Partnerships are stronger than the distance!

On Monday, December 13^th, 2021, a very special event took place, sealing a new valuable partnership between ALDA – the European Association for Local Democracy and IRDP – Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace.

The event, livestreamed on ALDA’s Facebook page, involved ALDA Secretary General, Antonella Valmorbida and the Director of IRDP, Eric Ndushabandi, engaged in a dialogue moderated by Afaf Zaddem, Delegate of the Local Democracy Agency Tunisia, culminated with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two Organisations.

After setting the framework for the event, Ms Valmorbida described ALDA’s actions and strategy for the African continent, having the Associations a growing number of partners and projects active in the region. Afterwards, Ms Valmorbida retraced the history of ALDA’s relations with IRDP, which goes back to July 2021, when Antonella Valmorbida was invited by the International Association of Francophone Mayors to attend their General Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda.

There, she had the pleasure the meet Mr Ndushabandi and a fruitful exchange had started, in light of the many characteristics which are shared by ALDA and IRDP in terms of values, mission and common goals, this event wanted to materialise the already existing cooperation with a Memorandum of Undestanding.

Let’s partner: ALDA and IRDP e-signed the Memorandum of Understanding

The event was also important to introduce IRDP to the whole network of ALDA. As described by its Director Mr Ndushabandi, IRDP is an organisation based in Kigali, Rwanda, initiated in 2001 as an Institute to contribute to peacebuilding efforts in the aftermath of the 1994’s Genocide against Tutsi. IRDP is an independent and neutral space where critical and sensitive issues challenging peace are debated with a participatory approach in order to influence positive behaviour change at the community and national levels.

As stated in the partnership’s convention, ALDA and IRDP agreed to “work together in the future and join their efforts to achieve complementary results in the shared geographical areas of intervention”, working on common themes, such as:

• support local democracy and citizen participation;
• support civil society empowerment;
• support media and freedom of expression;
• support to displaced people and refugees;
• integration of minorities.

If you wish to get to know better ALDA and IRDP and learn more about the terms of the partnership agreement, watch again the event, available at this link!

During the last meeting of the Governing Board of ALDA, held on Thursday December 2^nd2021, all members agreed upon a strategic document concerning a more reasoned and effective action to be implemented by the Association and its network in the Balkan Region.

Being the Balkans the birthplace of ALDA, the Region where everything has started back in that December 1999, ALDA has always paid a particular attention to the Western Balkan region, through the continuous implementation of initiatives aimed at supporting and empowering local authorities and Civil Society.

At present, ALDA is an organisation deeply rooted in the Balkan area, with ongoing activities and projects in all the Western Balkan countries, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Furthermore, counting 36 member municipalities and associations, 8 Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs), the Balkan Network for Local Democracy (BNLD) as well as a wide network of partners, ALDA is well placed and ready to develop and implement local driven initiatives while sharing international best practices and support actions.

ALDA is ready to develop and implement local driven initiatives while sharing international best practices and support actions

Let’s unfold ALDA’s new Strategy in the Western Balkans

Goal: ALDA’s main goal in Western Balkans is to support regional cooperation and EU integration processes in the Region as well as to promote local democracy and citizens participation as a precondition for local sustainable development.

Actions: The Strategy foresees a set of action lines to be implemented, each one addressing a key area, important for the achievement of the overall objective in a sustainable and effective manner.

• Be a global alliance of civil society and local authorities engaged in local democracy and community engagement in the region with a regional approach
• Support dialogue between EU and the Balkans
• Support and development of the Local Democracy Agencies as agents for change for local democracy and citizens’ participation
• Implementation of country-based strategies and strengthening of the cooperation with relevant national institutions and local stakeholders

The whole ALDA and its Governing Board are very proud of the elaboration of this strategy which will surely bring benefit to the whole Western Balkans Region, as always happens when reinforcing internal relations among local and regional stakeholders, decentralised cooperation and dialogue with key institutions.

While widening its scope, ALDA will remain a key player in the Balkan region, reinforcing its actions and establishing new profitable relations with stakeholder at a global level.

Since 2015, when the Ukraine Working Group was firstly created by the European Committee of the Regions (COR), leaders of local-government associations and city mayors gather to reflect and share perspectives and concrete knowledge on Ukraine state of art in terms of politics and reform.

This year as well, led by Alexandra Dulkiewicz, mayor of Gdańsk and chairwoman of the meeting, the event was organized on November 18^th 2021 on hybrid mode.

From a general perspective, decentralization and rebalancing of administrative and financial powers represented the key aspect of the meeting. Similarly, the discussion focused on the scheduled adoption of legislation on public consultations, having also in mind the COR and European Commission joint efforts to develop city partnerships as far as supporting anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine concerns.

Decentralization and rebalancing of administrative and financial powers represented the key aspects of this year Ukraine Working Group

Thus, Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, said that “the consultation of local authorities by higher levels of government needs to be further improved and strengthened”.

Generally speaking, the meeting represented an opportunity for participants to assess the current situation in Ukraine and create a strategy for future actions.

Hence, Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General, stressed the importance on focusing on “feasibility and inclusiveness”, when it comes to the adoption of a law on public consultation. Besides the above-mentioned guests, among the keynote speakers at this year event there were:

• Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and head of the Association of Ukrainian Cities;
• Andrii Borovyk of Transparency International Ukraine;
• Iryna Shybaof the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine (EUACI);
• Ksenia Sukhova, from Mariupol City Council;
• Viacheslav Nehoda, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development;
• Sergii Chernov, president of the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils

Overall, the meeting was a fruitful occasion to discuss on decentralization process in Ukraine and its roadmap. ALDA is very much glad to play an active role in these circumstances, working for the best of democracy development.

***
Further info:
Read “Decentralisation in Ukraine continues to enjoy strong public support ” article on COR website

On November 28-29 and December 1st 2021, ALDA had its much anticipated Staff Meeting in Vicenza (Italy) together with colleagues from all over Europe and beyond! 

Everyone was very happy to finally be together again after a prolonged absence due to the ongoing pandemic, and some of the colleagues had never seen the new Vicenza office after the move!

The key words of the meeting were: team building, dialogue, and sharing. Based on these three words, several activities and meetings have been organised. But let’s start from the beginning.

The key words of the staff meeting were: team building, dialogue, and sharing

ALDA staff coming from our different offices in Tunis, Chisinau, Strasbourg, Brussels, Skopje, gathered in Vicenza for a three-day event to meet in person and do some team building to get to know each other better.

On the first day the colleagues met in Villa Tacchi. Marco Boaria – Director of Programs and Development Department – together with Anna Ditta – Senior Project Development Officer, animated the first session. Thanks to interactive and team-building games, ALDA staff had the possibility to know each other better, while getting ready for the first day!

Moreover, after lunch,  future strategies to implement in the upcoming years and flagship initiatives that guide ALDA were presented. The latter, specifically, was essential to set the framework within which the Association is operating.

After an intense first day, November 30th  was dedicated to a  training session on Local Democracy and Participatory Processes, lead by Antonella Valmorbida – ALDA Secretary General – while the afternoon saw a meeting in the premises of Vicenza City Hall, where the staff was welcomed by the City Councilor Matteo Tosetto. 

During the meeting, Councillor Tosetto spoke about the importance of participatory processes for local democracy in the city of Vicenza and in Europe, as also underlined by ALDA Secretary General. At the end of the meeting Tosetto gave a commemorative plaque with the symbol of the city, the Palladian Basilica, to the representatives of the different countries, while receiving ALDA gonfalon.

Finally on the third day, the Associazione Caracol Olol Jackson hosted the final sessions, team building exercises, department presentations, bilateral meetings and working group sessions on the agenda for the day. Last but not least, ALDA’s staff gather together for the dinner with the Governing Board members as well, to celebrate this great moment of sharing and empowerment.

The meeting was a success! It gave ALDA colleagues a chance to have an honest and open dialogue and share meals and breaks together in a relaxed and joyful atmosphere. But most importantly it was a great opportunity to connect, reconnect and enjoy being part of a great team carrying on a important mission every day!

From the 22nd to the 25th of November the city of Peja in eastern Kosovo* welcomed the delegation of the Valid Project in a new opportunity to promote intercultural dialogue and collaboration between the local authorities and civil society.

The Valid project aims to spread more inclusive policies and European values to cities around the region, to finally develop a network of cultural exchange and tolerance. 

In Peja, the delegation from different associations and cities started their stay with a meeting in the Mayor’s office of Mr. Gazmend Muhaxheri. 

Overall, the agenda was rich of events and excursions:  from a visit to the natural and cosmopolitan heritage of the municipality, to the medieval orthodox to the ottoman time; or the  iconic landmarks included in the visit were the Drin Waterfall, which  is the source of the river Driniand located in the gorge of Drini i Bardhe, in Zhljeb Mountain in Radavc village.

Valid project in Peja: to develop a network of cultural exchange and tolerance

In addition, the delegation had the opportunity to listen to the Choir Siparantum Performance at Professional Theatre Istref Begolli Peja; while meeting the staff of the International Animation festival “Anibar”. Gathered in the theatre next to the centre of Peja, the creators of the festival explained how the project was born, the activities that they do and even showed some of the short films that were projected during previous editions!

Within this event, to emphasize the importance of solidarity and social values, the delegation was first brought to visit  the “Odhise Paskali” Art School, where the art exhibition in the school’s atrium was presented. The latter was comprised of works from the classes on fashion, architecture, paint and graphic design.

Finally, the VALID project partners also had the opportunity to visit the Patriarchate of Peja, an orthodox monastery near Peja; and finally the Bajrakli Mosque and the bazaar. By walking down the street of the city, by talking with people and meeting local delegates, participants had the opportunity to concretely see how culture does unite people, as aimed by the project itself.

***

The Valid project is co-founded by the Europe for Citizens Programme of the European Union.

Despite a rainy and cold morning, December 2nd marked a great day for the ALDA’s Governing Board, since the latter had the possibility to meet both in presence at Vicenza’s office and online.

President, Mr Oriano Otočan, gathered all the members for this last meeting of the 2021. Differently from the previous ones, having the possibility to see each other in person gave a new and fresh energy, allowing ideas and fruitful discussions.

More specifically, the occasion served as an opportunity to analyze and discuss the sustainability of the association and the programmes for the future. Similarly, the situation of LDAs has been among the subjects of discussion with a focus on the presentation of the new draft strategy for the Western Balkans.

ALDA Governing Board reflected and discussed future steps, and initiatives of 2022

In addition, the Governing Board had also the occasion to visualise and to be introduced to some major ALDA’s projects, such as: EPIC; Autrement; Media Dialogue and Climate of Change. Colleagues from the PM Department were able to update the Governing Board members on the activities and recently initiatives carried out within the projects.

After the lunch break, the second part of the meeting was dedicated to the strategic and political issues, such as updates on ALDA’s strategies, the role of members and the upcoming events involving the Association.

Finally, following the previous visit to the Municipality, the Governing Board welcomed Mr. Tosetto member of the city town hall.

This ALDA Governing Board meeting has been much participated by every member, laying the foundations for future steps, and initiatives of 2022.

ALDA continues to contribute to good governance on local level in Croatia and takes its activities on the next level. ALDA launched the “European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE)” for Croatia on the 22 November 2021 in Zagreb. The project was promoted in a hybrid type of event, giving representatives of municipalities and participants the possibility to join both online and in presence.

The launching started with a short welcoming speech from M. Robert Ravenšćak, General Director of Ravecon LLC, our local partner organization and continued with the intervention from the President of ALDA M. Oriano Otočan and M. Niall Sheerin, representative of the Center of Expertise for Good governance, from the Council of Europe (CoE)

ALDA continues to contribute to good governance on local level in Croatia, launching the ELoGE programme for Croatia

M.Otočan illustrated the work of ALDA in Europe and specifically in Croatia; highlighting:

• The duality of the local authorities in the country;
• The openness they show in certain topics but remain firmly closed for other.

Thus, he reflected on how on the one hand Croatia has reached certain level of expertise and maturity; while on the other there are still difficulties that persist; emphasizing how this project will be perfect to tackle them.

Following, M. Otočan speech, M. Sheerin shared with the participant on the important work of the CoE mentioning the future plans and programmes that they are working on, such as the green agenda concerning Local Authorities. He highlighted that in these eras of social media and advanced technology, local authorities need to be innovative and open to change, in order to be efficient and effective in responding to the needs of the citizens.

The opening speeches were followed by a presentation of the ELoGE programme in the Country, done by Ms. Katica Janeva, ALDA’s regional coordinator for the Balkans, citing the details of the phases and processes that the LAs need to follow to be awarded the label, specific timing and timeline, tools and more. The event was closed off with a Q&A session and a fruitful discussion.

On 19 November 2021 in Patos, Albania 26 young people from the city engaged in a different interactive initiatives. Specifically, the main idea of the workshop was to discuss and reflect together on social inclusion in decision-making processes.

More in details, the VALID Team shared to the participants the main policies that the Municipality of Patos has reflected, based on the recommendations that young people made during the first local event. The goal of this initiative, among others, was to encourage youths to participate in decision-making processes such as the public hearings on the local budget and fiscal package for 2022. The latter were the main points that oriented the interactive discussion with the participants.

Participants agreed to join in the public hearings that the Municipality of Patos will organize in December 2021

With the participation of two experts from the region, one specialized in communication and the other on intercultural dialogue the group discussed the importance of citizens’ involvement regardless of their ethnic, social and cultural affiliation in the decision-making processes of their community.

The experts encouraged discussions on how much intercultural democracy influences local action, while the project team explained through a poster exhibition concrete initiatives that the youth of the city have undertaken in various topics, specifically those with a social theme. They were also greeted by the team that took part in the trip to Italy who shared their experience and brought examples from the city of Ravenna.

Participants agreed to join in the public hearings that the Municipality will organize in December 2021 with regard to the drafting and the approval of the city budget and fiscal package for the next year and were encouraged to be part of the Youth Advisory Group of Patos, an advisory group at the Municipality.

Skopje: the European Association for Local democracy – ALDA organised the “Launching Conference” of the project European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in North Macedonia on the 18^th of November.

With great enthusiasm representatives from Macedonian Local Authorities (LAs), previously invited to take part of the project, gathered in Skopje and online to learn more about the ELoGE label. Thus, benefitting from this initiative, the above-mentioned LAs will be required to act in accordance with the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance. Among them:

• Participation, Representation, Fair Conduct of Elections;
• Responsiveness;
• Efficiency and Effectiveness;
• Openness and Transparency;
• Rule of Law

More in depth, the event opened with the intervention of Eli Chakar from the Ministry of Local Self-Government; followed by Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA that illustrated experience of ALDA on the topic of good governance and Emir Coric, ALDA Governing Board member, who dedicated his speech to ALDAs work in the Balkans.

Representatives from Macedonian Local Authorities gathered in Skopje and online to learn more about the ELoGE label

Moreover, Niall Sheerin from Center of Expertise for Local Government Reform presented the important work of the Council of Europe and the different programs for development of local governance.

From a general perspective, the next steps will consist of measuring the assessment through the implementation of the benchmark for the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE). Additionally, this exercise is a good learning toll for the Local Authorities to improve their daily work.

Yet, this is not everything: the symbol of ELoGE, a crystal dodecahedron, will be awarded to the Local Authorities demonstrating compliance with the principles of good governance, measured against a national benchmark.

Further updates will follow on the implementation of this initiatives, as well as on the award!

***

ALDA has received the accreditation to implement ELoGE in North Macedonia, and already in October 2021 ALDA Secretary General Antonella Valmorbida and ALDA Office in Skopje and SEE Coordinator, Katica Janeva had a meeting with institutions to discuss about the initiative. Finally, ELoGE in North Macedonia is financially supported by the Council of Europe.

The project “Civil Society STAR initiative: CSOs as Sustainable, Transparent, Accountable and Resilient Development Actors in Georgia” (2021-2025).  is implemented by the Consortium led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and composed of the following CSOs: Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC), and Institute for European Politics (IEP).

The Local Democracy Agency Kosovo, together with the Rrjeti i Organizatave të Kulturës (The Network of Culture Organizations) in Peja, have organized a common activity on 12^th November 2021, involving pupils of the School of Arts together with an acoustical performance by the local artist Agon Goqi. Through this activity both organizations have prepared an exhibition inside the old and decaying structures of a former public bank.

35 participants attended the activity! Among them:

• pupils of the School of Arts,
• children coming from different ethnic entities and citizens.

The pupils of the School of Arts have exhibited their operas in the spaces of the old structures of a former public bank.  A video has been created to convey the message of the activity to the general public.

The Local Democracy Agency Kosovo, together with the Rrjeti i Organizatave të Kulturës involved pupils of the School of Arts for a local initiative in Peja

The aim of the exhibition was to convey the message that public and social structures can easily be transformed in spaces where culture activities can be implemented and through which culture can be conveyed. In short: a new life can come out of the rubbles.

The message that old public and social buildings can be reused for cultural activities has been conveyed to the participants that were present in the activity, and to the general public through the social media.

This event was organised within VALID project.