policy brief as well as on those of the Joint Migration Policy Roundtable that the latter has been organised by MIICT in cooperation with H2020-“sister”-projects (REBUILD, NADINE, MICADO, EASYRIGHTS and WELCOME). The roundtable discussions occurred between the 14th and the 16th of October 2020 and led to the publication of a Joint Migration Policy Whitepaper.

The MIICT second policy brief builds on the Whitepaper and expresses further MIICT-related recommendations. It emphasises:

  • the relevance of the cooperation and coordination among stakeholders and organisations rather than individuals;
  • the momentum of digitalisation of public services related to COVID-19 pandemic.

It focuses on how digital transformation and existing technological solutions (e.g. translation services) could result in multi-faceted ICT solutions that respect cultural diversity among final users. In this context, it also addresses the issue of funding and other options for the sustainability of solutions. The document concludes that the European Commission needs to play a pivotal role for supporting the sustainability and roll-out. Finally, the second policy brief mapped out possible obstacles and challenges that have to be taken into consideration for further policy development.

The next step will focus on the distribution and dissemination of the policy recommendations. Future local and European Policy Roundtables will be implemented during 2021 for revising and extending the recommendations against the background of the extended ICT-solution piloting.

To know more on the Policy Paper, read our previous news

Find out more: https://www.miict.eu

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Our members, partners and followers know very well how “active involvement of citizens” in the development and maintenance of democracy is a crucial aspect in ALDA mission. Nonetheless, ALDA is very conscious of the challenges that every citizen, every local community has to face. That is why, when developing its projects, it has a clear vision on which objectives have to be achieved in order to sow seeds of change. 

In light of this, the growing presence of technology has an undeniable impact in our lives and affects the way of living of each of us, citizens of the so-called digital era.

Therefore, on March 18th, our Secretary General Antonella Valmorbida actively joined the online event promoted by the Metropolitan City of Milan: Milano Digital Week, so that to share ALDA experience and vision in this realm. 

It comes by itself, that when discussing technology and digital tools one cannot forget to mention the APProach project. Lead by ALDA and in partnership with the city of Milan, APProach is a pilot project targeting European mobile citizens, i.e. EU citizens resident in another EU country, to help them have better communication with their welcoming city. Among the main project’s achievements, we have to mention the development of a digital ecosystem aimed to assist and support EU mobile citizens in getting acquainted with their new city and have access to fundamental services. Such a platform has been developed following a participative approach, thanks to the active participation of EU mobile citizens and our partner cities, namely Etterbeek (Belgium), Milan (Italy), Nea Smyrni (Greece), Paris (France), Vejle (Denmark), Lisbon (Portugal), Amsterdam (Netherlands) & Warsaw (Poland). (more in the project here).

“The development of democracy is the development of the city itself”

Entitled “APProach: European Citizens, digital and participation”, the Milano Digital Week panel took place virtually last Thursday. At the very beginning, Mr. Lipparini, Councillor for Participation, Active Citizenship, Open Data; together with Mr. Maurizio Molinari, Head of the European Parliament Office in Milan and Mrs. Roberta Cocco, Councillor for Digital Transformation and Civic Services gave their opening remarks, while highlighting the great example of the APProach project when discussing digitalisation on a broad scale.

Furthermore, Mrs. Emanuala Vita from the City of Milan also recalled the importance of dialogue among the six cities involved in the project,as well as citizens’ participation for the success of APProach. Similarly, Mr. Paolo Sabatini mentioned how the European motto “united in diversity” is an inspiring guide in making the lives of the many internationals in Milan more accessible: the city is boosting the digitalisation of services so that to be closer to its citizens.

Finally, this event served as a great platform for sharing ideas, perceptions and experiences on the relationship among city, citizens and local realities. As mentioned by ALDA Secretary General, is it important to underline that “the development of democracy is the development of the city itself and as well as its participation”. These three aspects are interrelated and as shown by the APProach project, being part of the city may be facilitated by the digital tools. This is why such projects are today essential for the development of an active and participatory society.

Precious food for thought was also given by:

  • Anna Lisa Boni (Segretaria generale di EUROCITIES)
  • Leda Guidi (Fondazione Innovazione Urbana Bologna)
  • Edoardo Montenegro (Creative Business Cup)
  • Jacopo Rangone (PC4U)

To watch the online event click here (italian only)

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On the 5th, 11th and 25th of March 2021, the European project APProach has hosted 3 webinars and invited great speakers and experts to have interesting and enriching debates on citizenship, the impact of COVID19 on digital tools, new forms of civic participation as e-voting and the place of civic participation in this digital era.

Thank you to all the participants and the panelists: Simon Delakorda, Director – Institute for Electronic Participation; Edoardo Guglielmetti, Adviser urban development – Brussels Commissioner for Europe and International Organizations; Jean-François Maljean, Chef de Projet – Contrat de Quartier Durable – Municipality of Etterbeek (Administration communale Etterbeek); Dr. W. Lewis Johnson, Chairman of the Board, CEO and Co-Founder – Alelo;  Vincent Morel, DSIN /STIN – Municipality of Paris (Ville de Paris); Francesco Pala, Head of the Secretary General Department – European Association for Local Democracy; Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General – European Association for Local Democracy; Daniela Vancic, European Programme Manager – Democracy International; Emanuela Vita, Project coordinator – Municipality of Milan (Comune di Milano)

A 3-day event of great debates and discussions for the final conference of the APProach project

Were you not able to participate in the webinars? Do you want to re-watch the webinars? The webinars will be available online on the  Facebook page of the APProach project and on the Facebook and Youtube account of ALDA.

***

Starting in April 2018, the APProach project is co-funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme, aiming to facilitate the circulation of information towards EU mobile citizens for them to effectively exercise their rights in their welcoming city. The APProach project is working to fill an existing gap that limits the exercises of citizens’ civic rights by co-creating an online platform, the APProach platform. This digital ecosystem was designed with the active participation of EU mobile citizens and our partner cities: Etterbeek (Belgium), Milan (Italy), Nea Smyrni (Greece), Paris (France), Vejle (Denmark), Lisbon (Portugal), Amsterdam (Netherlands) & Warsaw (Poland).

For more information about the APProach project

Contact email: approachproject@aldaintranet.org 

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In a period of great challenges and new global orders, some of the oldest questions for humanity come back to our mind: “where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?”

Especially the last inquiry is a fundamental one: What is our future going to be? And more specifically, concerning the European Union: how the future of Europe will be, and how to shape it?  

The Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) has a specific and strategic function in answering those questions and in building up our further steps. 

As also recalled in the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, in light of the impressive number of citizens voting in the 2019 European election (more than 200 million), the message is pretty clear: Europeans are asking for greater participation and want a more active role in shaping the European Union’s future. Thus, the CoFoE has to be the perfect occasion to allow citizens to be part of it, to be – in other words – actively involved. 

So far, the agenda of the Conference is everything but empty, hence is already full of crucial issues such as: fight against climate change, an economy that works for people, promotion of EU values, social fairness, equality and inclusiveness, as well as institutional matters related to the democratic process and the establishment of transnational lists for elections.

In order to reach sustainable, effective and long-lasting  goals, having citizens involved is extremely important

It comes every time clearer that, in order to reach sustainable, effective and long-lasting  goals, having citizens involved is extremely important, and in this sense the Civil Society Convention on the Future of Europe plays a fundamental role. As already mentioned in our previous news (here), ALDA has been not only actively involved since the very beginning, but it has also been an unresting promoter and key actor in joining the Civil Society Convention. Hence, Civil Society Europe, in cooperation with pan-Europeans organisations and associations and ALDA among those, is “working towards regenerating the European project around the shared values of Equality, Solidarity, Inclusiveness and Democracy”,  aiming at making the above-mentioned Convention into “the civil society interlocutor for the EU institutions”. Clearly, this happens at the right moment and it is perfectly responding to the overall intentions of the Commission to encourage a stronger partnership between European policy-makers and European civil society. 

Once again, ALDA is very honoured to be part of this great moment of change, taking actions for the best of Europe’s future, by making its long-lasting expertise at disposal, while being inspired by the European Commission contribution.

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This February – from 22nd to 26th – ALDA joined the “The Nature of Cities” – a virtual festival to engage stakeholders from the whole globe into  discussions on the future of our cities, as more sustainable, fair and just places to live.

During the myriad of workshops and roundtable sessions, participants had the chance to listen to great speakers tackling different topics: from ecosystem to urban nature and economic growth; and from strategies to raise awareness and help city governments, to the impact of Natural based solution on health.

“There is a need to build up awareness among our communities as far as this topic concerns”

Within the framework of our project METRO ADAPT (Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Measures in the Metropolitan City of Milan) , ALDA played an active role in the festival. More precisely, our Secretary General – Antonella Valmorbida – together with Mary Rowe – President of the Canadian Urban Institute, got virtually together in the session “Participation, Local Democracy and Sustainable Cities” to talk about the role of local communities as key actors for cities and urban areas’ sustainability. This webinar not only was a fruitful occasion of sharing; but it also served as good food for thoughts. Hence, as suggested by our Secretary General, “there is a need to build up awareness among our communities as far as this topic concerns”. Furthermore, our project manager Marta Arosio actively contributed, giving sharp hints during her “micro-talks” on “enhancing climate change adaptation strategies and measures” referring especially to the Metropolitan City of Milan.

The TNOC Festival was organised all around the globe, in different languages so that to allow participants to fully embrace this experience. Art workshops, virtual field tours have been specifically designed for this occasion, also encouraging the use of imagination to shape the cities of the future. A virtual “city of future” has been created, so that people could meet online with the event organisers; talk to each other, while walking around the imaginary city.

Read more about the Metro Adapt within the Festival

To walk around the city, please visit: Topia

To know more about the Festival, visit: The Nature of Cities Festival website

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The just-ended year marked the 30th anniversary of the EU cooperation programme “Interreg”, after five programming periods, hundreds of projects implemented and changes in the life of over 170 million European Citizens. But what does it stand for? Well, the whole name would be “European Territorial Co-operation” but among Europeans, everyone calls it “Interreg” and is one of the fundamental instruments that the Union has in order to support cross-border cooperation for tackling common challenges, while working together to find common solutions.

Projects developed within “Interreg” are targeted to promote cooperation in different fields: from sustainable energy and environment to research, health and sport. Going a little bit further in details, “Interreg” has three main types of projects: cross border, transnational and interregional. It also represented one of the two goals of the EU Cohesion Policy for the programming period 2014-2020, and it aims to tackle three main goals for EU research and innovation policy, summarised as Open Innovation, Open Science and Open to the World in the next programming period.

Projects developed within “Interreg” are targeted to promote cooperation in different fields: from sustainable energy and environment to research, health and sport

To celebrate this important anniversary, “Interreg” has focused on three main topics neighbours, green and youth. Especially latter’s ideas have been collected in the Manifesto for Young People by Young People to Shape the European Cooperation Policy. This work illustrates perceptions as well as expectations that young people have when talking about European Territorial Cooperation.  

From a general perspective, young people express five main concerns and will:

  1. Equal opportunities to learn;
  2. fair access to decent employment opportunities;
  3. more digitally attractive access to information;
  4. serious actions on climate change implemented by Local Authorities 
  5. involvement in the decision making processes

Building up on these five key messages, Interreg strategies can be adapted, for example:

  1. Offering intercultural learning opportunities;
  2. Helping in spreading job opportunities across borders;
  3. Using more youth-oriented calls
  4. Prioritizing online meeting to physical ones so that to reduce CO2 emissions 
  5. Financing “people-to-people” projects

If you want to know more about it, check this news weekly! We are going to find out more about them step by step.

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Great news from Kutaisi “the city of roses”

We are delighted to hear that Mr. Ioseb Khakhaleishvili, who has been our delegate from LDA Georgia, has been elected as major of Kutaisi.

Last week ALDA, together with Governing Board Member Ms. Shorena Khukhua, met Mr. Khakhaleishvili to congratulate him on this great new position.

Sharing stories of success and reciprocity

ALDA has always had a great and long-lasting cooperation with the city of Kutaisi, and we are more than motivated and glad to keep on working together, while sharing stories of success and reciprocity.

We wish him best of luck and we are looking forward for future projects together.

If you are willing to know more about the promotion of local democracy in Georgia, please visit  LDA Georgia

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From the 22nd to the 26th of February 2021, Metro Adapt joined The Nature of Cities Festival, a virtual festival that engaged 2300 people from 72 countries. 18 plenaries, 180 seed sessions and field trips engaged stakeholders from the whole globe into discussions on the future of our cities.

The Metro Adapt project joined the international event as one of the main co-organizers, proposing a wide variety of activities and sessions, disseminating the project results and generated knowledge and establishing linkages and synergies with stakeholders from all over the world. Participants were able to visit Metro Adapt exhibitor booth, where it was possible to consult the project outputs and information, interacting and learning with the project partners.

This has been our line-up within the Festival:

  • February 23rd at 10.15 CET Metro Adapt organized the first workshop
  • February 24th at 10.15 CET Metro Adapt organized a second session “Nature Based Solutions in urban areas: a virtual field trip in the Milan Metropolitan Area”.
  • February 24th at 15.20 CET, the conversation, during a Plenary session, “Participation, Local Democracy, and Sustainable Cities” between Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA’s Secretary General, and Mary Rowe, President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute.
  • February 25th at 15.30 CET Metro Adapt organized a third session “Covenant of Mayors: The Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan in Metropolitan Areas”. Workshop released in Italian.
  • February 25th at 18.00 CET, the last Metro Adapt session “Science Communication through theatre and the arts: The example of Pale Blue Dot” a talk with Andrea Brunello, actor and Director.

All sessions have been very participative and with full engagement

All sessions have been very participative and with full engagement. The first workshop, “Nature Based Solutions as a mean to boost urban climate change adaptation” created a space of dialogue among the key stakeholders which could be potentially involved in the implementation of sustainable strategies to limit the impact of climate change. The workshop counted on the participation of Goncalo Canto Moniz, project coordinator of the Horizon 2020 URBINAT Project, who shared the project generated knowledge about nature-based solutions benefits and social, economic and environmental challenges.

On the following day, participants had the chance to travel 360° inside the Metro Adapt project using a google earth map, with a focus on the pilot interventions implemented in Masate and Solaro municipalities. On February 24th at 15.20 CET, ALDA’s Secretary General – Antonella Valmorbida – together with Mary Rowe – President of the Canadian Urban Institute, got virtually together in the session “Participation, Local Democracy and Sustainable Cities” during a Festival’s Plenary session to talk about the role of local communities as key actors for cities and urban areas’ sustainability. The following day, Metro Adapt organized a third session “Covenant of Mayors: The Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan in Metropolitan Areas”. The workshop was released in Italian and it was the occasion for a positive exchange of ideas and reflections between representatives of different metropolitan areas about the implementation of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP).

The last Metro Adapt session “Science Communication through theatre and the arts: The example of Pale Blue Dot” took place on February 25th. The workshop was joined by Andrea Brunello actor and director from Arditodesio Theatre Company who talked about the Pale Blue Dot show, a production by the Jet Propulsion Theatre that aims at spreading the message about climate change through theatre and art. During the session, participants had the chance to interact with the director, asking questions about the show, reactions from the public and further projects of the company related to the connection of scientific data and theatre.

Thanks to everyone who joined us!

Read more on Participation, Local Democracy and Sustainable Cities event

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ALDA interviewed the Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

ALDA interviewed Mr. Andreas Kiefer – Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe – earlier this week. It goes without saying that this online exchange was of great interest, and inspired us to pursue our mission and daily commitment in supporting citizens’ participation and local democracies.

Those more familiar with our world will notice, by reading this interview, how many common key aspects and guidelines there are between the work of the Congress and the one of ALDA. Not surprisingly, given that ALDA is an emanation of the Council of Europe (CoE) itself, and its mission in supporting citizens’ initiatives and local authorities can be anything but far from CoE’s activities and consequentially also from Congress’ commitments.

At the outset of the conversation, Mr. Kiefer gave us a general overview on the role of the Congress. The latter is based on five main pillars: from being a forum of exchange and discussion among members; to having a consultative and advisory role for the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Furthermore, the  Congress has  a monitoring function for the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in the 47 member states, including citizens’ participation and  observation of local and regional elections. On a more practical side, the Congress acts as an operational secretariat on the ground, implementing concrete projects: a shared aspect with ALDA’s work. Finally, the Congress contributes to the distribution of Council of Europe policies and campaigns, like on gender equality, preventing corruption, and promoting ethical behaviours, among others.

Going deeper into the Congress’ strategic plan for 2021, Mr. Kiefer explained five further areas to be discussed later this year. All of them have a key word in common: society. In fact, the latter has been tackled from different angles so that to respond to its complexity and multiple dimensions. Beginning with resilient societies, the will is to define concrete and effective responses to the current crisis, while also drawing lessons for the future. In addition, the present situation has – to some extent – made inequalities come to the surface, highlighting how essential is the need of creating more cohesive societies. Moreover, the Congress has noticed how, in order to have a higher impact in facing inequality, local authorises have to be included into the policy-making process: from analysis, to drafting and implantation.

The Congress is working in order to safeguard the “quality of representative democracy and citizens participation”, spurring also for a further development of an education to democratic citizenship

Moving towards another facet of society; during the last couple of years especially, underlined Mr Kiefer, we have been experiencing an increased awareness of environmental issues. In this way the Congress – within a multilateral approach of CoE – is also working towards the constitution of sustainable societies, encouraging people to take responsibilities, while working together to make an impact in this realm. In addition, considering the era of technology in which we are, the Congress is addressing its commitment to digital societies, proposing itself as a platform of exchange and support of local authorities within this sector, without forgetting to focus on the meaning that digitalisation has for the citizens as well. Mentioning citizens leads us to the fifth aspect: democratic societies. On that feature, the Congress is working in order to safeguard the “quality of representative democracy and citizens participation”, spurring also for a further development of an education to democratic citizenship.

Listening to Mr. Kiefer’s words one will easily notice how many common and recurring words there are also within the work of ALDA – be they democracy, resilience or citizens’ participation – guiding us daily, and linking us to the European level perspective.

Discussions about Europe go hand in hand with the ones concerning the European Neighbourhood. Thus, in the wake of the recent opening of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Ukraine, a country where we both are very active, Mr Kiefer cherished ALDA’s active role on the field and the Local Democracy Agencies’ grassroot actions in supporting local authorities and organisations in the decentralisation process.

Talking about the LDAs, and in line with ALDA’s plan to develop the network, we highly appreciated Mr Kiefer’s words saying that he, and the Congress “hope there will be future ones, [wishing] to extend our existing cooperation in the framework of what the Congress does, trying to get young people on board, trying to get women on board, trying to further involve the population”.

Finally, in the light of the new ALDA strategic views – which focus on achieving a full empowerment of local resilient communities in a long-lasting sustainable and inclusive way in the whole Europe and beyond, by strengthening the capacity of local authorities and the level of citizens participation – we asked the Secretary General about the Congress’ expectations and main plans for the involvement of the civil society in a sustainable development of communities.

First of all, Mr. Kiefer recalled the importance of the European Local Democracy Week as a forum of participatory democracy, while suggesting how “including citizens in taking responsibilities for their own activities but also to demand to put democratic pressure on those who have the responsibilities to decide” is fundamental. Then he illustrated the Congress’ plan to increase a proactive role of young generations in their initiatives, for example through the establishment of “Youth Delegates”, who participate in all  47 national delegations. In addition, special attention is given to children. The Congress is thus preparing a “handbook for children on how they can take their future into their hands and contribute to the discussion on sustainable development”. Last but not least, together with other actors within the Council of Europe, the Congress is working on a digital platform on which NGOs, regions and cities interested in participatory process can find useful information and inspiring good practices. As mentioned by Mr. Kiefer: “we think no theoretical concept can be as convincing as a good project that has been implemented with all the good and bad experiences made. […] This inclusive and concrete hands-on approach”, he further explained, “complements our political work”.

Thankful to Mr Kiefer and the whole Congress’ availability, ALDA is more motivated than ever to take up the challenges and proposals to increase our cooperation in Europe and its neighbourhood, strong of our shared values and also motivated by Mr. Kiefer’s final remarks: “the message was clear: yes, we are complementary; yes, we can work together. […] We are looking forward to continuing a very good cooperation”.

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Urban walking tour focusing on eco-museum/community museums

The House of Ivo Andric, the only Nobel Prize winner for Literature from Yugoslavia, is now available for visitors through a guided tour. As partner in charge for promotional activities, Local Democracy Agency Montenegro established partnership with one of the most prominent touristic agencies in Herceg Novi – Trend Travel, specialised in organising thematic tours in Herceg Novi and surroundings.

Tours start from Andric’s house: there, visitor can appreciate the permanent exhibition about his life, while getting more information on the house itself thanks to the electronic totem. Besides, they can also find out other Points of Interest within the eco-museum/community museums. The latter represent the cultural/historical, natural and immaterial heritage.

The “magic atmosphere” of Herceg Novi still inspire its citizens

The “magic atmosphere” of Herceg Novi that attracted the famous writer and his wife, as well as artists and creative people such as: Zuko Dzumhur; Branko Copic; Mihailo Lalic; Petar Lubarda and Vojo Stanic, still inspires the citizens of Herceg Novi to create beautiful things for the community and for the visitors. Being surrounded by culture, architecture, colourful nature, sea and mountains spurs people in crafting artistic products, paintings and handcrafts while producing great pieces of literature; without forgetting the culinary and sporting side.

This package is available as a two-hours guided walking tour, and will be promoted via social networks and, considering the COVID-19 situation, one can find on-line tourist fairs. In the upcoming future, the service will be offered via touristic sub-agents’ network and online.

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Intercultural dialogue is a powerful tool and it can be perceived as an instrument of prevention and conflict resolution. Besides, one may consider it as a process, through which communities, using history, the past and cultural heritage as key points, become able to get closer to each other.

Having that in mind, we have created this video to outline the importance of intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding for the development of the region.

It can be perceived as an instrument of prevention and conflict resolution

The video is intended to send a message as far as living together peacefully and constructively concerns without forgetting the multicultural world in which we are in. Finally it is also meant to develop a sense of community and belonging.

Watch the Video here

The video is financially supported by the Central European Initiative (CEI) and the Program Normandy for Peace of the Region Normandy.

DOCUMENTS

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Within the framework of the Project “Youth Empowerment for Local Democracy in Tunisia” (Autonomisation de la jeunesse pour construire une Démocratie locale en Tunisie) a set of three trainings have been organised in different cities of Tunisia.

The first one took place from 8th to 12th of February in Tabarka, in the governorate of Jendouba, while the second from 15th to 19th in Hammamet. In both cases two groups of 20 people got together to join the activities, and specifically for the one in Hammamet, participants came from the cities of Ezzahra and Bardo. The idea was to support them in becoming familiar with different tools such as design-thinking, project development, citizen mobilisation, and advocacy techniques. Finally, the third was organised in Mehdia, from February to 22th to 26th.

There are many issues at stake in the participation of young citizens at the local level

ALDA had a supporting role in delivering these trainings and while sharing its technical knowledge and expertise, also in light of the United Nations SDG number 11 on “Sustainable cities and communities”.  Finally, trainings have been organised together with the project leader “Tamkeen For Development”, an association which is working for the establishment of a civil society where young people and women will be able to free themselves financially and participate actively in the economic cycle.

From a general perspective, the overall aim of the project is to stimulate youth capacity-building so that young generations will be able to take part in the decision-making processes at local level. In fact, there are many issues at stake in the participation of young citizens at the local level. These include the involvement of young citizens in the development of their living environment and in the sustainable management of local communities.

Thus, three main results are expected  from this project. Starting from the identification of the needs of communities to the analysis of the participatory budgets of municipalities in the form of a social audit. Finally, participants will be able to be more responsive to the needs of the communities through the social innovation unit created in each municipality and to disseminate the principles of transparency, responsibility and accountability.

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The Balkan Network for Local Democracy – BNLD is launching its new project entitled “CSOs networking for better local democracy in the Balkans”. The 10 months project is designed to address the current status and development perspectives of local democracy in the Western Balkans countries. How to reach this am? By exchanging experience on evidence-based advocacy and monitoring EU integration and reform agenda involving 5 countries from North Macedonia, to Bosnia and Herzegovina; from Serbia to Albania, and from Kosovo* to Montenegro.

The idea is to set local and regional capacity building, awareness raising and networking actions

The project action aims to create regional cooperation among CSOs and to acquire knowledge for advancing active citizenship at a local level. Moreover, the idea is both to set local and regional capacity building, and to raise awareness, while spurring networking actions aiming to address the main challenges of the civil society in our region. The activities will include research and comparative analysis of present state legal framework, as far as citizens’ participation in policy and decision making at local level concerns. Furthermore, there will be also Regional Best Practice Fair as well as social media campaign and e- newsletter.

The main target groups of the project are BNLD members and its network partners in all Western Balkan countries, other regional CSO networks and CSOs promoting democratic governance and inclusive participation at local level.

This project “CSOs networking for better local democracy in the Balkans” is implemented within the Project “Protecting Civic Space – Regional Civil Society Development Hub” financed by SIDA and implemented by BCSDN.

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On the 2nd of March 2021, the kick off meeting of the Project PART-Y: Participation and Youth: Lab for Equal Cities took place online, followed by the first project activity on March 3rd!

The project, which is funded by the ERASMUS + Programme of the European Commission, is led by the Italian association Kallipolis, and it sees the participation of 7 project partners from France, Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Ireland and Sweden.

The project aims to trigger the participation in civic life of young people (13-20 years) by fostering their inclusion in the policy decision-making process and promoting the concept of “generation equality” introduced by the United Nations agency UN Women for equal opportunities among the youngest. The project intends to focus the attention of girls, boys and educators on the common spaces of the city as fundamental places of gathering and democracy, essential elements in their growth process.

The project intends to focus the attention of girls, boys and educators on the common spaces of the city as fundamental places of gathering and democracy, essential elements in their growth process

After the presentation of the project’s goals and activities and outputs, the participants to the event were able to take part in a virtual tour of two youth centres of Trieste and Koper, which will be at the core of the project’s activities.

Moreover, the 3rd of March the first project activity took place: the first Short Joint Staff Training! The participants had the opportunity to learn more about innovative communication with the expert Federica Manaigo. Last but not least, the partners shared their experiences and reflected on the concept of “placemaking” with the support of the international expert Cynthia Nikitin, directly connected from New York City.

The PART-Y Project is then off to a great start! Keep following it to know more about the next steps and activities!