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The local governments of the South East Europe countries want to be involved in a realistic roadmap of integration.

In a declaration signed on the 10th of March, mayors and elected representatives of the local and regional governments of south-east Europe, meeting in occasion of NEXPO, the NALAS international Municipal Fair, that was held in Sarajevo, ask the EU to include the local government dimension in its strategic and operational planning for EU enlargement, and to involve them, in particular via their national associations, in relevant consultation and dialogue.

“Countries and people of South East Europe – says the declaration – need to take their proper place very soon, within the European Union. This will mark another major step towards unifying our continent and thereby enhancing our common goals of peace, stability and sustainable prosperity”.
But to maintain the prospect of EU membership a credible attractive for the citizens, the EU needs to set out a clear, realistic target timetable and roadmap for each State, taking its situation into due account, also on the basis that the necessary steps must be taken in a timely manner to fulfill the criteria for membership, and each country needs to take all necessary steps with each level of government playing its part, the mayors say.

“At present – the declaration underlines – it seems as if the EU’s institutions are under-estimating the essential role of the region’s local governments in preparing for EU integration”.
On the basis of these considerations, in their document mayors and representatives call on the EU’s Institutions to include the local government dimension in its strategic and operational planning for EU enlargement, to involve them in relevant consultations and dialogue and to ensure that relevant accession-related financing programmes are available to assist local government in preparing for accession and achieving a high quality development.
Mayors and representatives ask their national governments to complete and adequate the processes of decentralisation, with the transfer of the necessary competences, financial and human resources, involving local government associations at all stages in the processes of decentralisation, financial decision-making and preparation for EU membership.

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With three days of exhibitions, debates and concerts, the city of Brindisi has commemorated the first landing of Albanian citizens fleeing towards freedom. From 11th to 13th of March was held the exhibition “The hospitable city: Albania – Brindisi twenty years later“.
It was March 7th, in 1991, when thousands of Albanians fleeing from a country devastated by a severe economic and political crisis landed in the port of Brindisi.

Twenty years have passed and the city of Brindisi recovered the memory of this historical page, still current.
The program, developed through an extensive course of action, has decreased the city in an atmosphere of reflection and commemoration. Moments of entertainment and discussion, including art installations, events of the narrative, allegorical band marches through the streets of the historic center, documentaries and special interest, conference-seminar on immigration and the concert of an artist of great appeal, have read, with the lens of history, those days of March that shook nationally and internationally the public attention.

“The City hospitable” proposed to rediscover a dramatic period in the history of the Balkan country and also the great welcome offered by citizens and institutions in Brindisi, which was able to alleviate the suffering of countless lives embarked on an adventurous journey, revealing an extraordinary spirit of cohesion.

Twenty years later, today those people are integrated and vital into the civil society of the city.

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On April 5th and 6th, 2011 the Association of European Regions (AER) will hold its Second Black Sea Regional Policy Conference in Batumi, Adjara, Georgia.
The objectives of the conference are to: raise awareness about current political discussions on the Black Sea, inform about possibilities of interregional cooperation in the framework of EU programmes and develop first joint projects of interregional cooperation in the Black Sea area.

As far as the Expected Outcomes are concerned, they are:
Intelligence gathering: Latest information on European policies in the Black Sea area
Networking and finding new partners;
Concrete project proposals which can be submitted to the EU – CBC Black Sea programme.
The working languages at the conference will be: English, French, German, Turkish and Georgian. Registration for the conference is open until March 18, 2011.
Please find more information about the conference, the agenda and registration form here: http://www.aer.eu/events/standing-committee-on-institutional-affairs/2011/second-aer-black-sea-regional-policy-conference.html

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The members of the Governing Board of Asael, the Association of municipalities of Aragon Region (Spain) that was dissolved in late 2009 swept away by a scandal, former President Jesus Alone in the head, will be liable personally for debts left.
ALDA, with its other partners, decided to take legal action on the basis of the Spanish Law on Associations (the “Ley Organica 1 / 2002, de 22 de marzo, reguladora del Derecho de Asociacion).
“We are forced to choose the legal way -said Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA-because all our efforts to resolve the issue amicably have not been successful. The Aragon institutions we questioned, as Asael was an association of local authorities, ignored our calls or answered that the issue does not concern them. A rubber wall has been raised around Asael and its administrators that were all mayors of Aragon towns”.

But the Spanish Law on Associations is clear and says that administrators are responsible of debts of their Association debts, caused by malicious reasons, and also for culpable negligence, and that they have to pay with their personal assets.
“It’s clear-stated the Director of Alda, AntonellaValmorbida- that during the Sol management of Asael, in recent years none of the administrators has exercised effective control, to avoid accumulating debts and that European funds were not used for the purpose for which they were assigned to Asael, to support project activities”.

The projects were developed in the years 2008-2009 and were Bandair, Emanzipar and Eclau. The other ALDA members partners of the project managed by Asael were the province of Reggio Emilia (Italy), the City of Bydgoszcz (Poland), Baltisfem (Lithuania), the Local Councils’ Association, Association of Municipalities (Malta), the Institute of Enterpreneurship, an NGO (Greece), the Association for the development of mountain communities (Bulgaria).
The credit of ALDA and its partners amounts around to 115.000 (ALDA 30,180, City of Bydgoszcz 31,000, Baltifem, 24,000, Institute of Enterpreuneurship, 9,700, Province of Reggio Emilia 9,000, Association for Development of Mountain Municipalities, 9,000, Local Councils’Association, 1,800).
This is an amount of money that Asael has to pay to its partners for activities under the project, personal taxes, social contributions. Some of them could have lots of serious financial difficulties if they will not be paid.

“We believe that the situation has been largely overlooked bye very one here in Aragon – still says the Director of ALDA, Antonella Valmorbida – by the risk that it may have in relations with the European Community. The Commission’s representative office in Madrid is aware of what happened and shares our position. TheCommission’s anti-fraud office is investigating possible embezzlement of which has been discussed in newspapers in the region. We are willing to go all the way to guarantee our rights, and we believe that it’ll be hard that any other European project could have partners entities such as the Aragonese Famcp, one of which vice president is the current President of Asael, whose responsibilities, if not for Sol’s management facts, is now due to elude any response.”

Asael’s former partners do not understand how institutions and political forces in Aragon do not exercise all is in their power to success fully resolve the issue, which also includes former employees of Asael remained without payment.

“We know that the former president of Asael, JesusSol, was very close to the President of PAR, Jose Angel Biel, who is vice president and spokesman of the regional government, and that the majority of members of Municipality member of Asael were led by mayors of the PAR. Can the PAR, which will celebrate its congress in the next days – still says Antonella Valmorbida – ignore the moral issue internally? And do the other parties in government and in the opposition not have the heart to safeguard the image of the region of Aragon in Europe? And how do they believe that, at the upcoming May elections, they can nominate again those outgoing mayors responsible for this failure?”

These are questions which the public of the region should demand answers, because the ethics of elected representatives and the institutions they governed has been called into question.

“We regret being forced to give public evidence of this situation – concluded the Director of ALDA, AntonellaValmorbida-but silence would be complicit in unlawful conduct. And we are even more regretful for the thirty years of history of Asael, its efficient staff and the president himself Sol, who we always had, until these facts have emerged, a very good account on. Asael was our partner and Sol was a member of our Board. It’s a real shame that things have had this outcome.”

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To promote citizens’ participation in the construction of a tighter-knit, democratic, world-oriented and united Europe, tackling the challenge of immigration as an “opportunity” to develop active citizenship and sense of ownership of the EU, whilst enhancing tolerance, solidarity and mutual understanding.
These are the objectives of GOAL (Granting Opportunities for Active Learning) – an ALDA project whose first activity is taking place in Strasbourg (8th-10th March).

This activity mainly consists of a Training Course addressed to Citizens’ Panels Activators, those people who will be in charge of setting up the local citizens’ panels on immigration that are the crucial point of the project. During the training, methods and contents of the future panels will be discussed.
The first steering committee meeting of the project also takes place during these days.
Immigration and immigrants’ participation represent vivid issues at the EU level and particularly affect citizen’s daily life in the addressed countries.

The project presents a set of activities that allow citizens the chance to interact – both at the local and at the European level – and offers them the occasion to “work” together towards a common aim.
GOAL specific aim is to further improve the methodology of “citizens’ panels” adding the “component” of immigration.
It represents an unbiased platform where citizens and other stakeholders gather information (with a bottom-up approach), debate, collect individual and collective opinions, formulate their views (duly guided and supported) and draft them in the form of recommendations for policy makers at the European level in the field of “immigration”.

The ACTION foresees 9 steps, having an impact both at the local and at the European level. Following the partnership building phase and the selection of the theme, the process is planned as follows: 1. Training for citizens’ panels activators 2. Set-up of local citizens’ panels 3. Local workshops 4. International meeting of citizens’ panels 5. Open days at the local level 6. Production phase 7. International final workshop 8. Final publication 9. Evaluation and follow-up.

The partners of the project are civil society organisations, local and regional authorities and associations of local authorities coming from 6 different countries, old and new EU Member States and pre-accession countries, where immigration represents one of the most vivid issues on the national and European agenda.

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A delegation of elected representatives, staff from local authorities and professional managers from Türkiye, participated from the 20th to the 27th of February 2011 at the study visit in England “Local Governments in Europe: responsibilities, competencies and management”, organised by ALDA and UNDP.
The visit sought an interactive approach of the relation between European Union’s Local Authorities and Turkish ones providing to the Turkish participants a view over the local administrative framework of EU countries.

The aim of the project was to train the civil servants and engage them into a critic, positive dialogue with several European local and regional authorities thus strengthening their capacity to implement the administrative reform and a new legislation.
The activity designed was that of a study tour to England (Birmingham-Wolverhampton-South Staffordshire District-Bristol-London) enabling the participants to gain a first experience of European best practices in local self-government through meetings with their European counterparts and seminars on specific topics. Through this project, eight Turkish selected local authorities were subject to increase their capacity and vision in terms of knowledge and good practices. The Turkish local Authorities involved are: Trabzon Special Provincial Administration, Sanliurfa Special Provincial Administration, Nazilli District Municipality, Bandirma District Municipality, Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, Polatli District Municipality, Nilufer District Municipality.

More specifically, United Kingdom International Study Tour was planned to support activities on improvement of land development and planning services in local government and support simplification of approval processes of construction and occupancy licences.
The project was characterised by field visits to Municipalities (Birmingham and Wolverhampton City Councils) with ranging scales, relevant institutions in planning and licenses (the Royal Town Planning Institute, RTPI and the Local Authorities Building Controllers, (LABC) and on site observations. In addition to this, trainers from different EU member countries (Sweden with SALAR, France with AFCCRE and Italy with IPRES) delivered presentations on their national systems.

The first day of the study tour began with a field visit to Birmingham City Council and, especially with the welcoming of Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Director, and the Deputy Lord Mayor of the city, Councillor Michael Wilkes. After the introductory meeting, Sir Albert Bore, representative of LGA – Local Governments Authorities and former President of the Committee of the Regions, delivered a presentation on “Local Government Relationship and Involvement with the European Union”. The delegation was hosted by Wolverhampton City Council and it was welcomed by Cllr Roger Lawrence, member of ALDA’s Bureau.

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An Europe closer to its citizens and able to ensure them real opportunities to improve their life.
This is the need stressed by the participants to the project E-Panels, promoted by ALDA.
In all the discussions implemented on the different national forums and on the final conference, that was held in Zagreb (HR) is possible to extrapolate some really interesting recommendations for the European policy makers.

First of all, in most of the forums was highlighted the need to bring the EU institutions more closer to the citizens through a better dissemination of the information about EU, European citizen rights and opportunities for its citizens.
Programmes addressing youth and youth unemployment, moving resources from the military expenses to key sectors as education, industry and agriculture, strengthen minorities rights and to respect ethnic and religious groups, more educational and mobility opportunities for youths in order to improve their skill to face the difficult situation of the labour market, protecting the environment, are the main needs expressed.

The project “e-panels: fostering citizens’ participation and volunteering in a wider Europe” was designed to address the issue of bridging the gap between citizens and the European Union in an innovative way. Bringing theEU closer to the citizens is one of the biggest challenges the EU is facing today. The need to promote and explain the “European project” to citizens, but also to involve them in its definition itself, is well understood by the partners of this project.

The project tried to foster citizens’ participation and interaction between citizens’ and EU institutions through debates about how to improve citizen participation, with a focus on tools or processes such as ICT tools and the process of volunteering. e-panels aimed at producing opinions and recommendations on these issues in order to collect and submit them to EU institutions. The precise aim of creating e-panels was to enable the citizens fromEU countries, but also from candidates countries, to be directly involved and to participate.

Partner of this project were Maison de l’Europe (FR), FIB, Fundacion Insula Barataria (SP), AEP, Association for European Partnership (BG), Local Democracy Agency Osijek (HR), Local Democracy Agency Sisak (HR), “Studiorum”, Center for Regional Policy Research andCooperation (MK),“Horizont”, NGO (AL).

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Starting this week The National Association of Towns and Regions of Art and History and tows with protected areas will visit their partner The Association of historical and artistic cities of the Republic of North Macedonia to discuss the basis of their future cooperation in the field of Inventory of Cultural Heritage.

The visit begins with welcoming meeting between the Mayor of Veles Municipality, Mr. Goran Petrov, and the French four-member delegation, headed by the Director of The National Association, Ms. Marylize Ortize. The three-day study visit will continue with many office and field activities with architects from several Macedonian cities, such as: Krusevo, Kumanovo, Kavadarci, Kratovo, Stip and Berovo.

The activities will end with on 25 of February with a Presentation of methodology for architectonic heritage inventory in local communities. The Presentation will be held in the municipality building in Veles, at noon. The large number of official guests and participants of the presentation will learn about the importance of inventory for strengthening the municipal capacities and protect the architectonic heritage rendering it in service of tourism.
This visit is part of the Project for Decentralised Cooperation between Lower Normandy and North Macedonia, in the component 3 – Inventory of Cultural Heritage. The project is coordinated by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA).
For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/

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The Union of Municipalities of Marmara, around Istanbul, is certainly one of the most active association of municipalities in Türkiye.

They participate actively in the international and European activities, in particular thanks to the commitment and dynamic engagement of the Director, Mr Murat Daoudov, whom Mrs Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA, visited on the 12th of February 2011.

ALDA and the Union of Marmara already cooperate together in the framework of activities of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. The Union is also member and Vice President of the network of NALAS, the Network of the Association of Local Authorities from South Eastern Europe.
Recently, the Union of Municipalities participated in the partners’ search for LDA Kosovo launched by ALDA, and the city of Yalova, from the Marmara Region, participates actively as partner of the Agency and hosted the partner meeting in February.

Considering that the Union is interested to have activities and twining initiatives, mostly in the Balkans and Southern Caucasus, there is a great potentiality for cooperation.
The Union of Municipalities of the Region of Marmara is currently following the process for joining ALDA in 2011.

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The next 10th and 11th of March will take place in Sarajevo “NEXPO 2011” , the first Local Government Fair including participants from South Eastern Europe. ALDA is actively involved in the programme of this event with a stand and the participation of its President, Per Vinther, in the first panel on Good Governance and EU Integration (see http://nexpo.nalas.eu/).

The stand will mostly present the last activities of ALDA on local governance and citizens participation as well as the activities of the Local Democracy Agencies from Mostar, Prijedor and Zavidovici.
“NEXPO 2011” is organised by NALAS, network of associations of local authorities of South East Europe, and more than 1,000 people will be participating, representatives from local municipalities, associations and international organisations.

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A clear definition and extension of the competences of local authorities, appropriate local and regional financial means and autonomy, improvement of governance through increased transparence and participation and strengthening of capacities for public services.
These are the four central needs of local authorities in the Western Balkans indicated by Keith Withmore, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, in his conclusion speech of the conference on the European perspective of the Western Balkans and the contribution of local and regional authorities that took place in Paris, in the French Senate, on 18th and 19th of February.
Mr Keith Whitmore underlined also the involvement of the Congress in the Balkans (citing explicitly the LDAs and their existence since 1993 and ALDA’s work).

The conference united representatives of local authorities and other stakeholders of European decentralised cooperation. It was an excellent occasion for French local authorities and authorities from the Western Balkans to meet and exchange their views on the strategies and priorities of European integration.

A central point of reflection was the role of local authorities’ international cooperation in the integration process. Further subjects discussed included the role of good local governance and public local policy for European integration.
The pause of enlargement is a chance to rethink the relationship between the EU and the Western Balkans, underlined the debate, and the governments in the Balkans have to act now, and at the same time, the EU has to speed up the accession procedures and propose viable political solution to problems such as the Kosovo issue. Many participants also demanded a greater implication of local authorities in the accession process.

Per Vinther, President of ALDA, was present at the conference and informed about its activities in decentralised cooperation in one of the workshops. The project of decentralised cooperation between Lower Normandy and the Republic of Macedonia was at the centre of attention.
The conference was organised by the French Association of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (AFCCRE) in cooperation with the municipality of Dijon and the Community of Greater Dijon.

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On 18th and 19th February, a conference on the European perspective of the Western Balkans and the contribution of local and regional authorities will take place in Paris.
The conference will unite representatives of local authorities and other stakeholders of European decentralised cooperation. It will be an excellent occasion for French local authorities and authorities from the Western Balkans to meet and exchange their views on the strategies and priorities of European integration.

A central point of reflection will be the role of local authorities’ international cooperation in the integration process. Further subjects to be discussed include the role of good local governance and public local policy for European integration.

Per Vinther, President of ALDA, will be present at this conference and will inform about its activities in decentralised cooperation in one of the workshops. The project of decentralised cooperation between Lower Normandy and the Republic of Macedonia will be at the centre of attention.

The conference is organised by the French Association of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (AFCCRE) in cooperation with the municipality of Dijon and the Community of Greater Dijon.
It will take place in the French Senate.

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In the framework of the Project for decentralised cooperation BN/MK, FFRM (Farmers’ Federation of North Macedonia) and AFDI (French Farmers for international development) are organising a working visit of the French delegation in Macedonia.

The planned activities for this period, as a part of the project implemented between FFRM and AFDI, will involve visits to the Macedonian farmers, in order to create and develop future trainings and practices.
The representatives from Lower Normandy, Mr. Richard Demuynick and Mr. Jean Louis Loir will spend ten days in several locations in North Macedonia, in the period of 16 to 26 of February. They will visit the farmers and the cooperatives aiming to define the pilot groups of farmers that will cooperate in the future.

During their stay, the delegation will visit the Mayor of Berovo and the manufacturers of dairy products, as well as the sheep breeders in this region. Berovo is the first farmers’ focus group, followed by the cooperative of apple growers from Resen, along with the scheduled meeting with the Mayor of Resen. In the western region of North Macedonia, the delegation will meet another group of dairy manufacturers, but also a group of cereal manufacturers from the Polog region.

During the Prilep visit, on February 24, AFDI will perform a lecture focused on “Global Market Conditions for cereals – price, supply, demand”. The expected number of participants is around 50, mostly cereal manufactures with mill industry capacities from this region.
The Federation will close this working study in Skopje hosting a Balkan conference for “Cooperative Associations”. The conference participants, including the AFDI delegation, will discuss the possibilities for creating cooperative associations. This type of joining can be a foundation for the increase of farming profit in North Macedonia and neighbouring countries, such as Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo…

The cooperation between FFRM and AFDI is component “6 – agriculture” of the Project for decentralised cooperation between Republic of North Macedonia and the Region of Lower Normandy, France. This project is coordinated by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA).

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In cooperation with the The Franco-German Youth Office OFAJ and memorial centresOradur-sur-Glane in France and Dachau in Germany, LDA CSS implemented three cycle seminar entitled “War and Propaganda: An Approach to History in Europe”.

After a seminar in Dachau, this year youth groups from Germany, France and Serbia met in Oradour, France and Nis.
Each seminar has been led by wellknown national historians, experts on each specific topic. Young people had the opportunity to question the relationship between propaganda in the Second World War and the 90s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia while investigating transnational historiography.

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The Lisbon Treaty is not and will not be only a piece of paper. It is an instrument to make EU institutions more democratic, giving citizens more space for active participation. It provides some guidelines to modernise Europe and enables it to achieve the objectives of its fifty years of history: to be an instrument of peace and development. These are, in short, the conclusions of the conference on the Lisbon Treaty that took place in Thiene (IT), promoted by the Municipality, its Urban Center and ALDA, Association of Local Democracy Agencies.

In her speech, Maria Rita Busetti, Mayor of Thiene, underlined the importance of the opening to European culture for local communities. The Municipality of Thiene opened, with the Urban Center, its window on Europe, to inform people and make them participate in those lots of opportunities it offers to all of them Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA, has emphasised the role of local communities and authorities in building a Europe of citizens. “Active participation in local decision making process – she said – is the only instrument that can guarantee development. And this is possible only with a strong civil society, willing to get involved and take its responsibility“. An important instrument of information and animation about Europe at local level, about its powers and opportunities, is the Europe Direct network, about which Renzo Michieletto, from the Veneto Region Office of Europe Direct, spoke. This is a great network of 500 branches in 27 European countries, 50 in Italy and 3 in the Veneto Region, that the European Commission created to give citizens the necessary knowledge and make them closer to the institutions and actors. Antonio Di Lorenzo, editor in chief of the Journal of Vicenza, tried to approach a bit more in this world seemingly far away the many participants at the conference. He asked the Meps Mara Bizzotto, Lega Nord, and Debora Serracchiani, Democratic Party, to explain what being a woman in the top European institution means, with regard to their work as well as for their expectations. It was possible to know that they are engaged in a not well known task that has significantly effects in everyday life of all of us. Concerning the Lisbon Treaty Bizzotto and Serracchiani showed shadows and highlights. The shadows are, as Mara Bizzotto said, the lack of a true soul constituent of this document and the remained imbalance between institutions, since the only elected, the Parliament, in fact, do not have full legislative power. Debora Serracchiani, sharing some limits of the Treaty, stated that it contains major advantages, especially for greater democracy and transparency, with a better balance between the Parliament and the European Commission and an increased role of citizens. Both have, however, stated that Italy, one of the most important founders of Europe, would play a greater role in Europe, to be truly protagonist and bridge the gap in attitudes and weight that separates it from other countries that in recent years in the Europe have invested in people, ideas and relationships. In the afternoon two workshops provided an opportunity to discuss the participation of civil society in decision-making process at local level, and the role of local government in the Europe reformed by the Lisbon Treaty.

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LDA Kosovo Partner Meeting will take place in Yalova, Türkiye, on the 11th – 12th February 2011.
The meeting will discuss some relevant topics emerged during the last partner meeting, held in Peja/Pec in August 2010 on the occasion of the signature of the Preliminary Partner Agreement.
The partner meeting will be attended by all partners’ representatives, and for ALDA by Mr. Dobrica Milovanovic (Vice-president of ALDA) and by Mrs Antonella Valmorbida (Director of ALDA).

The partner meeting will last two days, half a day will be fully dedicated to the knowledge of the international and local activities of the Municipality of Yalova aimed at the local development, at the European integration, at the youth empowerment and at the presentation of the activities that the Municipality wants to carry out in Kosovo. In this regard, a meeting is scheduled with the Mayor of Yalova and with the representatives of the relevant Municipality offices.

The City of Yalova was choose to host the partner meeting for a number of reasons. The idea of promoting it in one of the partners’ communities will grant an added value to the meeting. Moreover, the Municipality of Yalova is the last partner that joined the partnership, and it is really important for all the other partners to know better its local community.

Furthermore, on the 29th of October, the Municipality of Yalova and the Municipality of Peja/Pec signed a twinning agreement that is the result of the bilateral relations between the two Municipalities started during the last LDA Kosovo partner meeting.
To conclude, this activity will be a precious opportunity to give visibility to the newly re-launched LDA Kosovo and to continue the discussion among all the partners.

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Following the success of the Congress of Ljubljana, the European Movement International (EMI), in cooperation with the Third Sector Foundation of Türkiye (TUSEV), will organise a second congress on civil society dialogue in candidate and potential candidate countries.
The congress on the theme “CSOs challenge public authorities: From political commitment to active dialogue” will take place in Istanbul on 11th -12th of February 2011.

Mrs Antonella Valmorbida, director of ALDA, and as Chair of the Committee on Civil Society and Democracy of the Conference of the INGOs of the Council of Europe, will participate at the Congress, and will present the Code of Good Practices for Civil Participation in the Decision Making Process (http://www.coe.int/T/NGO/code_good_prac_en.asp).
The aim of this Congress will be to examine how the triangle – civil society development, European perspective, and national reforms – can be made to work more effectively. The emphasis will be on
comparing experiences from candidate countries in 6 corresponding workshops.

The Istanbul Congress is a follow-up to the Ljubljana Congress of 16-18 April 2009 which produced a political challenge chart. It was decided on that occasion that the next event involving civil society activities, representatives of the European Institutions and national politicians and civil servants from the candidate countries should be held in Türkiye.
It is expected that there will be some 300 participants from the host country, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania.
The Congress in Istanbul will intend to determine the most effective means of ensuring a conducive framework and environment to the sustainable development of CSOs in candidate and potential candidate countries.
The conference will bring together Civil Society Organisations from Candidates Countries,
Members from National Governments and Parliaments and European institutions’ representatives.
“ALDA is very much involved in the dissemination and the promotion of the Code as an instrument to strengthen the dialogue and cooperation between local authorities and civil society”. Stated Mrs Valmorbida.
“The instrument has been widely used by the ALDA network and the LDAs in 2010 and will be also assessed in 2011. A call for proposal engaged many municipalities and partner which adopted the methodologies indicated in the Code for enhancing the fruitful problem solving engaging multilayers approach in the community“

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Turkish and EU local authorities met in an introductory meeting held in Ankara from February 1st 2011 to February 4th 2011 to help increase the effectiveness and broaden the scope of the twinning arrangements both between the local authorities of Turkey and Europe as well as among Turkish local authorities. The meeting hosted a total of 48 government officials, two from each of 10 Turkish and 15 other European local authorities of twin cities, meeting to improve co-operation in the management of local public and municipal services.

The meeting within the scope of the Support to Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey Project was inaugurated with the remarks of the representatives from EU Delegation to Turkey (Mr. Michele Villani), UNDP Turkey, UMT (Union of Municipalities of Turkey), Ministry of Interior and Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU).
Knowledge and Italian participation to this event was spread in Italy through ALDA, the Association of Local Democracies Agencies, which was guested as international observer and which is implementing lobby?ng activities for the Italian Municipalities in the Republic of Turkey.
After the presentation by UMT of the twinning methodology, the programme continued with answers to the questions regarding the procedures.
It was followed by the presentations of the experiences of EU and Turkish local authorities.

Finally, some facilitated workshops between EU and Turkish municipalities were held on four themes, namely, environmental protection and energy efficiency; tourism and culture; municipal services (ie. social services including gender, elderly care and children, urban transportation, urban planning, emergency management, fire brigade systems, immigrants etc.); and local economic development with citizen participation.
EU and Turkish local authorities will further plan for mutual visits with their twinning partners to broaden the scope of twinning agreements and collaboration, which sprouted during the meetings.
Support to further implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey Project is being implemented by the Ministry of Interior with the technical assistance of the UNDP and funded by the European Union within the scope of the EU-Turkey Pre-Accession Financial Co-Operation Programme.

The specific objective of the project is to develop and strengthen the administrative capacity and co-operation of the Ministry of Interior (particularly General Directorate of Local Authorities, governorates and district governorates), unions of local authorities and local authorities themselves in the task of ensuring effective implementation of new policy and legislation on local administration.