The conference ‘A Role for Citizens and Civil Society in Development Cooperation’ within the project WTD – Working Together for Development took place in Budapest, Hungary, on 8 July.

The event was organised by CEECN and aimed at providing information and build capacity for its members, as well as sharing best practices among the partners of WTD. Around 40 participants from 15 countries attended the conference.

During the day, the role of local NGOs in the new members states in development cooperation was discussed, with contributions by TRIALOG and the EPAN working group of CONCORD. Mini-grant projects implemented within WTD were presented. The Historical evolution of the concept of aid was analysed by Dr Tetenyi, from Corvinus University in Budapest.

ALDA has moved to a new office in Vicenza. Our new office is very close to the train station and has a wide meeting room, which will be used for trainings and other events.

In September the premises will be officially inaugurated, inviting ALDA’s friends, representatives of local authorities, and civil society organisations.

Please update your records with our new address, and do not hesitate to visit us should you be in Vicenza:

ALDA, Viale Milano 66, 36100 Vicenza – ITALY

The Vice President of ALDA, Imislava Gorska, and the Director of ALDA, Antonella Valmorbida, met the International team of the Region Lower Silesia in Poland to further agree on the establishment of the future LDA in Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk. The meeting, in Wroclaw on 4 July, set the ground for identification of partnership, actions and future steps.
The LDA in Dnipropetrovsk would be the first one in Ukraine and is expected to open in early 2014. ALDA delegation was received by the Head of International Department of Lower Silesia, Mr. Bartolomiej Ostrowski.

“The LDAs in Eastern Partnership countries are a very important part of our strategy since they aim at consolidating a democratic approach and decentralisation in these countries. The role of local and regional authorities working with civil society is a fundamental approach for ALDA. The engagement of an important region like Lower Silesia is extremely important to increase our partners and members for our work in Poland”, confirmed Mrs. Gorska, Vice President of ALDA.
A study visit to a well established LDA (in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is expected in early September, and a preparatory partner meeting will be organised in Ukraine in October.

The accession of Croatia to the EU marks a turning point for my country, torn by conflict only two decades ago. I think that Croatia is now a stable democracy, capable of taking on the obligations of EU membership and eager to help other acceding countries during their process. Ahead of us we have a challenging time and we need to be able to grasp as good as possible the opportunities offered in this period, both political and economical. This is a chance that comes only once!

The work carried out by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) in Croatia during the past years has strongly supported the integration of the country in Europe. The activities of ALDA and of the three Local Democracy Agencies, based in Verteneglio/Brtonigla, Sisak and Osijek, were important to build trust, promote citizen participation and European values, and strengthen local authorities. They will become now Operational Partners of the Association of the Local Democracy Agencies and fundamental parts of our activities in South Eastern Europe.

The main values of Istria, my region, have always been multiculturalism, multiethnicity, tolerance and antifascism, and since the 1990s it has been particularly active in promoting the integration of Croatia in the EU. I am therefore confident that my country and region will concretely reinvigorate the democratic spirit of the European Union.

Oriano Otočan
President of the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA)
Head of Department for International Cooperation and European Integration, Region Istria

From 25th to 27th June 2013, ALDA organised three days of activities in Strasbourg on the topic “Youth and politics”, within the project MY EUROPE and in cooperation with the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe (International Non Governmental Organisations).

MY EUROPE is a ‘Europe for Citizens’ project, led by the Local Councils’ Association of Malta and gathering 14 partners from Albania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Macedonia, and Malta. It aims at empowering citizens to play a part in the democratic life, with specific reference to active participation in political life of disadvantaged target groups: women, youngsters and immigrants.

“Youth and Politics” was the second international event organised within the project. Its main objective was to give a chance to youngsters to express their needs and interests to local and European policy makers, and to fight against their exclusion from the participation to political life.

These three days of activities were the occasion to discuss youth opportunities and tools for active participation in the decision making process, to exchange good practices and to make recommendations to improve youth participation, which were presented during the plenary of the INGO Conference hold on 27th June.

The Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe welcomed the text of recommendations and agreed to continue to work with young people.

The next event within the project will be organised in November in Macedonia and will focus on women.

On 1st July Croatia has joined the European Union, becoming its 28th Member State. This is a historic turning point for the country, as well as real evidence of the transformative power of the European Union: torn by conflict only two decades ago, Croatia is now a stable democracy, capable of taking on the obligations of EU membership and of adhering to EU standards.

ALDA marked the day by celebrating in Pula at the reception of guests from friendly regions and cities: its President Oriano Otočan, Head of the Administrative Department for International Cooperation and European Integration of the Region Istria, and its Director Antonella Valmorbida were present.

“Everyone has a dream and our dream has finally come true” said the President of the Region Istria, Valter Flego. “With the motto ‘Istra Without Borders – Istria senza Frontiere’ we have entered the European Union. Accession to the EU is a historic day for Croatia and Istria, and Istrian values will strongly contribute to its unity in diversity”, continued Flego.

The Local Democracy Agency based in the country have also organised initiatives to celebrate a day longed for many years, and marking another milestone in the construction of a more united Europe.

A ‘training of multipliers’ took place from 18 to 20 June 2013 in Brussels, within the project COHEIRS – Civic Observers for Health & Environment, Initiative for Responsibility and Sustainability. The event brought together 55 participants representing 31 organisations from 12 different countries in wider Europe.

The aim of the meeting was to train participants on how to locally implement ALDA’s methodology of citizens’ panels, and to provide them with scientific information and tools on environmental and health protection to empower them to act both as facilitators and knowledge-resourced persons.

The activity was a key step for setting up the citizens’ panels and kick-off the workshops on health and environment at local level.

The programme of the event was structured in four different sessions. During the first session, participants were split into smaller international groups, to make them bond while promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding. The second session defined the general framework of the project and the activity. Marco Boaria, ALDA Resource & Development Unit Coordinator, provided participants with detailed information on the Europe for Citizens’ programme, on the perspectives of the new programming period 2014-2020 as well as on ALDA’s methodology of citizens’ panels as applied in previous successful projects such as EUR-Action, ALL4EU, Bandiar, E-Panels and GOAL. The general framework was completed by Prisco Piscitelli, health expert from the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE Italy), who introduced the prevention and precautionary principles as stated in the article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. A World Café session was held in order to fill in the general framework with detailed information on the multipliers’ role. By moving from one table to another every 15 minutes, participants contributed to discuss six topics: the values of multipliers, their skills, the tools they should be equipped with, the strategies and methodologies for engaging citizens, the involvement of local stakeholders and the political and social recognition of multipliers.

The third session focused on health and environmental challenges and brought in both local and European perspectives. Participants identified the main issues affecting their local communities, analysed them in a national perspective and discussed them in a non-structured frame. The session was supported by scientific information provided by Mr Prisco Piscitelli and got an academic and scientific feedback from Prof. Dot. Dominique Belpomme, who stressed the importance of the link between environment and health and introduced the Paris Appeal to the audience.

As a final tool to set up the citizens’ panels at local level, participants were called in the fourth session to discuss and define common national guidelines and to coordinate with the dissemination partners to give visibility to the outcomes of their workshops.

The support of the European Commission was key for the success of the meeting. Mr John MacDonald from the Task Force of the European Year of Citizens 2013 informed participants on the tools put at citizens’ disposal for influencing the decision making process. As final step of their training, participants welcomed the visit to the DG Communication as an opportunity to exchange views on efficient means providing visibility to European policies as well as an occasion for presenting the outcomes of the training.

A special focus was given to the European Citizen Initiative (ECI). Mr Jerry Van Den Berge from the European Federation of Public Service presented the successful initiative “Water is a human right!” and answered the several questions by the audience.

The partners’ meeting of Local Democracy Agency Armenia foundation took place on 19th June 2013, hosted by LDA foundation in Gyumri, Armenia.

The Association of Local Democracy Agency was represented by its Director Antonella Valmorbida, Vice President Alessandro Perelli and Policy Officer Peter Sondergaard; the representatives of local partner organizations, (Levon Barseghyan -“Asparez” Journalists’ club, Armine Tukhikyan-Urban foundation for sustainable development, Vahan Tumasyan-“Shirak” Centre NGO), the Head of Projects and Analysis Department of Gyumri municipality, Hayk Sultanyan, and the Acting Director of LDA Armenia foundation Lusine Aleksandryan were present.

The meeting was of vital importance for the functioning and future perspectives of LDA foundation Armenia. The present partners nominated their representatives in the Board of Trustees, consisting of 12 members, and the first composition will be finalised in July. The president of the Board of Trustees is the lead partner, the Region of Rhone-Alpes Region.

The acting director Lusine Aleksandryan was appointed as a new delegate for LDA foundation. During the meeting, several important matters were discussed, including the possible cooperation with the new communities of Armenia and the French Embassy, the recruitment of other partners and how to strengthen partnership, the participation of LDA Armenia foundation in the meetings of the Council of European Movement in Armenia and EAP CSF Forum, future projects and projects with the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

As now LDA Armenia foundation is operational and has a legal status, concrete steps can be made towards the promotion of democracy and citizens participation at the local level.

The roundtable discussion “EU-Belarus puzzle: rethinking European policy” will take place on 19 June 2013, 14.00 – 15.30 at the European Parliament in Brussels (room PHS 1C51).

Relations between the EU and Belarusan authorities remain a challenging puzzle for Brussels. Since 1997 the EU has applied number of different approaches to establish cooperation leading to democratisation, Europeanisation and modernisation of Belarus. During the spring 2012, European Dialogue on Modernisation was launched. However, little progress can be observed so far.
Belarusian experts Elena Tonkacheva and Andrei Yahorau argue that there is big difference between European declarations and practice. Civil society remains underestimated as Belarusian development actor and stakeholder in EU-Belarus relations. Year 2013, when the European Parliament is preparing its recommendation on how the EU policy towards Belarus should look like, is the good moment to reflect on the work done by the international community and the Belarusian civil society since 2010 and beyond. Lessons learned from this period, best practices and failures, promises given by both sides and their implementation must be considered in designing European policy towards Belarus.

Draft agenda of the conference:

  • Opening remarks by Mr Werner Schulz
  • Mr Andrei Yahorau, Centre for European Transformation
  • Mrs Elena Tonkacheva, Legal Transformation Centre (Lawtrend)
  • MEP Justas PALECKIS, Rapporteur on Belarus (tbc)
  • Mr Stefan TRESSING, EEAS (tbc)

The discussion will be followed by the presentation of the book “Afterword… Square 2010 through the eyes of Belarusian human rights defenders”. It is a unique analytical piece, result of monitoring and analysis of 14 politically motivated trials after the events of December 19, 2010.It puts the trials and the guilty verdicts in the broader socio-political context of contemporary Belarus.
Working languages: English, Russian. Please make your registration by Monday, 17 May, at noon.

For more information, please contact:

Alena Zuikova – International Consortium “Eurobelarus” in Brussels
Phone: +32 27420161
Email to: brussels@eurobelarus.info
http://eurobelarus.info/

Within the framework of the TYEC project, led by UIL Italy, ALDA contributed, as partner organisation, to the success of the first international Seminar on “Youth generations and labour market” organised in Madrid on 23 May 2013.

The event brought together different stakeholders such as Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, CIREM Foundation, European Trade Union Confederation, CEOE Spanish Employers’ Association, UIL Tuscany, Youth Secretariat of Comisiones Obreras and Maison de l’Europe de Caen Basse-Normandie and was an occasion to debate on an issue of strong impact such as youth unemployment.

The panel adopted a wide perspective involving academic figures, trade unions as well as representatives of youth organisations and several measures were identified to tackling youth unemployment: structural reforms of labour markets at national level and application of the Youth Guarantee schemes, foster youth mobility, more coordination between the education sector and the labour market (Youth in the Move was mentioned as a good flagship measure of the EU in this direction), link the education system to enterprises’ demands, foster cooperation between educational policies and policies on economic growth, stronger involvement of all interested actors in smoothing the transition from the education system to the labour market and avoid the market as only regulator of the transition, more resources on the analysis of the data as in many contexts there is a lack of a clear view on youth unemployment, more welfare measures for protecting those who cannot find or lose the job, improve the role of job agencies as in some cases the lack of information is the main problem of the gap between job demands and job offers, and foster youth entrepreneurship.
ALDA’s contribution to the session brought in examples of tested and successful measures drawn from concrete actions put effectively into place by the partnership LAs-CSOs. The multi-stakeholder perspective was showcased by Mr Luigi Romildo, Coordinator of Maison de l’Europe, Caen Basse-Normandie who was identified as a panellist among the many members of ALDA.

Mr Romildo highlighted a few relevant indicators related to youth unemployment: the gap is not only between generations, with the youngsters as main category affected by the crises, but differences are also significant within the youth category itself, given the strong disparities among territories; successful experimental projects in France showcased that the multi-stakeholder approach, gathering not only governmental actors at different levels but also CSOs, is a winning approach; in France, youth policies are not specifically focused on tackling youth unemployment as such but are part of a more general framework that encompasses youth social inclusion and youth active citizenship as well.

Organised by ALDA in close co-operation with CRT Foundation and the University of Turin, the conference ‘ Crisis and renaissance – Local Community Theatre Paving the Way towards European Active Citizenship’ held on 22 May in Brussels raised awareness about the social and community theatre as a powerful tool for local communities in response to ongoing economic and social crisis.
Impressive visual and narrative presentations of the artistic and theatrical experience in the settlements across Europe showed the community efforts aimed to tackle the crisis and renaissance issues.

In her introductory notes, Ms. Barbara Gessler, Head of Department of Culture in EACEA stated the high relevance of the Caravan project more as the conceptual approach to challenges at local community development level and the bottom-up approach so much needed to ensure a more effective public space for the dialogue of EU citizens with the EU institutions, while the Project Manager Carlo Lingua gave a brief overview of the activities and results achieved during the Caravan local events and the Caravan artists on the road tour connecting Turin, Seville and Holstebro that have taken place over the last twelve months.

Mr. John Macdonald, Head of the Task Force for EYC 2013 reiterated the need for strengthened institutionalised forms of consultation with citizens at the European level and the need for creating of a new narrative for the European Union in support to the future perspective of the social innovation and culture in its broadest sense, rather than only to the narrative of the internal market or economic crisis. Examples of grass-root initiatives for improved participation and consultation forms in policy / decision making promoted by the Local Democracy Agencies were presented by Ms. Imislawa Gorska, Vicepresident of ALDA. She also included the city of Bydgosc promoting a wide range of youth actions aimed to cultural and artistic regeneration of local public spaces. In his presentation, Mr. Ionut Sibian, member of EESC raised a number of concerns related with insufficient involvement of NGO-s and their networks in consultation process at EU level.

During the second thematic panel the keynote speakers were Luisa De Amicis, Executive Director of EUCLID network, Alessandra Rossi Ghiglione, Project Caravan Community Theatre Supervisor, and Alberto Pagliarino, Project Caravan Artistic Director. EUCLID network’s main priority to assist to NGO-s to establish and maintain the dialogue for creating legislative and institutional framework in support to social entrepreneurship as a tool for introducing social innovation in addressing the crisis that has major impact on the excluded or marginalised groups.
Alessandra Rossi Ghiglione and Alberto Pagliarino gave an overview of social and community theatre concept as well as the specific SCT methodology studied at the University Turin. They presented the theoretical and artistic perspective of the concept that started as an experimentation but evolved over the past years to an intrinsic community response to alienation and crisis.

Case studies of the community theatres in action and the origin of their conception were presented in the third panel by Rita Maria Fabris (University of Turin), Ms. Mase Moreno (TNT Theatre Seville) and mr. Georgie Zlatarev (Theatre Vazrajdane, Sofia).
The conference ended with a practical workshop of community theatre by Professor Alessandra Rossi Ghiglione, which allowed the participants to experience the power of this tool on themselves during several group exercises and games.

The final conference of the Civil Society in Action for Dialogue and Partnerships project, titled “Agreement as a basis of cooperation between civil society and the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, gathered around 80 participants, NGO and LA representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, neighbouring countries and EU Member States.

The conference was an opportunity to present the implemented activities, and make recommendations and plans for further cooperation. In the opening session of the first day speeches were given by Dženana Dedic, Delegate of LDA Mostar, Ljubo Beslic, Mayor of the City of Mostar, Marco Boaria, head of Project Development, ALDA.
All the partners involved in the action officially signed the Regional Memorandum of Co-operation as the grounds for their readiness for follow-up activities to promote democratic governance at local level, principles of accountability and responsive performances of public authorities in BiH, Croatia and Serbia.

Two thematic workshops were also organised, gathering both NGOs and public authorities: Co-operation Agreement – from legal framework to effective implementation, dedicated to local implementation of BH Memorandum of Co-operation, Effective Performances and Service Provision of Local Self –governments in Co-operation with CSO’s: Comparative Analysis and Practice in the EU and Western Balkan Countries, on best practice exchange.

The programme also included the organisation of the first ever NGO Fair held in Mostar on 10 May with some 30 local NGOs with stands displaying promotional publications, documentaries and materials, providing a great networking opportunity.

On Wednesday 8 May at the Italian Embassy in Podgorica (Montenegro) a meeting took place, which involved Alessandro Perelli, the Vice President of ALDA, Kerim Medjedovic, delegate of the LDA in Niksic, the new Italian Ambassador in Montenegro Eugenio Del Monaco and the Counsellor of the Embassy, Michele Mistò.

During the meeting, Mr Perelli illustrated the cooperation projects between Friuli Venezia Giulia and several organisations from Montenegro, which feature Niksic LDA as a partner and Friuli Venezia Giulia as Lead partner. In particular, the discussion covered the project initiatives regarding European certification of forests in the Rozaje area, and the exchange of experiences in the psychiatric sector between the ‘scuola basagliana’ from Trieste and the psychiatric hospital in Kotor (Cattaro). Kerim Medjedovic stressed the role of the LDA in Niksic to support the process of access of Montenegro to the European Union.

The Ambassador Del Monaco highlighted the importance of ALDA’s action in the field of the promotion of democracy rights, in the defence of minorities and equal opportunities, topics which will be developed and promoted in the young Republic of Montenegro during its progressive approach to European regulations.

The Association of Local Democracy Agencies marked the Europe Day on 9 May 2013 with several initiatives. ALDA’s President Oriano Otočan and Director Antonella Valmorbida attended the opening ceremony of the Center for EU and international cooperation in Bale/Valle (Istria, Croatia).
The inauguration of the Center was part of the European Week celebration 2013 in Istria, and represented a very important step before the Croatian accession to the EU.

On 10 May, ALDA Director will be one of the speakers at the event ‘Towards 2014: the Europe we want’ (Verso il 2014: L’Europa che vogliamo), organised in Florence by Consiglio Italiano del Movimento Europeo (CIME) to debate on active European citizenship, participative democracy and the future of the EU. Staff of ALDA are involved in a training in the LDA in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina); furthermore, all the LDAs are celebrating the day and the week with initiatives and events.

Europe Day celebrates peace and unity in Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historical ‘Schuman declaration’.

On 25 April, the Ukrainian Region of Dnipropetrovsk hosted a conference organized by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) on the opportunities interregional cooperation can offer in the context of the Eastern Partnership.
The event gathered 150 European, national and regional political representatives, among which Lower Silesia and Liege city’s representatives. A partner meeting for the LDA Dnipropetrovsk was part of this event.

Per Vinther, Governing Board member of ALDA, was one of the speaker along with Yevhen UDOD, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council and Bartłomiej OSTROWSKI, Director of the International Cooperation Office of Lower Silesia. Peter Sondergaard, ALDA’s policy officer in charge of the establishment of the LDA Dnipropetrovsk, was also present at this event. The AER conference was indeed the opportunity for ALDA and Lower Silesia to present the prospects of LDA Dnipropetrovsk, and find additional partners for the project.
The LDA’s partners will continue to look for additional partners during the upcoming months and will also clarify operational issues for the LDA. A new partner meeting is foreseen in Strasbourg at the end of June, and the opening of the LDA is scheduled to take place on September 26 this year, one month and a half before the 3rd Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The strong commitment of the partners is extremely encouraging especially as the opening of more LDAs in Ukraine could be considered, not to mention in neighbouring countries as Mr. Ion Stavila, Moldovan Ambassador to Ukraine, expressed interest in an LDA in Moldova during the meeting.

The General Assembly of ALDA took place in Pula on the 19th of April 2013, hosted by the Region Istria, Croatia. Around 60 members of the organisation, local and regional authorities and civil society groups, participated in this important event. The members approved the past and future programmes as well as the Strategic Views of ALDA for the next three years.

The General Assembly was also connected to the International Conference of the programme VIT and for the event on the 18th
of the programme AdriGov on the theme of citizens’ participation and territorial cooperation in Western Balkans (promoted by the Region Istria).

The meeting gave the opportunity to members, staff of ALDA and all the Local Democracy Agencies delegates meeting) to assess their common work and identify the future objectives.


ALDA is a very active and dynamic organisation. Its field of activities is very important for Europe, for the enlargement countries and for the regions bordering with the EU. Local Governance, decentralisation and good work at the local level between civil society and local authorities are a guarantee for democracy and sustainable, long lasting development. I am sure we will have good job to be done in the future with the support of our members and partners, said Mr. Otocan, President of ALDA.

The event in Pola was also a major gathering of important stakeholders supporting decentralisation and local governance in the Balkans. In particular the Committee of the Regions was present with M. Bossmann, Mayor of Piran, delegated by the President of the CoR, Mr. Ramon Luis Valcarcel Siso.
The city of Pula hosted the event and its Mayor of Pula, Mr. Boris Miletic, opened the sessions days.

The programme of ALDA In Pula is also one step to disseminate and debate with citizens about the European Year of Citizens, 2013. ALDA Is very much involved in the European Alliance for the EYAC 2013 . The member of the Steering Committee of the EYAC 2013 Alliance, M. Jean Robert Suesser, and also Vice President of the European Civic Forum, introduced the General Assembly

In this event, the first Scholarship Gianfranco Martini was given to M. Gianfranco Brusaporci, for his research on the role and future of Transborder Cooperation in South Eastern Europe.

The first scholarship established by ALDA in 2013, dedicated to the Memory of our Honorary President, M. Gianfranco Martini, has been give to Mr. Gianfranco Brusaporci, for his studies in Western Balkans on transborder cooperation. M. Brusaporci received the Price in Pula, during the General Assembly, from the President of ALDA, Oriano Otocan.

The research proposal submitted by Mr Brusaporci, entitled “Euroregions in South Eastern Europe: how to define a good model for the development of the area”, aims at bridging some research gaps of Western studies on relevant themes, related to South Eastern Europe and the role of Euroregions in the European Union.Mr Brusaporci aims to demonstrate how the “cross-borderisation” in Europe does not lead to an increasing territorial fragmentation of national sovereignty, but it could be considered as a form of policy innovation, for the implementation of a minority integration and a social-economic growth, triggered by the emergence of the EU as a supranational policy-maker. The research seeks to validate such an analysis, through a comparative study among all Euroregions, located in Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia.
The price will also be a financial contribution of 3.000 Euro to the on going research.

Presentation of the research “Euroregions in South Eastern Europe: how to define a good model for the development of the area

On the 4th of April, the Vice-President ALDA Alessandro Perelli and the Director of the International Telematics University UNINETTUNO Professor Maria Amata Garito signed a cooperation agreement between the two institutions and launched their first common project, namely the new edition of the Master on-line in European Law and Policies.

Promoted by the International Telematics University UNINETTUNO in collaboration with the ALDA and the Italian Council of the European Movement.
By combining the expertise of the network ALDA in the European context and the experience of UNINETTUNO in distance learning with six faculties and nine master’s degree courses and professional training courses and students from 40 different countries, the new cooperation agreement will lead to the development of other training opportunities tackling European themes and topics.
In particular, besides the above mentioned Master, ALDA will develop a series of webinars focused on EU programs and funds, with special reference to the new programming period of the European Commission 2014-2020.
Finally, ALDA and UNINETTUNO – through signing the agreement – have expressed their common interest to develop new and innovative transnational projects that are able to combine ALDA and commitment on European issues and the focus of UNINETTUNO on distance education.