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At the beginning of May, ALDA’s Environment & Climate (E&C) Hub Team traveled to Nicosia (Cyprus) to participate in a week-long training course on Active Ageing and Nature Conservation, as part of the Grey4Green Erasmus+ project, that aims to eliminate the social exclusion experienced by the Elderly while at the same time joining the fight for sustainability and climate change.

The training course, which brought together around 20 participants from Iceland, Portugal, Italy, and Denmark – was held by The Municipality of Lousada and Bioliving and it tackled various subjects such as concepts of ecology and nature, concepts on Active ageing, Volunteering programmes for nature conservation, etc. 

Considering that part of the new Hub strategy of ALDA is focused on the engagement of its members, the E&C Hub invited representatives of Biosphaera (Italy) and the Union of Towns and Cities of Slovakia (Slovakia) to attend the course in Cyprus. 

In addition to this, at the end of the training, the E&C Hub organised a networking meeting including Bisophaera, the Union of Towns and Cities of Slovakia, and Hub Nicosia, which kindly hosted the encounter.  

Representing the HUB, there were  Valeria Fantini, EU Project Manager and Coordinator of the Environment & Climate Hub, who introduced its objectives, themes, activities, and current and upcoming projects; Elena Fuerler, Project Developer and co-chair for the Development Department, who introduced the EU programmes available to best work on these topics Virginia Stimilli, Junior Project Manager with a focus on Environment and Lizeth López – Project Manager Assistant of the Hub.

Environment and climate issues were key topic of the meeting

As for ALDA’s Members, those who were present were:

Hub Nicosia, represented by Dora Heracleous– Project Manager, and Andriana Lagoudes – Project Officer, is an educational NGO that aims to mobilize young people and provides learning opportunities to strengthen skills such as empowerment, democratic participation, and active citizenship around its main themes: youth, migration, gender, and environment.

Biosphaera, represented by Francesco Busato – Education Department Manager, is a social cooperative in the Veneto, Trentino, and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions in the field of scientific education, and services for the territory and tourism. They actively participate in and promote initiatives for the protection, enhancement, and conservation of the territory and its environmental assets and their main focus is the dissemination and education on environmental and cultural issues.

The Union of Towns and Cities of Slovakia (UTCS), represented by Natalia Shovkoplias – Project Manager, was established as a voluntary association of local governments in Slovakia with the support of twelve towns and cities. Its main objective is to promote mutual cooperation between cities with the aim to achieve, inter alia, the restoration, and protection of the environment through education and training, public administration reform, and regional policy.

This was an opportunity for ALDA to strengthen the relationship with our members and to support the creation of synergies with and among them on the topic of environment and climate.

We look forward to seeing all the activities and ideas that came out of this meeting and will share them with you through our information channels. 

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ALDA Festival and General Assembly 2023, which took place in Brussels (Belgium), offered space for strategic discussions on the importance of local democracy in the EU integration processes of the Eastern Neighbourhood candidate countries. Several roundtables and debates were held as part of the ALDA Festival 2023 from 6 to 9 June, 2023.

In recent years, the Eastern Partnership region has faced several new challenges related to migration, defence and security, enlargement and international threats from Russia. This topic has been the focus of the panel discussion moderated by Mr. Alexandru Coica, Head of ALDA’s Eastern Partnership Unit, which took place on June 9, 2023.

The panel was opened by ALDA Secretary General, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida; “Local democracy will save democracy, and the Eastern Partnership is not just a region, it is much more. It is important that we extend democratic values over a wider area.” – stated Mrs. Valmorbida, introducing the topic.

The discussion continued with an intervention of Mr. H.E. Dirk Schübel, EU Special Representative for the Eastern Partnership, who stated: “The EaP was designed to help each country achieve its goals and, first and foremost, to prepare Moldova and Ukraine for the start of negotiations with the EU and, hopefully, for the not too distant future for Georgia and the other countries.” – stated Mr. Schübel.

“We want to maintain the Eastern Partnership and, just to tell you, we are working closely with Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan.” Mr. Schübel concluded, adding that the European Union is moving fast and counts on a number of wonderful programs to support the cooperation process, local policies, EU for Integrity and anti-corruption programs, for EaP countries.

The panel discussion highlighted the importance of local democracy in EU integration processes and the promotion of European values at the local level

Ms. Tania Marocchi, Policy and Advocacy Manager, EaP Civil Society Forum followed “The involvement of civil society remains highly dependent on the willingness of the government to commit to inclusive transparency – Moldova and Georgia are good examples of inclusive and exclusive ways, but we saw another way in Belarus, and Azerbaijan, where civil society does not function. I think the Eastern Partnership multilateral policy is a great opportunity to engage in particular Belarus and civil society with democratic forces.” – stated Ms. Marocchi.

The “Local Democracy in the context of a renewed geopolitical framework in the Eastern Partnership Countries” panel follows a similar exercise held in November 2022 in Wroclaw (Poland) and updates on the state of the 3 countries: Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, discussing the implications for the region and emphasising the crucial importance of good governance and stakeholders in addressing future challenges.

In this context, the panel discussion highlighted the importance of local democracy in EU integration processes and the promotion of European values at the local level. The Local Democracy Agencies of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, who were present at the panel, brought their testimonies, presenting their expertise, needs and challenges.

The event also focused on the role of participatory mechanisms and citizen involvement in making communities more resilient and strong to overcome multiple crises.

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ALDA’s presence in Ukraine dates back to 2015, when the Local Democracy Agency (LDA) in Dnipro was opened, followed by LDA Mariupol in 2017, thus representing, for almost 10 years, a strategic partner in the country.

Today more than ever, ALDA’s presence in Ukraine has increased and keeps doing so, committing to support local government, civil society organisations and the Ukrainian population as a whole.

On 7 June 2023, within the framework of ALDA Festival General Assembly, the event “Challenges for local communities in the face of migration of Ukrainians during the war“ took place. Partners and stakeholders met in Brussels (Belgium) to discuss recommendations for actions to support local communities in Ukraine that adopt Internally Displaced Persons. LDA Dnipropetrovsk, indeed, is a great example of this.

Since the very beginning of the war in Ukraine, ALDA has supported the country and its people by implementing different actions, among which the “Flagship initiative of ALDA in Ukraine”, aimed at establishing further LDAs in Ukraine as instruments of peace, cohesion and democracy. During the ALDA Festival, partners from Ukraine, EU and representatives of other LDAs met and discussed the creation of these LDAs, thus bringing together a big group of cities, regions and NGOs ready to commit.

One of the key priorities emerged during the roundtable concerned the support to the integration and activation of IDPs in local communities, through the new LDAs to be opened.

The meeting represented a valuable moment of exchange and served to plan strategy for future actions on the opening of the new LDAs in Ukraine

During the first part of the meeting, ALDA Secretary General, Mrs. Antonella Valmborbida, welcomed the participants and gave an overview of ALDA’s work in Ukraine, presenting the Flagship Initiative in Ukraine, together with Mr. Bartek Ostrowski, Consultant for LDAs development in the country. 

After that, Ms. Inna Volkova, ALDA Advisory Board member and Councilor of Odesa Rayon Council presented the LDAs partners from Ukraine. 

The session envisaged the presence of representatives: Ms. Anzhelika Pylypenko, ALDA Governing Board member and delegate of LDA Dnipro and Ms. Anastasiia Diakova from LDA Mariupol, who talked about actions undertaken to support IDPs, and further steps. 

The event unfolded with working groups for each LDA and potential LDA present, namely LDA Mariupol, LDA Dnipro, LDA Vinnytsia, LDA Odesa and LDA Rivne, for partners to discuss an action plan and next steps in the cooperation. 

The event was organised with the support of European Endowment for Democracy (EED), an independent, grant-making organisation and strategic partner that is sharing our values and mission, and working with us towards the same goal: rebuilding the country by operating to guarantee to the Ukrainian population a free, democratic and peaceful future.

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This year ALDA celebrates the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the first Local Democracy Agency in the Balkans, LDA Subotica. This special occasion has been at the core of ALDA Festival and General Assembly 2023, within which the event “30 Years Local Democracy Agencies in the Balkans” took place on 9 June, 2023. 

Key speakers had the chance to connect the recent past with the present and future work of ALDA in the region, linking the past struggles with the current realities while envisioning a European future. The panelists addressed pressing topics for the Western Balkans, offering unique perspectives on democracy work and the challenges that lie ahead. Moderated by Ms. Katica Janeva, Director of Skopje Office and Head of the ALDA Western Balkans Unit, the audience had the pleasure to listen to the contributions of some of the most relevant local and institutional stakeholders in the Balkans. Among them, Ms. Dusica Davidovic, Deputy Mayor of Nis and Member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Council of Europe, who underlined the absolute relevance, especially in the Balkans, of transparent institutions and availability of information in order to build a strong local democracy; “Local democracy is key to building a secure and stable society” – stated Ms. Davidovic.

Afterwards, Ms. Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel, Member of the European Parliament took the floor remarking that local deliberative democracy is essential to create a community in which everyone feels integrated and no one is left behind. As Ms. Von Cramon-Taubadel stated; “I would like to emphasise the importance of local democracy, which is the foundation on which our democratic systems are built. The Local Democracy Agencies act at the local level, and over the last three decades they have worked to create a more inclusive and cohesive society”. 

Later on, Ms. Dragica Martinovic, Vice-president of the EESC‘s Western Balkans Follow-up Committee, contributed by stressing the importance of an effective advocacy action in order to enhance civil dialogue together with social and economic cohesion among the Balkans, which is meaningful in the entire process of EU integration. Furthermore, she dwelt on the importance of young people in the Balkans as key actors of cohesion, so that the EU institutions pay more attention to the needs of civic and local CSOs.

Local democracy as the key to European integration in the Balkans

Lately, the newly elected vice president of ALDA and Director of the Center for Democracy Foundation Ms. Natasa Vuckovic took the floor and stated: “It’s vital to keep reinvigorating the values contained in the EU-Western Balkans Summit Thessaloniki everyday. (…)Taking care of minorities and vulnerable groups, such as LGBTQ+ needs, should become a priority in every Balkan’ Government Agenda in order to make everyone feel part of their own community”. – Ms. Vuckovic concluded. 

The Minister of Local Government Administration of the Republic of Kosovo*, Mr. Elbert Krasniqi, gave then his own valuable contribution as he is trying to be “a minister from another perspective, the one of local government” – Mr. Krasniqi stated. He emphasised the work that the Government of Kosovo* is doing in investing in digital transformation, as a push for the spread of participatory democratic processes among the Kosovar population to improve citizens’ civic engagement.

To conclude, ALDA Governing Board Member and representative of the Municipality of Centar, Mr. Emir Coric underlined the significance of citizens’ decision-making and the increasing need along the Balkan area to strengthen participatory processes such as civic forums; “If we don’t encourage these kind of democratic participatory procedures, the Balkans risk losing the transformative power that every government should have: it’s a threat to future EU integration, and ALDA knows it very well. LDAs in this sense have a key role in gathering communities to encourage participation” – stated Mr. Coric. 

The event represented a valuable occasion to look back together on the road built so far and discuss tomorrow’s commitments and next steps. “There still is an open path that needs to be developed” – stated Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General – “ALDA is looking forward to working everyday more to join forces in promoting democracy at all levels, especially the local one” – stated Mrs. Valmorbida.

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On 7 June 2023, as part of the ALDA Festival and General Assembly 2023, two events took place in Etterbeek (Belgium) within the framework of the TALE and the P-CUBE project, organised by the ALDA Thematic Hub “Youth empowerment and education” : “2024 European elections –  the TALE World Café” and “Education becomes digital” – P-CUBE international Final Conference. 

2024 European elections –  TALE World Café 

The TALE Project aims to reach and engage a greater number of voters, reduce the gap of voter turnout among the various EU member states, and activate and empower them to play an active role and thus vote in the next European parliamentary elections in 2024.

To this end, the TALE World Café started with an opening and welcoming speech by Ms. Laura Thomas, Liaison officer at European Capital of Democracy (ECoD), who presented the European Parliament’s strategy for the 2024 European elections and the commitment of ALDA and ECoD in this field.

After this preliminary introduction, a focus on “European Elections 2024: The European Parliament’s strategy” was offered by Ms. Sol De La Guardia, Officer responsible for Communication in the Civil Society Outreach Unit in the Direction-General for Communication of the European Parliament. Afterwards, Ms. Dafne Sgarra, Project Manager at ALDA and Hub coordinator, presented an overview of the TALE project. 

Finally, three main tables were organised by ECoD and ALDA’s experts, discussing political activism and youth engagement; effective online and offline campaigning; and news and active democratic participation.

More than 40 young participants, stakeholders and civil society organisations’ members participated in the TALE World Café. As a result of this event, the outcomes of the discussion will be taken into account as inputs for the Capacity Building Programme of the TALE project. 

Education becomes digital” – The P-CUBE international Final Conference

The P-CUBE international Final Conference was organised and initiated by the collaboration between ALDA’s Thematic Hubs “Youth empowerment and education” and “Digitalisation and Innovation”. 

The event started with the opening speech by Mr. Marco Boaria, ALDA Director of Programs and Corporate Strategy. 

Then, Ms. Marta Markowska, Policy Officer at Directorate General for Education, Youth Sport and Culture (DG EAC) of the European Commission, delivered her speech “Delivering on digital education: digital skills for empowerment” by focusing on the opportunities offered by the European Union in terms of inclusive digital education and digital skills, which are of paramount importance to make citizens more active, aware and empowered. Ms. Markowska specifically focused on the Erasmus+ programme and on 2023 as the European Year of Skills. 

Ms. Markowska’s intervention was followed by a speech of Ms. Saga Smith, Project Manager at Science for Democracy, who introduced the P-CUBE project – Playing Public Policy to the audience with a presentation of the main objectives and activities, the last steps of the project and the game itself.

As a conclusion to the event, the “Education goes digital” roundtable discussion took place, with a focus on three case studies: the Lifelong Learning Platform‘s experience, presented by Mr. Andrea Lapegna, Deputy Director of LLP; the Megaskills and the ALL DIGITAL Academy, presented by Mr. Afonso Araujo, Project Manager at ALL DIGITAL; and of course, the P-CUBE game, exploring in particular the policy area of Science and Public Policy with Ms. Saga Smith, Project Manager at Science for Democracy. The event ended with a Questions & Answers session, where the audience had the possibility to exchange views and opinions on the topics discussed. 

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On 6 & 7 June 2023, within the framework of ALDA Festival and General Assembly 2023, EPIC – European Platform of Integrating Cities partners and both local and international stakeholders gathered together in Brussels (Belgium) for the last events of the project. The two events had the objective of discussing the project’s outcome and allow participants to talk about the sustainability of EPIC.

The third international networking event took place on 6 June, where partners and their local stakeholders had the opportunity to present their activities on migrant integration. Eventually, the audience was splitted in different focus groups to brainstorm on the current status and to discuss possible solutions to inclusion and integration of migrants in several fields namely, education, employment, legal and administrative support, housing, health, narrative, civic engagement and policy making. 

The following day, the Final Conference of the project began with a welcoming speech from ALDA Governing Board member and President of Cooperativa Studio Progetto, Mr. Andrea Rilievo, followed by the keynote speech from Mr. Luca Barani, Policy Officer at the European Commission (DG HOME).

EPIC addresses the challenges of the integration of migrants by targeting medium-sized cities 

This first session was followed by a roundtable entitled “How to strengthen multilevel governance on migration? How to better include contributions and inputs from territories?” where representatives from local authorities, European institutions and CSOs exchanged views and opinions on the importance of acting at the local level. 

The speakers of the roundtable were: 

In order to give concrete sustainability to the project beyond its lifespan, the last morning session focused on the Memorandum of Understanding, a document signed by the municipality and the local Non-Governmental Organisations to engage and commit in future actions together.

In the afternoon, all the sessions were structured as a marketplace where partners had the chance to showcase their activities on the 3 parallel actions they implemented: first they focused on the pilot projects, then on the counter-narrative campaigns to change the negative narrative in their territory (you can read the EPIC Toolkit on how to implement an alternative narrative campaign) and lastly on the local paths by answering the question: “How to raise awareness and mobilise citizens and local actors?”. The event ended with a networking aperitif.

If you want to know more about the EPIC project and its result, you can check out the final publication available in all the languages of the project!

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Within the “Great War’s High Route” project (Alta Via della Grande Guerra), ALDA+ is involved in the creation of a veritable open-air Great War museum.
Funded by the Italian Ministry of Culture and implemented by a network of key entities and institutions in the Veneto region and in particular in the province of Vicenza (Italy), thus creating a high altitude Great War hiking trail through the Vicenza foothills (Alta Via della Grande Guerra delle Prealpi Vicentine).

It is a trail of historical, cultural and environmental significance, where nature has been blemished by deliberate human intervention, causing scars of a past that must not be forgotten but saved and passed down to future generations as a valuable common resource.

At the centre of the project are the four war memorials, which not only contain the bodies of the fallen (known and unknown) but stand for the tangible cornerstone of our remembrance and liberty.

The first walk will take place on June 17th, 2023 and will explore paths on the Mount Cimone and Cima Neutra Gallery

Within this framework, the project is trying to raise awareness on the richness of this High Route by organising a series of easy hikes among the main points of interests.

Each trail will see the presence of nature experts and hiking guides who will expound on the history of the places visited. Moreover, the trails will take place along the World War I battle front and will go through the four memorial sites situated in the province of Vicenza, in the Mountains Pasubio, Cimone, Asiago and Grappa.

To learn more about the hikes and the program, download the flyer HERE and/or contact Luisa at luisa@alda-europe.eu

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“Democracy faces many challenges and the EU is not new to these challenges.
We cannot take democracy for granted. We must close all the gaps, block authoritarianism, and all the threats. That is why we are working on the defence of the democracy package.
We need to build democratic resilience.”

This is how Dubravka Šuica, Vice President of the European Commission, addressed members and partners of ALDA, during the opening ceremony of the Association’s General Assembly, on Thursday June 8th, 2023.

With her words, she endorsed ALDA’s Festival and Assembly’s main theme “Local Democracy will Save Democracy”, this being probably the biggest challenge European institutions and civil society will have to work for in the upcoming period. A mission that needs to be pursued through the strengthening of participation, democratic values and dialogue.

“We cannot take democracy for granted. We must close all the gap. […] We need to build democratic resilience”

In her inspiring speech, the Vice President went back on her career path, recalling that she herself began her political career as mayor of her hometown and that “once a mayor always a mayor, ‘cause all politics is local in the end”.

Then, the discussion was extended to the hall, where the audience had the chance to interact and ask questions to the Vice President. For instance, a point was raised on the follow-up of the Conference on the Future and on how citizens’ input was taken into account. Here, Šuica, reaffirmed how 80% of European Commission’s initiaitves are directly drawn from recommendations gathered during the CoFoE.

Šuica’s presence was a powerful signal of the stronger and stronger links connecting ALDA and the EC, as well as of how the Commission considers ALDA’s action important for the democratic advancement and the empowerment of local communities, in Europe and in the Neighbourhood.

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On Wednesday, June 7th 2023, the members of the Governing Board of ALDA gathered in the premises of Etterbeek’s Municipal Hall, in Brussels, to discuss about key topics for the future of the Association and to prepare the ground for the upcoming General Assembly.

The meeting began with the observance of a minute’s silence, in memory of Didier Duboisset, former Governing Board member and then Observer, who passed away last week. Didier was remembered by all the board members, especially by the words of ALDA President Oriano Otocan and Secretary General Antonella Valmorbida, who reaffirmed everyone’s condolences for this sudden death, and the will to keep alive the memory of Didier, who had done so much for the Association.

ALDA welcomes and congratulates with Nataša Vučković, new Vice President of the Association

This Governing Board was also characterised by new arrivals and important appointments.
On the one hand, Irina Sahakyan-Vetter was welcomed as representative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
Then, in light of the recent changes in the Governing Board’s composition, the Board decided to elect a new Vice President for the Association, by conferring the position on Nataša Vučković, Founder, Secretary General and Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy Foundation (Serbia), member of ALDA.
On behalf of the whole Board and Association, we are all extremely proud of this decision, considering Ms Vučković’s commitment and dedication to the cause of local democracy, good governance and European integration.

After such an important moment, the meeting went on with crucial updates on ALDA’s activities and plans for the future, with the presentation of the 2023 Programme of ALDA, outlining the present challenges and the perspectives for the year to come, in terms of strategy, internal management, events and activities planned.

Even more strategic and relevant has been the presentation of the draft strategic plans for 2024-2028, a key document for the next steps of ALDA and its strategy – that give a continuation and further develop the actual strategic views 2020-2024.

The Governing Board went on with updates on the Local Democracy Agency’s network, with particular accent on the flagship initiative for the development of the LDAs in Ukraine, up to the consideration of some essential points in view of the ALDA General Assembly, the following day, 8 June 2023, also in the Etterbeek Municipal Hall.
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See the ALDA Festival and General Assembly full program HERE

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On May 25, 2023, the Council of Europe Centre of Expertise in cooperation with the Latvian think-tank organisation Providus held a Roundtable discussion on national European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) practices in Riga (Latvia), where Latvian practitioners were joined by peers from Lithuania, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, North Macedonia, Estonia, and Norway.

ALDA participated in the event represented by Ms. Katica Janeva, Director of the Skopje office and ELoGE expert. Ms. Janeva exchanged experience and lessons learned while implementing ELoGE in Croatia, North Macedonia and Kosovo* and commented on possibilities to improve this self-assessment tool.

Good Democratic Governance at the local level is essential for the development of a strong and sustainable society

Good Democratic Governance at the local level is essential for the development of a strong and sustainable society. The Council of Europe Centre of Expertise for Good Governance promotes such good governance through an innovative and stimulative approach, by implementing its tool European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE).

Ever since its beginning in 2011, ELoGE has been implemented in more than 15 countries and regions across Europe.

The Roundtable held in Latvia was followed by an International Conference on Good Governance at the Local Level, that took place on 26 May 2023. The conference was organised under the auspices of the Latvian Presidency and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. One of the thematic priorities of the Latvian Presidency is good governance at the local level, which represented a central theme of the conference. The event included discussions on various aspects of good governance: rule of law, good financial management and public participation.

Discover more about ALDA’s ELoGE activities here and know more about the implementation of ELoGE in Croatia, North Macedonia and Kosovo* here.

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The ALDA Festival and General Assembly 2023 will not only be characterised by relevant topics, stimulating discussions and experienced speakers. This year, ALDA will have the honour of hosting a very special guest: Ms. Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission, who will open the ALDA General Assembly on 8 June 2023 at the Municipal Hall in Etterbeek (Belgium).

Entitled “Local democracy will Save Democracy“, the 2023 event will focus mainly on the power of local democracy as a promoter of equality, freedom, peace, rule of law and human rights. Founding values of the European Union that ALDA and its network deeply believe in and pursue on a daily basis.

Given the importance of this topic, there is no more suitable person than Ms. Šuica to discuss the future of democracy and kick off the ALDA General Assembly.

Commissioner Dubravka Šuica opens the ALDA General Assembly 2023

Commissioner for Democracy and Demography, previously in charge of the Conference on the Future of Europe, Ms. Šuica’s work embodies the above-mentioned values and is constantly aimed at promoting and supporting democracy, stimulating the participation of those who represent the very pillars of the European project: us, the citizens.

As stated by Ms. Šuica during the closing statement of the Conference on the Future of Europe “We will hear your views, citizens’ views. The most important participants in this process, the citizens.” Highlighting the fundamental role of the population, that with a bottom-up approach contributes to building a strong local democracy, for a resilient and thriving global one.  

We therefore look forward to the start of this ALDA Festival and General Assembly to be held in Etterbeek from 6 to 9 June 2023, which will be characterised by important discussions, exchanges of ideas and valuable insights. Come and join us! 

Discover the full programme by clicking here.

Register here and join us!

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Local Democracy will Save Democracy – ALDA Festival and General Assembly 2023

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Launched in March 2020 in spite of the difficult situation, the Kyrgyzstan-based Media Dialogue project is relentlessly proceeding with its implementation; July 3rd 2020 marked another crucial step towards the project goals, as an online event was organized to officially sign grant agreements with the four pre-selected grant winners, i.e.

  1. The www.24.kg news agency
  2. Radio Salam Kyrgyzstan (Daanazat)
  3. Promedia Plus
  4. The TV1KG TV channel.

Beating 23 other applications that ALDA had received as part of the call for proposals it launched in April, in fact, each of these four finalist organizations will now receive up to 30,000 euro, as stipulated with this official signing of the grant agreements.

“We are glad that we started to explore the region with Kyrgyzstan because, despite all the recent challenges, it remains one of the most democratic country in this part of the world”, stated ALDA Secretary General Antonella Valmorbida referring to the project being the first for ALDA in Central Asia. Indeed, in the past few years Kyrgyzstan experienced a good amount of political turmoil, going through revolutions in 2005 and 2010 that led to changes in the country’s leadership and to ethnic violence in the south, eventually culminating in a constitutional referendum in 2010 that reduced presidential powers and established a parliamentary system.

As expressed by Eastern Partnership & Central Asia Coordinator Alexandru Coica, “It is truly inspiring for us to see such interest [the 27 applications for the grants] because we know how challenging the current situation is for media institutions. Apart from the global pandemic situation, the local media are also affected by recent legislative initiatives that tend to negatively affect freedom of expression, access to information and media independence“.

Indeed, Media Dialogue effectively wants to provide conflict prevention and mitigation tools ahead of the 2020 elections to avoid the repetition of past crises, and aims to do so by strengthening the capacity and responsibility of media actors to operate as drivers of democracy. To reach this goal, on the one hand the project wants to improve the legal environment affecting the media sector in Kyrgyzstan, so that the environment abides by international freedom of expression standards; on the other hand, it will help media actors play a stabilisation role as reliable relays of information and democratic watchdogs during the 2020 electoral cycle.

Hopefully, Dr. Valmorbida added, this will be just the beginning of a fruitful cooperation with an increasing number of local partners: “ALDA is interested not only in establishing working relationships with its grantees, but also a truly constructive and long-term partnership”. Best of luck, Media Dialogue!

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Programme & objectives:

THE:PLACE is a collaborative exchange programme designed to establish enduring networks between Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Türkiye and the European Union. Managed by ALDA – European Association for Local Democracy and MAD – Mekanda Adalet Derneği and supported by the Mercator Foundation, the programme aims to empower CSOs and Local Authorities(LAs) as crucial actors in local development.

The programme aims to enhance CSOs’ capacity to make a significant impact in their respective work areas, by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and cooperation among those working on local issues. It also encourages collaboration with local authorities through quadrilateral partnerships. The programme provides targeted capacity building, peer learning, and subgrant support on joint partnership projects.

THE:PLACE will last from November 2021 to October 2025, supporting two rounds of beneficiaries (the first from February 2022 to October 2023 and the second from September 2023 to September 2025).

Who is THE:PLACE for?

We are seeking CSOs which: 

  • adopt human rights or development based approach (İnsan hakları veya kalkınma temelli yaklaşım) 
  • are non-for-profit NGOs and Foundations (Türkiye için dernek, vakıf ve kar-amacı-gütmeyen kooperatifler); 
  • are based in Türkiye or the European Union 
  • are interested in engaging in an international exchange process coupled with an enhanced engagement with a local authority at the city level (either municipalities or metropolitan municipalities/district municipalities and metropolitan municipalities in Türkiye) 
  • have an experience in project management and sufficient stability as an organisation (for example, a minimum of 3 permanent staff members for both EU and TR CSOs and preferably a maximum of 10 permanent staff members for TR, 20 for EU);

The call for participants will be open until July 7, 2023

What will we work on at THE:PLACE?

The program doesn’t have restrictions on topics in which participating CSOs would like to enhance their capacity or work on the joint project they would like to develop later as long as they align with the general framework of the Human Rights Based Approach and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And, of course, CSOs are expetected to be motivated to collaborate with local authorities and actively engage in international exchange with their counterparts through those topics.

In light of the recent earthquake disaster in Türkiye and the growing climate crisis worldwide, we believe it is crucial to incorporate a disaster resilience perspective into our works of any kind. Therefore, the program will look for participating CSOs to integrate this perspective into the projects they develop and implement later within the program.

How to apply?

Read the full call for proposals to have all the information about the call and how to apply!

The call will be open from until 7 July 2023.

All the questions related to the present call for participants and the participation modalities have to be addressed to the following email address: info@theplaceprogramme.org 

An info-session of the Call for participants will take place on June 19, 2023 from 10:30 to 11:30 (CEST). Register here.

🇬🇧 Read the call for participants

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ALDA took part in the two-day Civil Society Organisation Governance Community of practice regional meeting, organised by EU TACSO 3 in Belgrade (Serbia) on 11 and 12 May 2023.

The objective of the meeting was to bring together key stakeholders from the Western Balkans region and Türkiye to share best regional and EU experiences on CSO governance and create a community of practice on governance.

The aim of the meeting was to create a community of practice on governance

At this working meeting, Milena Dimitrovska-Zurovska, ALDA Skopje project developer, shared the Association’s European and regional experiences with CSO governance, challenges and approaches to transformation. Ms. Dimitrovska-Zurovska spoke about the development of the network, the activities and different approaches adopted by ALDA during its work in the region and how these have helped the network to grow outside its original borders in the Western Balkans.

ALDA will continue to work with professionals in the region and build partnerships to ensure the development of the Western Balkans and Türkiye on its path towards the EU.

DOCUMENTS

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In February 2022, ALDA launched a call for proposals to fund ALDA members willing to support participatory actions in the field of sustainability.

In order to promote good governance and citizen participation at the local level in Europe and beyond, ALDA leads a wide range of actions supporting local, national and international stakeholders in achieving their goals in the fields of European integration, decentralisation, human rights, social inclusion, sustainable development, civic initiatives and much more. As its core element, ALDA supports citizens and groups of citizens in their initiatives aimed at improving their local context, building bridges with local authorities in order to make the change real. In this framework, ALDA works through a participatory approach and the method of multilateral decentralised cooperation, always focusing on strong partnerships between local authorities and civil society organisations.

ALDA works with and for local resilient communities, to address the future challenges from a democratic, environmental, social and economic point of view. The call was aimed at supporting local and grass-root initiatives in the field of EU rights and values, in order to promote both a sense of belonging to the EU in view of the 2024 EU elections, and a sense of “local ownership” and engagement in the local community. This way the funded projects were able to pave the way for further activities in this sense and ensure the capitalisation of the results.

“Respond Locally to Global Issues” call for proposals: results are out!

The call was addressed to ALDA members based in the EU which presented their own projects focused on increasing public knowledge, awareness and interest about the EU key policies and strategies.

ALDA received many interesting and qualitative applications. After the evaluation carried out by an appointed  Evaluation Committee (EC), 15 organisations from 8 different countries were selected.

These organizations will implement different strategies at local level targeting different vulnerable groups in areas such as: education, health, climate action, gender equality among others.

Click here to discover the 15 beneficiaries of the regranting programme!

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

On April 18th and 19th, 2023, a new Interreg Central Europe project has kicked off in the Italian city of Trento.

Public-private-partnership for Social and Solidarity Economy (3P4SSE) – this is the project’s title – aims at filling Central Europe regional gaps in addressing weak economic sectors (with low added value) and disadvantaged people, by promoting the territorial clusterisation of Social and Solidarity Economies, creating a multilevel networks scheme at European and regional scales, based on Public-Private Partnership and a strategic EU cooperation.

Lasting 36 months, the project involves 11 partners from central Europe, led by the Autonomous Province of Trento, namely ALDA+, the National Foundation for Civil Society Development (Croatia), the Regional Development Agency ARLEG (Poland), Prizma Foundation (Slovenia), FAB – Vocational Support Association (Austria), Pannon Business Network Association (Hungary), Links Foundation (Italy), Regional Development Agency for Podravje – Maribor (Slovenia), Trentino Federation of Cooperation (Italy), Lower Silesian Centre for Social Policy (Poland) and Split – Dalmatia County (Croatia).

Increasing citizen participation and the democratic level in different local Western Balkans realities is the key point at the basis of the partnership between ALDA and CEI, that are currently cooperating and joining forces to give concrete support to the building of a strong local good governance expertise. 

3P4SSE aims at filling Central Europe regional gaps in addressing weak economic sectors and disadvantaged people, by promoting the territorial clusterisation of Social and Solidarity Economies

The Kick-off meeting took place over two days dedicated to deepening the mutual knowledge of project partners, setting-up an action plan for the following months and discovering Solidarity Economy experiences in the Region of Trento.

Indeed, the first day a field visit was organised at the Centre for Solidarity Economy, in Trento (Italy) where project partners could discover this interesting and inspiring reality and have an introduction of the Trentino Solidarity Economy System. The following day was mainly focused on getting organised for the months to come, defining an action plan for future activities and discussing some key technical elements of the project.

In the following weeks and months the first project’s activities will start locally and all social media and information channels, included the project’s website, will be fully available.

Stay tuned!

DOCUMENTS

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ALDA is one of partners of the MIICT project – ICT Enabled Services for Migration, which has recently released the Joint Migration Policy Whitepaper “Towards ICT-Enabled Integration of Migrants”. The paper, recently published, has been written by six EU-funded projects MIICT, REBUILD, NADINE, MICADO, EASYRIGHTS and WELCOME which aim to better integrate migrants and refugees in European societies by developing ICT-enabled solutions and toolkits for the implementation of inclusion policies by public administrations and the civil society.

The Paper is the result of the Joint Migration Policy Roundtables, organised among the six projects, which took place from the 14th to the 16th October 2021. The idea of the Roundtable was to reflect and respond on how to better integrate migrants in European societies using ICT solutions.

ICT tools and digitalisation of public services related to the migration sector could ease migrants’ integration into their host societies

Therefore, this paper identifies several priorities and defines specific recommendations regarding co-creation and participatory design, multi-stakeholders collaboration and ICT tools and digital services for supporting integration.

The European Commission considers the Joint Migration Policy Whitepaper as an important strategic input to improve migrants and refugees’ integration. Indeed, ICT tools and digitalisation of public services related to the migration sector could ease migrants’ integration into their host societies.

What are the next steps? The European Commission will take the recommendations of the Joint Migration Policy Paper into consideration in the policy-making process of the EU digital government policy in the area of migration. Indeed, in the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027, the European Commission announced it will work on an inclusive EU e-government action plan, promoting human-centric digital public services for citizens, including migrants.

Being involved within MIICT project underlines the commitment that ALDA has in promoting social inclusion while working for  the decrease of discrimination.

DOCUMENTS

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After more than 3 years of hard work, the partners of EPIC will finally have the opportunity to gather together for the Final events of the project, which will take place on the 6th and 7th June in Brussels. 

On the 6th of June, there will be the International networking path, which wants to be an opportunity to bring together public and private representatives to exchange in an interactive way on migrants’ integration, starting by looking at the project’s results and through different thematics (education, employment, legal and administrative support, housing, health, narrative, civic engagement and policy making). Marketplace space and focus groups on the above mentioned topics will be organised, to build synergies with other participating organisations. In this context, we do believe that your contribution will bring interesting and fruitful insights to the knowledge and experience exchange and stimulate the networking, given your expertise on the topics.

The focus is to to discuss and reflect on the challenges around the reception and integration of people with migration background

The following day, the final conference, named “Challenges of the integration of migrants: get inspired from the experiences of Cities and NGOs”, will take place from 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. in Brussels, organised in the framework of the European project EPIC of which ALDA is coordinator, The event wants to be an opportunity to bring together public and private representatives to discuss and reflect on the challenges around the reception and integration of people with migration background, starting from the sharing of the project results.

The events are part of ALDA Festival and General Assembly 2023, named Local Democracy will Save Democracy! The festival will include participants from the EU countries and the neighbourhood, where colleagues, members and partners of ALDA will come together for fruitful exchanges on key EU priorities, sharing knowledge and best practices on themes such as migration, inclusion, gender equality, environmental protection, sustainable development and human rights

Here you can find the agenda of the events!If you wish to attend, please register at the following link.