DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project consists in a collaboration between ALDA and Open Saint Petersburg (OSP) for the organisation of two international conferences under the topic of “Participatory Democracy: exchanges of best practices”, taking place in Moscow on October 30th, 2019 and in St. Petersburg on October 31st, 2019.

Projects participants were Russian and European councillors, representatives of municipal authorities, activists of local communities, while the main topics addressed during the project were:

  • Participatory democracy and engagement of citizens, methods used and results achieved
  • Ongoing issues for local authorities, methods used and results achieved: urban planning and urban mobility, efficiency versus inclusiveness; how the cities are building on experiences of citizens and institutions.

OBJECTIVES

  • Experiencing exchange among municipalities of different countries
  • Establishing contacts between municipal authorities of Russia and Europe
  • Providing support to local communities in Russia.
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

Within the framework of the “LINK4 Cooperation” project funded by the European Union, the second Forum for sharing best practices of CSOs and LAs cooperation was held in Prijedor on 9 December 2022, gathering over 60 participants.

In addition to representatives of the international community the Forum was attended by representatives of local authorities and CSOs from:

  • Berkovici, Jablanica, Kostajnica, Maglaj, Mostar, Nevesinje, Novi Grad, Prijedor, Ravno, Trebinje, Zavidovici and Zepce

who jointly identified specific challenges of cooperation and expressed readiness to find optimal solutions to strengthen cooperation. Moreover, as the key tools in the context of joining the European Union an assessment of the impact and importance of the ELoGE process and the Leadership Academy (LAP) program of Council of Europe was also carried out.

Slobodan Javor, Mayor of the City of Prijedor and one of the hosts of the Forum, emphasized the importance of commitment to continuous improvement of public services and achieving more efficient and responsible management:

”The very fact that we are part of such an important project testifies how important it is to us to strengthen local participation and cooperation with the non-governmental sector. Also, through the segments and opportunities provided by the project, we strive to take into account the recommendations, all with the aim of improving local self-government, openness and transparency towards citizens.”

“The reform of local government in Bosnia and Herzegovina must achieve a high degree of direct participation of citizens” Dzenana Dedic at the second forum in Prijedor

Referring to the importance of participatory processes as a key factor in the development and stability of local democracy, Dženana Dedić, director of the Local Democracy Agency Mostar, emphasized: “The reform of local government in Bosnia and Herzegovina must achieve a high degree of direct participation of citizens, which is in accordance with current strategies and recommendations of international organizations“

Bearing in mind ALDA’s experience in launching the ELoGE program in Croatia, North Macedonia and Kosovo*, Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General, addressed the participants of the Forum, saying: “Good governance is the foundation of a functional and lasting democratic system. ALDA is honored to receive accreditation for the ELoGE – European Label of Excellence in Governance. An important program that, thanks to the partnership with the Council of Europe, contributes to the strengthening of democracy around the world and the establishment of a closer relationship between local authorities, civil society organizations and European institutions.”

A detailed presentation of the ELoGE process in BiH was conducted by the project partners. The findings from the benchmarking process were used as a base to detect most recurring weaknesses in municipalities that finalized the ELoGE process and were evaluated. The findings were presented by Ivana Velkova, project manager from ALDA Skopje, during the Zero document session and the participants were then asked to propose ideas on how to overcome those weaknesses during the World Cafe session “Moj grad, moja ulica”.

***

“LINK 4 Cooperation” project aims to strengthen the capacity of local authorities and civil society organizations in conducting participatory processes in order to jointly identify specific problems of communities and, thanks to a participatory approach, find the best solutions. The project consortium consists of the Local Democracy Agency (LDA) Mostar, the Local Democracy Agency (LDA) Zavidovici, the Local Democracy Agency (LDA) Prijedor, the Center for the Development of Herzegovina (CRH), the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), and associate partner ALDA Skopje. Implementation began on January 1, 2021 and will last until December 31, 2023. Its value is over 540,000 EUR, of which the European Union provided over 490,000 EUR in grants.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

The Erasmus+ Water’s Experts project represents a valuable opportunity to underline the importance of water resources and raise awareness among young people and citizens on their role on the planet. 

Climate change has a huge impact on water resources, causing droughts, floods and rivers’ transformation, then endangering the ecosystems and human life. Hence the need to create suitable methods to monitor the main issues of rivers, especially in hydro-rich areas where agriculture and nature-based tourism are highly dependent on climate.

The project aims to create a new professional profile, the Water Expert, capable of understanding the geographic and biological specificities of the watercourses and able to identify and handle the critical issues. Thanks to a 4-month training course, students attending the last year of vocational schools will acquire specific knowledge and professional skills in water resources management.

Students will acquire specific knowledge and professional skills in water resources management

Together with ALDA, four partners are involved in the project, and the activities have been taking place in four European countries (Italy, Portugal, North Macedonia and France). The project partners met on the occasion of the Kick-off Meeting in Portugal on 3 and 4 September 2022, that has been an essential moment to coordinate and set the following step in the project activities.

In the last few months, the project partners have been in touch with schools to present the project and identify the students who will attend the training course. Many schools have shown interest in the project and are already onboard. In the meanwhile, they  have been working to finalise the training course contents and identify the experts who will train the students in each country.

ALDA is enthusiastic to contribute to such an interesting project, and is looking forward to sharing the upcoming news on the training courses.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

24 Civil Society Organizations from the districts of Cimișlia, Florești, Străseni, Ștefan Vodă and Telenești, received the grant award contracts under the “EU4Accountability” project. The event was organized by ALDA, at Europe Café – EU Information Center, in Chisinau.

The “EU4Accountability” project is funded by the European Union and aims to improve social responsibility at the local level and to create sustainable cooperation mechanisms between local public authorities in the Republic of Moldova and civil society organizations (CSOs), in order to better respond to the needs of local communities.

“The financial support offered today by the European Union will allow CSOs to strengthen their efforts to improve democratic participation and respond to the concrete needs of citizens in Cimișlia districts , Florești, Strășeni, Ștefan Vodă and Telenesti” said Jānis Mažeiks, the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, invited to the event

“I would like to congratulate the civil society organizations awarded grants under the EU4Accountability action and thank them for their dedication to promoting social responsibility in the Republic of Moldova” Jānis Mažeiks

“This will include public campaigns to raise awareness of the budget process, civic engagement to monitor public spending and policy-making, and participatory budget consultations – all to get citizens and local authorities to jointly choose the investments that are most needed in their communities” continued the Ambassador “I would like to congratulate the civil society organizations awarded grants under the EU4Accountability action and thank them for their dedication to promoting social responsibility in the Republic of Moldova. With your country’s new EU candidacy role, the importance of civil society in moving forward on the accession path is even more evident.”

Similarly, ALDA colleague Alexandru Coica, thanked the European Union for its continued support of the Republic of Moldova on its European path and the development of communities through participation and an inclusive approach. In addition, he underlined the expected improvement in social responsibility in the target areas and the positive impact of small project grants on almost 140,000 citizens from 50 localities throughout the country

To be noted that the 24 projects selected for funding aim at strengthening the social responsibility of local initiative groups and organizations and enhancing the civic engagement of different target groups. The projects submitted by local CSOs are particularly aimed at young people, women, and people from vulnerable groups and provide for: (1) the development of initiative groups, advocacy campaigns and consolidation of local coalitions, (2) strengthening the capacities of CSOs in the regions and implementing of the participatory budgeting mechanism, (3) the development of civic and youth organizations and the creation of information centers for citizens.

***
The “EU4Accountability” project, which runs from 2022-2024, is implemented by a consortium of three organizations: the European Association for Local Democracy ALDA, the European Partnership for Democracy EPD and the Czech non-governmental organization People in Need PIN, extends over 10 districts (Cahul, Comrat, Cimișlia, Fălești, Florești, Glodeni, Rîșcani, Străseni, Ștefan Vodă, Telenești), and provides for a total budget of 1.5 million EUR.

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AT A GLANCE

The project is designed to improve cross-border cooperation and exchange between cultural workers and heritage professionals of Greece, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia. The project is conceived to raise awareness among practitioners in the field of “dealing with the past, history, and cultural memory” studies about the abuse of historical facts and their influence on collective memory.
Who are the participants of the project? 15 cultural workers from Greece, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia trained in Sensitive Management of Cultural resources!

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the project is to encourage open dialogue on peaceful and tolerant interpretation of cultural resources among heritage practitioners and cultural workers.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project aims at solving such urgent problems as: activating citizens to participate in decision-making at the local level, strengthening civil society organisations through raising the level of knowledge in the field of project management and grant management, creating dialogue platforms between NGOs and local authorities, reducing dependency moods.

NGOs, promoting the interests of citizens and implementing socially significant projects, are in contact with local authorities to resolve current issues. The success and effectiveness of the activities of NGOs and initiative groups of citizens largely depend on the level of interaction, trust and mutual understanding.
For local authorities, interaction with NGOs is also necessary (feedback) and beneficial, as allows you to attract additional financial resources to solve existing problems.
Thus, thanks to the interaction and dialogue between public organisations and local authorities, mutual trust and the effectiveness of solving local problems increase.

The involvement of NGOs, initiative groups of citizens and local authorities in the project also contributes to the development of interaction, increased trust and mutual understanding, the creation of dialogue platforms in the form of public and expert councils, the involvement of citizens in the decision-making process and the reduction of paternalistic sentiments.

OBJECTIVES

  • Increasing the role of NGOs and citizens in solving problems at the local level;
  • Strengthening the knowledge and skills of initiative groups and activists in project preparation and management;
  • Enhancing civic participation in decision-making at the local level and increasing the ability to influence local development;
  • Finding of effective ways to create dialogue platforms and increase interaction and trust between local authorities and citizens;
  • Raising awareness (legislation, exchange of experience, including foreign ones) about the forms of civic participation in the decision-making process at the local level;
  • Development of practical solution for local problems with the active participation of citizens.

ACTIVITIES

  • Competition of mini-projects TANDEM-V aimed at enhancing citizen participation in decision-making and solving urgent problems at the local level (local authorities, CSOs, citizen initiative groups);
  • Reception and consideration of applications, providing advice for project preparation;
  • Launching Conference;
  • Capacity Building seminars;
  • Implementation of the Re-granting scheme;
  • Final Conference;
  • Communication and dissemination.
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project aims at solving such urgent problems as: activating citizens to participate in decision-making at the local level, strengthening civil society organisations through raising the level of knowledge in the field of project management and grant management, creating dialogue platforms between NGOs and local authorities, reducing dependency moods.

NGOs, promoting the interests of citizens and implementing socially significant projects, are in contact with local authorities to resolve current issues. The success and effectiveness of the activities of NGOs and initiative groups of citizens largely depend on the level of interaction, trust and mutual understanding.
For local authorities, interaction with NGOs is also necessary (feedback) and beneficial, as allows you to attract additional financial resources to solve existing problems.
Thus, thanks to the interaction and dialogue between public organisations and local authorities, mutual trust and the effectiveness of solving local problems increase.

The involvement of NGOs, initiative groups of citizens and local authorities in the project also contributes to the development of interaction, increased trust and mutual understanding, the creation of dialogue platforms in the form of public and expert councils, the involvement of citizens in the decision-making process and the reduction of paternalistic sentiments.

OBJECTIVES

  • Increasing the role of NGOs and citizens in solving problems at the local level;
  • Strengthening the knowledge and skills of initiative groups and activists in project preparation and management;
  • Enhancing civic participation in decision-making at the local level and increasing the ability to influence local development;
  • Finding of effective ways to create dialogue platforms and increase interaction and trust between local authorities and citizens;
  • Raising awareness (legislation, exchange of experience, including foreign ones) about the forms of civic participation in the decision-making process at the local level;
  • Development of practical solution for local problems with the active participation of citizens.

ACTIVITIES

  • Competition of mini-projects TANDEM-V aimed at enhancing citizen participation in decision-making and solving urgent problems at the local level (local authorities, CSOs, citizen initiative groups);
  • Reception and consideration of applications, providing advice for project preparation;
  • Launching Conference;
  • Capacity Building seminars;
  • Implementation of the Re-granting scheme;
  • Final Conference;
  • Communication and dissemination.
,

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project aims at strengthening the capacity of Moldovan local authorities to perform a transparent and participatory governance in their Communities, with a specific reference to the policy making process related to the upcoming Decentralisation reform. It intends to build capacities of Local Authorities (LAs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to plan and implement their activities in close cooperation with local communities, and other stakeholders involving them into planning and implementation and, thus strengthening capacity to respond to challenges, reinforcing dialogue and trust in local communities. On the other hand, it will promote a multi-level governance dialogue between the national government and the local authorities.
A capacity building phase plus the implementation of participatory and multi-stakeholders’ local governance initiatives will particularly strengthen LAs’ willingness to involve local communities in the decision-making process, at the local level, while it will also lead to development of a set of recommendations to improve and promote a new decentralisation reform.
The rationale behind the project approach is to build upon the necessity to establishing a better dialogue between local authorities and national government regarding the decentralisation reform, and more concretely to let local authorities feel more involved in the process of re-organisation of the role of LAs in Moldova.

OBJECTIVES

  • strengthening the capacity of Moldovan local authorities to perform a transparent and participatory governance in their Communities
  • policy making process related to the upcoming Decentralisation reform
  • build capacities of Local Authorities (LAs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to plan and implement their activities in close cooperation with local communities, and other stakeholders involving them into planning and implementation
  • strengthening capacity to respond to challenges
  • reinforcing dialogue and trust in local communities
  • promote a multi-level governance dialogue between the national government and the local authorities
  • implementation of participatory and multi-stakeholders’ local governance initiatives
  • strengthen LAs’ willingness to involve local communities in the decision-making process, at the local level
  • development of recommendations to improve and promote a new decentralisation reform

ACTIVITIES

  • Analysis on the current state of art of the decentralised reform
  • Participatory local governance capacity building for LAs, elected staff and CSOs (Implementation of training sessions, webinars and training sessions online)
  • Piloting participatory and multi-stakeholders local governance consultation on the decentralised reform for LAs
  • Re-granting scheme for implementation of piloting actions
  • Publication of recommendations for local authorities
  • National multi-stakeholders dialogue on the roadmap for decentralisation
  • Communication and dissemination (Development of printing materials, Production of digital information and access to relevant materials)

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

On the economic level, women in Morocco often suffer from a lack of economic opportunities and self-confidence to initiate income-generating activities and make their voices heard in their communities. Women’s work is generally informal and without social protection. In addition, women suffer from a lack of skills and know-how due to low educational attainment and high levels of illiteracy, which in turn are explained by the persistence of socio-cultural stereotypes and patriarchal patterns of women’s role in society, leading to their economic dependence on men in the family but also to their marginaliSation from public life. The participation of women as candidates, voters and especially as citizens often depends on the goodwill of the men in the family, who often believe that women should give priority to their homes. The lack of capacity and sometimes willingness of local authorities to integrate women into public life and to systematically take into account and integrate their needs and interests in the planning and implementation of local policies and programmes are additional reasons, explaining in particular the low representation of Moroccan women in local public life, thereby preventing their interests and needs from being adequately taken into account.

OBJECTIVES

“Gender Equality in Local Action” (EGAL) project aims to continue ALDA’s efforts to promote women’s rights in Morocco, and is implemented in the province of Tétouan, where most women face gender-related socio-economic difficulties as heavy family tasks, low levels of women’s education, lack of access to information, etc.

The overall objective of the project is to improve the conditions of women in the province of Tétouan, Morocco. In particular, it aims to carry out a detailed analytical study on the political, economic and social situation of women in the province of Tétouan, and to strengthen both women and local authorities’ capacities in the field of inclusive and participatory democracy, by taking into account the gender dimension.

ACTIVITIES

The project is divided into several phases.

First, it will collect recent information and data on women and their level of education, access to the local market, medical care, community and political involvement in order to highlight inequalities in Tétouan province and assess the urgent needs on which municipalities can focus. This diagnosis will also provide details on women’s organisations in the municipalities, their number, activities and relations with the territorial municipalities.

It will finally focus on the competences of the municipal councils, the current public decision-making mechanisms and the gender policies of the various municipalities of Tétouan. It will therefore allow identifying local issues and concerned stakeholders.

Carried out by a local expert, the results of the study will be presented at a public event aiming at informing and raising awareness among women, representatives of territorial municipalities and the local population about the situation and needs of women in Tétouan province.

Then, using the diagnosis as a basis, 30 beneficiaries from 5 of the most disadvantaged municipalities will be identified and will benefit from an awareness session on civic participation in decision-making processes and on the integration of the gender dimension in public policies. The aim will be to set up a pilot training course over several days bringing together 10 representatives of the 5 territorial municipalities and 20 leaders and representatives of civil society and in particular women’s organisations working on a daily basis to promote and defend women’s rights in these same municipalities.

The intended objective is to strengthen the capacities of women’s associations (or active in the defence of women’s rights) and municipalities in order to promote the integration of the gender dimension into all local actions and the social and political inclusion of women from the 5 municipalities. It will therefore be a question of equipping local actors to guarantee the implementation of the principle of equality in local governance in the province of Tétouan.
At the end of the training, the beneficiaries will be awarded a grant that will enable them to carry out an awareness-raising activity in each of their municipalities. This will allow promoting the capitalisation and appropriation of the results of the diagnosis and training.

The action described is a pilot project. The training offered at the end of the diagnosis will be evaluated in order to be adapted and replicated later to other municipalities in the province of Tétouan.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The project aims at promoting the swift integration of young Third Country Nationals -TCNs, (aged 18-29) in the labour market, by fostering the application of the “Cluster” methodology at local level all over Europe. Special attention is paid to the fight against obstacles to the TCNs access to qualifying vocational training and qualifies jobs, including language barriers.
“Migrants Economic Integration Cluster-MEIC” is an innovative, integrated and highly participatory approach, based on the definition of a multi-stakeholder public-private partnership engaged in a common long-term strategy enabling context-sensitive solutions.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at:

  • Improving the effectiveness of local initiatives for labour market integration of TCNs through the development and testing of the MEIC methodology in Italy and in Spain;
  • Mobilising key actors to apply the MEIC model all over Europe;

ACTIVITIES

The core of the project are the two pilot actions, to be implemented in two relevant local contexts in Italy and Spain, under which the methodology is developed and tested. They foresee activities aimed at consolidating a strategic and operational collaboration among socio-economic key actors (associations of employers, vocational training providers, employment services, local authorities, companies, CoCs) within a “Migrants Economic Integration Cluster – MEIC” with the main purpose of increasing the effectiveness of existing labour market integration policies and tools by adapting them to TCNs needs. 100 young migrants directly benefit in terms of increased employability and economic inclusion through accelerated and tailored trainings, labour market integration plans for apprenticeships and self-employment, coaching and post-placement support. While local stakeholders benefit in terms of innovative management schemes and tools for facilitating the labour market integration of TCNs.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

Since 1999, ALDA has been working to promote and encourage civic engagement as a key in the creation of a democratic and participatory reality. It is guided by its Governing Board, whose role is to define the future steps and path of the association.

In light of its great engagement both at local as well as at international level, ALDA has now launched a call for expression of interests, addressed to members, partners and external experts. This call consists of identifying and selecting five candidates to form the Board of Advisors. The role of the latter is to directly support the Governing Board, by giving technical advice and by sharing professional knowledge.

The Advisory Board will focus on the following specific areas, in accordance with ALDA’s main themes:

  • Citizens engagement 
  • Environment & climate 
  • Gender, Inclusion & Human rights 
  • Youth empowerment & Education 
  • Migration 
  • Digital & innovation 
  • Territorial and local development

The Advisory Board will be approved by the Governing Board in its session early March 2023 and possible interviews and exchanges could take place in this occasion. The candidates will be selected based on their experience and field of interest. They will be considered on their personal capacity. Their participation is pro bono while their costs will be reimbursed in case of meetings and travels. The Advisory Board meetings will be in English or French only.

Please note that the call is not addressed only to members of ALDA, but it is open to anyone interested in the position and in contributing to the mission of ALDA.

To get more information, read the call for Interest  and apply by March 31st, 2023.

For any further enquiries, please write to: alda@alda-europe.eu

🇫🇷READ THE CALL IN FRENCH🇫🇷

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Members’ participation and their active involvement are two cornerstones of ALDA’s work and the basis of our strength and added value.
As you can read in our Strategic Plan, the importance of sharing and exchanging knowledge and expertise with professionals is crystal clear, as well as the importance of boosting the democratic and participatory life of our association.

Thus, we are going to create five Working Groups  which will be focused on the main areas of interests for ALDA and its members, as reported below:

  1. Local governance and participatory democracy 
  2. Social inclusion
  3. Digitalisation
  4. Environment and local development
  5. Civil society and community empowerment

More in detail, while each group will be animated and supported by a staff coordinator, the objective is to set up a fruitful exchange among the members involved to turn the five selected areas into events, meetings, and of course exchange opinions, cooperation, projects, and expertise on that.

Please note that in order to facilitate the taking place of the meetings, they will be mostly happening online.

🔶 Each Working Group will be supported by the ALDA Staff in charge of the relevant Thematic Hub. Further information on the latter will be provided on the website in January 2023 🔶

If you want to join one of the Working Group, and contribute to a deeper level to the mission of ALDA, as well as share or acquire important knowledge useful for your own activity, apply by January 31st, 2023.

To get more information, read the call for Interest

Please note in case you are still interested in joining a Working Group, you can contact us even after the deadline by email: membership@alda-europe.eu

If you are interested in the call but you are not a member, you can get the membership here

🇫🇷 READ THE CALL IN FRENCH 🇫🇷

🇮🇹 READ THE CALL IN ITALIAN 🇮🇹

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PARFAIT aims at increasing women participation at local level by giving them the means to fully access the public sphere – as voters and candidates, but also as empowered, informed and involved citizens in order to make the implementation of the decentralisation process a success for every citizen. The project specifically targets six Tunisian governorates: Gasfa, Kairouan, Grand Tunis, Jendouba, Kebili and Mahdia.

OBJECTIVES

  • Increasing women’s participation in the local governance process in Tunisia.
  • Contribute to the improvement of women’s participation to the decision-making processes in the targeted governorates;
  • Promote the integration of the gender dimension by local authorities in all their actions;
  • Promote a shared vision of the place of women in local and regional public life through the opening of spaces for dialogue and collective learning.

OUTCOMES

The principal outcomes of the project are:

  • Capacity building for 180 women (30 per governorate) trained to be actors of change within their local community;
  • Support and coaching for women running for local elections;
  • Creation of a political and media stage less hostile towards women;
  • Increased voter turnout in the targeted governorates;
  • Improved women’s participation in decision-making at local level and better use by women of the local democracy tools;
  • Implementation of local policies taking into account the gender dimension.
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project aim is to create a favorable environment for adaptation and integration of IDPs into local communities, thus contributing to cohesion in society and stability in the Dnipropetrovsk region by minimising the possibility of both conflicts onset and IDPs marginalisation. The specific goals of the project are to provide young IDPs with skills necessary to be integrated into the hosting community and to establish contact and cooperation with young people from the hosting communities, in order to raise awareness and mobilise any relevant local actors for action on these topics.

Armed conflict began in 2014 in Eastern Ukraine with annexation of Crimea that caused mass displacement both within the country and across the borders. The fighting continues even at the current stage, a factor that keeps rising the number of Internally Displaced People. According to the most recent data (June 2016), there are around 1.8 million officially registered Internal Displaced People (IDPs) in Ukraine, of which approximately 1.1 are women and 700.000 are men. Due to geographic proximity and cultural similarities, the vast majority of them is currently settled down in the Eastern region of the country (Luhansk, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts’). The Dnipropetrovsk region, where the activities of the project will take place, reportedly accepted approximately 86000 IDPs, an influx which is stretching the capacity of administrative and social services, communities and local labour markets.

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the project is to create favourable environment for adaptation and integration of IDPs into local communities, thus contributing to cohesion in the affected communities and to stability in the region, which should minimize the possibility of conflict onset and IDPs marginalisation.

The specific objective of the project is to provide young IDP people with skills necessary to integrate into the hosting society environment and establish contact and cooperation with young people from the hosting society, while raising awareness and mobilization of local actors for action.

ACTIVITIES

The project will provide a multi stakeholder approach in its management by attracting 5 organisations into the process, including the main facilitator – ALDA.
IDPs and local residents will be invited to participate into training activities. The first phase of the trainings will target only IDP participants with the following components: a) communication skills; b) building trust relationships; c) networking competences, d) psychological and strategic abilities; e) further general competences (creativity, patience etc).

During the second phase young IDPs will be joined by youth from hosting communities. The trainings will focus on such skills as a) communication skills at organisational level; b) managing time and self-organisation; c) understanding and managing stress; d) project drafting. For building trust and ensuring effective communication the project will be organised in the forms of thematic workshops, role plays, simulation games, individual and group activities.

After these sessions, young people will develop proposals for their mini projects involving the whole community. 6 of them (2 per community) will be awarded mini grants. The winners will be selected by project partners. During the preparation of the proposal young people will be assisted by facilitator and expert on project drafting.

Local stakeholders will be involved into discussion and preparation of the Roadmap for actions at local level. The emphasis will be put on searching for the durable solution of local integration at the area of displacement putting in synergy the efforts of NGOs, Local Governments, private sector and civil society activists. 2 Roundtables will be organised in each community (with 1-month distance for drafting a Roadmap) and 1 Final conference presenting the results at Regional level to decision-makers.

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

November 22, 2022, marked a milestone for the the implementation of the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in Croatia, North Macedonia and Kosovo*. 

On this date the Award Ceremony of ELoGE took place in Skopje (North Macedonia), and with all the activities and evaluations finalised, ALDA presented the label to the achieving municipalities on behalf of the Council of Europe. 

The crystal dodecahedron engraved with the 12 principles of Good Democratic Governance was presented to 9 municipalities from North Macedonia, 6 from Kosovo, and 3 from Croatia who earned the label and will hold it for one year.

65 mayors and representatives from the various participating municipalities attended the event. The ceremony was opened by a speech from Risto Penov, the Minister of Local Self-Government of North Macedonia, Elbert Krasniqi, the Minister of Local Self-Government of Kosovo, Oriano Otocan, President of ALDA, and Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General. 

The event continued with an in-depth discussion on the importance of the European Label of Governance Excellence, led by Niall Sheerin of the Center of Expertise for Good Governance. It was followed by brief interventions on the ELoGE experience from the representatives of each participating country and it concluded with the handover of the awards. 

The success of the ELoGE implementation is mostly due to the fundamental cooperation and partnership between ALDA and its members

The success of the ELoGE implementation is mostly due to the fundamental cooperation and partnership between ALDA and its members. 

The Municipality of Novaci, a long-term partner and member of ALDA, took part in the project and successfully finalised the ELoGE process. The municipality showed a high level of good governance and Stevce Stevanovski, Mayor of Novaci, received the crystal dodecahedron during the award ceremony. ALDA’s partnership with Novaci stays strong, and will continue to further nourish in the future. 

Another member which was directly involved in the project was the Association of financial officers (AFO) from Veles. Their director, Zoran Jankulovski, was a valuable member of the Evaluation Committee and assessed the dossiers of Macedonian municipalities. AFO’s experience in cooperation with local authorities proved to be fundamental in the process. 

In addition, the Municipality of Gjilan took part in the implementation of the European Label of Governance Excellence in Kosovo. After showing a strong level of good governance it was awarded with the label. The Mayor of Gjilan, Alban Hyseni, received the crystal dodecahedron during the ceremony.  

The ELoGE project represented a great opportunity to further enhance the cooperation between ALDA and its members and contributed to the strengthening of democracy and good governance in all cities involved in the process.

***

Read more about the ELoGE programme

ELoGE Award Ceremony
ELoGE Award Ceremony
ELoGE Award Ceremony
ELoGE Award Ceremony
ELoGE Award Ceremony
ELoGE Award Ceremony
ELoGE Award Ceremony

DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

ALDA Summer University “Remembrance and intercultural dialogue” by ALDA Skopje, in co-operation with the University FON from Skopje, from 17 to 22 July 2017. Total number of expected participants is 30 coming from Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and France.
This project contributes towards mutual learning and experience gaining in the topic of remembrance and intercultural dialog among the participants in order to provide an opportunity for the young participants to reflect on the past, to discuss the current challenges and moreover to develop competencies needed to build future democratic Europe.
Young generation of Europe, especially young people in the Western Balkans, faces in today’s world many challenges including political and economic instability, growing extremism and radicalism among youth. It is significantly important to provide young people an opportunity to develop competencies enabling them not to just deal with these challenges but moreover to get fully involved in decision making processes in their communities and societies and to contribute to building inclusive and democratic Europe.

The project is supported by the Central European Initiative and the Normandy Region

OBJECTIVES

  • Reinforcing the role of young people in the process of building future Europe;
  • Overcoming youth passivity and dealing with youth extremisms and radicalism;
  • Developing competencies of young people (their skills, knowledge and attitudes) needed to take active part in the process of creating democratic and inclusive Europe;
  • Opportunity to interact with young people coming from local community and to learn from each other experiences.
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The one-year project “For a sustainable and shared mobility in Kairouan”, launched in October 2016 in Kairouan, proposes the setting up and sharing of technical and methodological tools allowing to develop a global and coherent vision of mobility in the city. The citizens of Kairouan are key in the successful development and implementation of the project, which counts on the involvement and participation of the city’s population.
The project is a response to Kairouan’s major traffic congestion problems, which have repercussions in terms of road safety, pollution and economic activity, in a city considered by the UNESCO as a World Heritage site.
Outcomes:
The principal outcome of the project will be the improvement of urban mobility and the quality of life of the citizens of Kairouan.

ACTIVITIES

The global objective of the project is to propose a multimodal strategy related to urban mobility and implemented taking into account other aspects or urban life such as urban planning, economy and the improvement of the living conditions.

In particular it envisages to achieve the following:

  • Contribution to the development of the City of Kairouan through a global, transversal and coherent mobility policy.
  • Promotion of the tools and methods of citizen participation within the framework of the local approach to mobility management in Kairouan.
  • Participation of the population of Kairouan, especially young people, during the elaboration and implementation phase of the project through consultation.
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) aims to open new Local Democracy Agencies in Ukraine and Moldova
Starting the year 2017, ALDA will use Endowment support to open new offices in Odessa (Ukraine) and Cimislia (Moldova), and foster their cooperation and networking with the Dnipro office, as well as other ALDA-related offices in Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and in the EU. ALDA will work with its local partners to design a one-year program, which will outline plans for establishing local and international partnerships and launching reform-oriented initiatives, including regional programs involving LDA offices in Armenia and Georgia. Based on consultations with local governments, at least two new local government partners will be identified for each location, with which memoranda of understanding will be signed.
The principal outcome of the project will be to develop establish and increase in cooperation with local authorities and various local and international partners who will also indicate that the program is successful. The program will also succeed if there are positive changes in how the targeted communities are administrated and in the ways in which local citizens participate in local governance that can be linked to this project.
Platform for cooperation, dialogue, and exchange of experiences in the areas of cultural, social, and economic development, between local authorities and civil society will be created.

The principal objectives of project will be:

  • To foster local reforms in Ukraine and Moldova. The successful launch of new LDAs followed by the successful development and implementation of their one-year programs, will serve as the primary indicators of success.
  • To strengthen networking and cooperation.
  • Establishing local and international partnerships
  • Launching reform-oriented initiatives

ACTIVITIES

The future Odessa office has already confirmed a partnership with the city of Gdansk (Poland), and is planning to establish partnerships with Genova (Italy), and Varna (Bulgaria). Similarly, the future Cimislia office has already started cooperating with Gdansk and the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region in Poland. These partnerships will help to ensure the financial sustainability of the offices as well as the closer integration of these regions into decentralized cooperation with EU municipalities.

Capacity building activities will be organised for new delegates for Local Democracy Agencies, as well as Series of study visits and coordination activities will be carried out.

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