After a long period of virtual contacts and meeting, ALDA Secretary General took the occasion to visit in person some key Western Balkan countries where ALDA is working.

Thus, on September 28^th, 2021, Antonella Valmorbida landed in Kosovo* where she arranged a meeting with the Ministry of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, and the deputy General Secretary in the Ministry, Trim Berisha  and other Minister’s councillors.

The main objective was to work on a concrete proposal to support good local governance in Kosovo*.

Bearing in mind the commitment of Kosovo* to achieve EU integration, the challenges of governance and local development, ALDA proposed to support the role of Local Authorities in the EU integration process, raise awareness among the local authorities and the central government about the importance of the local dimension in the integration process.

Meeting  M. Krasniqi to work on a concrete proposal to support good local governance in Kosovo*

Moreover, ALDA’s large European network can put in place advocacy activities for Kosovar local authorities towards EU institutions and other key stakeholders in Brussels.

Such a proposal is rooted in the major role ALDA has been playing in enhancing the capacity development of municipalities all over Europe. Thus, the delivery of capacity building for the good management of EU funds, the promotion of EU programmes, as well as needs assessment for the development of municipalities is among the priorities of this proposal.

The meeting concluded on an important not, underlying the prominence of cross-border cooperation as a fuel for local development and regional cooperation in the Balkans.

All in all, ALDA wants to bring new perspective and new visions in the Balkan region and put in place concrete tools to support local municipalities.

On September 30^th, 2021, another important institutional meeting took place in North Macedonia, in the premises of the Ministry.

Hence, Antonella Valmordiba – ALDA Secretary General, and Katica Janeva – ALDA Skopje Director and SEE Coordinator, and Emir Coric – Governing Board member, met Zoran Dimitrovski, Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government of North Macedonia.

The Ministry and ALDA have a long-standing history of cooperation, that started in 2007 at the occasion of the implementation of the project for decentralised cooperation between Normandy Region (France) and North Macedonia.  Thereafter, ALDA implemented numerous projects and activities in cooperation with local authorities and regional stakeholders, continuing the cooperation with the Ministry through different action and programmes.

Mr Dimitrovski and ALDA: focus on ALDA’s work in the field of local development and local democracy in North Macedonia

At first, the meeting with Mr Dimitrovski focused on ALDA’s work in the field of local development and local democracy in North Macedonia.

Then the discussion shifted toward EU enlargement and the role of the Local authorities in this process, as well as ALDA’s long and rich experience in assisting local authorities to be prepared for the EU accession.

In this vein, ALDA representatives presented the project ELoGE, supported by the Council of Europe, conceived to support municipalities to enhance their performance and provide high quality services in an improved system of local self-government. The project aims at contributing to activate different local authorities from North Macedonia in order to get the ELoGE accreditation at the Council of Europe, thus increasing the number of Municipalities awarded by the Label as a guarantee of good governance for all citizens in North Macedonia.

Crowdfunding: thanks to the project AVATAR  “Alto Vicentino Alliance for Networked Action”, it is now possible to participate in a unique training opportunity dedicated to associations, Civil Society organization and informal groups that have a project idea that could be financed through a crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding is a practice of grassroots micro-financing, a tool for fundraising and collective financing through digital platforms. Thanks to this tool it is possible to activate collaborative processes to support the work of your organisation, and learn how to communicate in the correct way online. This course offers three intense days of training and workshops to learn how to best use this increasingly important tool for the nonprofit world. Moreover, thanks to the practical workshop during the course it will be possible to build one’s own crowdfunding campaign in order to start putting into practice the notions acquired right away.

Crowdfunding free training! Register on the online form

The meetings will be held at the Palazzo Festari, in Corso Italia 63 in Valdagno (VI). In order to participate it is necessary to register on the online form, briefly describing the project idea that would be developed during the workshop.

Participants must demonstrate proof of vaccination or a negative covid test done within the previous 48 hours.

FIRST MEETING MON 25 OCTOBER h. 9:00 – 12:00

• Context
• What is crowdfunding
• Facts and figures on crowdfunding in Italy
• Co-design, CSR and Open Innovation
  

SECOND MEETING TUE 26 October h. 9:00 – 12:00

• How to communicate a crowdfunding campaign
• How to plan the communication
• How to support your crowdfunding campaign
• How to upload a project
  

THIRD MEETING WED 27 October h. 9:00 – 12:00

• Practical workshop, let’s work on your projects!

Lecturer:

Angelo Rindone

Considered one of the pioneers of Italian crowdfunding, he founded Produzioni dal Basso, the first Italian donation/reward crowdfunding platform, in 2005. Managing Director of Folkfunding srl Benefit, a leading company in Italy for the development of Crowd Economy strategies and tools that provides consultancy for crowd investing projects for the lending and equity market. He has overseen the development of several community platforms, including Intesa Sanpaolo’s Donation Platform, and developed CSR and Open Innovation projects for large Italian companies. Consultant on crowdfunding issues for Banca Bper and Banca Etica. Member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Equity Crowdfunding Association (AIEC) and lecturer for The FundRaising School of Aiccon and Sole24ore Business School.

December 29th, 2020 marked a crucial moment for millions of people in the area around Glina and Sisak. Thus, few minutes after midday an earthquake hit the two towns as well as the  the surrounding territory of epicentre, which was only 5 Km from Petrinja.

Being Sisak, the one of first seeds of the Association, the news left everybody speechless. In 1996, in fact, the third Local Democracy Agency (LDA) opened in the city, years before the creation of ALDA itself. It comes with itself that astonishment, disorentiation, and a sense of helplessness spread around ALDA’s offices soon after having received the news.

Yet, one question remains. How is the situation after 9 months?

Unfortunately, much is still to be done, the going is heavy and reconstruction is far from being completed. Sadly, several buildings and Municipal premises are unsafe for normal use, leading to a shortage of working spaces. More concrete, it took 4 months for LDA Sisak, and other organisations, to find suitable offices.

LDA Sisak launched a dedicated crowdfunding campaign in order to raise funds to be invested in the development of the two centers

From a general perspective, emergency measures are still in place and the situation is chaotic. Nonetheless, with a great spirit of solidarity and initiative, LDA Sisak with other organisations started a joint campaign to build a new Social-cultural Centres. Similarly, this initiative is also replicated in Petrinja.

While waiting for fundings, containers have been placed in each town, serving as a temporary spot for the Social-cultural Centres. A dedicated crowdfunding campaign has been launched in order to raise funds to be invested in the development of the two centers. Why social-cultural centres, then? Besides primary needs, it is essential to provide meeting spaces, allowing people to gather, to talk, to engage in volunteering activities and much more. Considering the circumstances it is believed that supporting citizens and local realities with cultural initiatives is essential for the well-being of the communities.

ALDA is very much committed to concretely support this initiative, and invites everyone to take part in it too. For any further information please read the LDA Sisak article

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Useful information:

• Projects dealing with the social-cultural center
• Campaign Facebook Page
• Link with the instructions how to donate, including bank transfers

ALDA Secretary General – Antonella Valmorbida – together with Katica Janeva – Director of ALDA Skopje office and South Eastern Europe Coordinator – visited Kosovo* and North Macedonia on an institutional mission, from September 27th until 30th. Several meetings and events on the agenda, one of which with Emir Coric, ALDA Governing Board Member.

Yet, before proceeding, a few primary remarks are needed. From a general perspective, with no doubt ALDA is considered a stable and strategic partner for members and stakeholders in the region, in view of the operational office in Skopje, the 8 Local Democracy Agencies and the over 40 members ALDA counts in the area. Last but not least, ALDA is also among the founders of the Balkan Network for Local Democracy (BNLD), since 2019.

Having that in mind, on September 29th,  Ms. Valmorbida together with Ms. Janeva had a meeting with Emir Coric, ALDA Governing Board Member (GB), and representative of the Municipality of Centar, in Nord Macedonia. Considering the great and fruitful relation among ALDA and its GB Members, this occasion of sharing and dialogue has been as positive and stimulating as expected. Thus, key issues were discussed, especially as far as ALDA’s new strategy and vision with members in the Balkan Region concerns.

Mr. Coric, Governing Board Member, stressed that the “Association’s priorities for the Region has to be translated into decentralization, subsidiarity and interaction with citizens”

More in depth, larger discussion about ALDA’s initiatives to support regional cooperation and EU integration processes in the Region was at the heart of the matter. Hence, promoting  local democracy and citizens’ participation as a precondition for local sustainable development is essential in ALDA’s work and engagement in the Balkan areas. 

Moreover, the positive examples of:

• “Link4Cooperation” the project is based on the ELoGE principle; 
• “VALID” – a Europe for Citizens project, lead by Municipality of Peja; and 
• “DAFLS” – ERASMUS+ project with University Caen, University of Skopje and University of Belgrade

clearly testify the great and positive impacts that ALDA, and its members, have in the area. Thus, as also stressed by Mr. Coric, “the Association’s priorities for the Region has to be translated into decentralization, subsidiarity and interaction with citizens”. 

Overall, the meeting has served not only as a great occasion for discussing together the future of the Association in the Balkan Region, but also to see each other in person, spending valuable time together.

From the 24th to the 26th of September, the municipality of Lavarone welcomed European partners of the project DESIRE and the Rude Awakening. 

→ The Rude Awakening project is ending on a high note. 

We are glad to have been able to meet even if it was for the first and last time in the framework of the project. Indeed the project started in January 2019 and 2 months after the World health crisis started. The project has been run in an online mode. Today, all the partners are happy to have collaborated together to create a great tool: a video game. 

→ A good start for the DESIRE project 

It was the first time for the partners to meet together face-to-face and share the local activities already done. On this occasion, the project website has been presented to all the partners. Now, all the information regarding the project is gathered in one website. Discover the DESIRE website soon! Keep it posted.

This international event was the opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices among the partners of both projects. It was a time of exchange and of learning from each other.

Partners of The Rude Awakening and Desire together in Lavarone

→ About the DESIRE project

DEclaration of Schuman: Initiative for Revitalizing Europe (DESIRE) is a Europe for Citizens funded project. The project aims to raise people and especially youth’s awareness on the historical importance and the meaning of the Declaration of Schuman for the EU. The objective is to actively involve youth in approaching history in a proactive way. Through the co-creation of artistic tools, as videos, theatre, games, audio narratives, partners will accompany groups of youth citizens in re-discovering history and in debating on EU values as intercultural dialogue, peace and solidarity. The consortium is leading by Comune di Lavarone (Italy) and composed by Fondazione Belvedere-Gschwent (Italy), Union of bulgarian black sea local authorities (Bulgaria), Municipio de Valongo (Portugal), Danube 1245 (Serbia), Zdruzenie Institut za razvoj na zaednicata (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Administration Communale de Grez-Doiceau (Belgium), Fundacio de la Comunitat Valencia de Patrimoni Insdustrial i (Spain), Kulturni centar Osijek (Croatia), ALDA (France).

→ About “The Rude Awakening” project

“The Rude Awakening – a multimedia journey in the footsteps of frontline soldiers’ everyday life”, is a European project that aims to raise the awareness and interest of younger generations (between 13 to 20 years old) on the topic of war and peace. With the support of digital and audiovisual contents based on the stories of WWI soldiers, “The Rude Awakening” wants to lead a new educational and emotional perspective on war and peace, whereby visitors will learn by doing as they fill the shoes of a soldier all along the museum visit, thus better understanding war memories and soldier life thanks to technology. It’s a co-funded project by the European Union MEDIA programme, a sub-programme of Creative Europe, which gathered Fondazione Belvedere-Gschwent as the lead partner, and as project partners: Comune di Lavarone, ALDA, 101 Percento, Mémoire pour la vie, Gornjesavski Muzej Jesenice, Danube Connect, World of NGOs and the Macedonian Center of Photography. 

For more information on the project and how to join it, please contact the artistic Director, Mr Renzo Carbonera: progetti@fortebelvedere.org

In October 2021, ALDA Secretary General – Antonella Valmorbida – will join the second Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF). Organised by the ALDA Member Marmara Municipalities Union, the event gathers experts and professionals from all over the world to discuss the necessity of rethinking the urban space and policies in the aftermath of COVID-19.

In lights of  recents events, such as the health crisis and forced migration, reconsidering the urban spaces, reflecting on the cities in relation to their people and communities are crucial aspects that need to be discussed at international level. Therefore, based on the six axes, which are “healthy,” “inclusive,” innovative,” “resilient,” “sustainable,” and “creative” cities, Marmara Urban Forum will serve as a platform of mutual learning and exchange of knowledge on these important issues.

Register to MARUF 21

Entitled “Cities Developing Solutions: Re-Think, Co-Act”, and in line with the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the forum is addressing daily issues from  climate change and local development; to public health and infrastructure. Over 90 partners – be they international organisations, universities, NGOs – will join the second edition of MARUF. Just to mention a few, together with ALDA, also UN-Habitat, the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Energy Cities, CDP, WRI, UNDP will be present at the event.

Ms. Valmorbida, as been invited as keynote speakers in two different sessions.

Beginning on October 1st (15.00 UCT+3), the first discussion she will join in entitled: « City Networks: Keep calm and meet globally« .
Sitting with her at the virtual table:

1. Anna Lisa Boni, Secretary General, EUROCITIES
2. Floriane Cappelletti, Communications&Overall Coordination, Energy Cities
3. Júlia López Ventura, European Regional Director, C40
4. Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS

Moreover, with a special focus on “Local Administration Reform Project III” – (LAR III), Antonella Valmorbida will also participate at the session taking place on October 3rd at 14.30 (UCT+3), together with:

• Neslihan Yumukoğlu – Project Manager, Local Administration Reform Phase III Project, UNDP
• Metehan Gültaşlı – Senior Expert, LAR-3 Project, UNDP
• Erbay Arıkboğa – Prof., Faculty of Political Sciences, Marmara University
• Muhittin Acar – Prof., Political Science and Public Administration, Hacettepe University
• Hüseyin Gül – Prof., Political Science and Public Administration, Süleyman Demirel University

ALDA is very much glad to be part of this great initiative, while sharing its expertise and knowledge with other stakeholders. 

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To register MARUF21: https://www.marmaraurbanforum.org/kayit
For more information on MARUF21: www.marmaraurbanforum.org

ALDA colleague Morgane Egerton has been participating in the event “European Meetings on Participation – Inventing together the democracy of tomorrow”

The five day event, which took place all over the city of Amiens (France) for the first three days and held online for the last two, was a sizable gathering of many different people. Every day was filled with various activities, like workshops, tours and talks, that functioned as learning experiences as well as moments to socialise and network, all in the name of citizen participation. Participants were encouraged to choose from an array of possibilities to fill their day with as many informative and constructive opportunities as they wished.

In Amiens, inventing together the democracy of tomorrow

The main focus that brought everyone together was the one sentence at the heart of the event  «Imaginer ensemble la démocratie de demain».

During the three days of in-person debates on citizen participation, many speakers – coming from different structures – were able to share their ideas, opinions on different topics linked to the main focus, and thus provided an opportunity for all participants to reflect on their own practices, learn and share new and more effective ones and then bring that knowledge home.

Thanks to Morgane’s participation in this event, ALDA is certain that learning about this amazing experience from her will be greatly beneficial to our cause and future plans concerning citizen participation.