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The works of Imereti Regional Hub are run by Local Democracy Agency Georgia (LDA Georgia) within the framework of the European Union (EU) and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) funded project “Civil Society STAR initiative: CSOs as Sustainable, Transparent, Accountable and Resilient Development Actors in Georgia” (2021-2025). The project aims to strengthen civil society as an independent, sustainable, transparent, and accountable development actor across Georgia; while the Hub is targeted to support the sharing of information, experience and opportunities.

Specifically, it spreads information about the project activities in the region, communicates with the local actors via consultation, networking, advocacy and monitoring, strengthens local CSOs, CBOs, civil activists and increases public awareness on their role and works.

The aim of the Imereti Regional Hub is to support the sharing of information, experience and opportunities

Beyond supporting main activities under the “Civil Society STAR Initiative “, the Hub implements following activities:

  • LDA Georgia conducts trainings for CSOs / CBOs from Imereti region on the following topics: advocacy; fundraising; project writing; financial management of projects.
  • In the framework of the project will be held study visits of CSO’s / CBO’s representatives of Imereti region to successful civil society organizations in the regions of Western Georgia.
  • CSO’s and CBO’s representatives can get consultation on management issues of the organization in order to strengthen them, the information about the grant competitions announced in Imereti region.
  • The SMS platfrom was created to proactively provide information to CSO and CBO representatives in the region about various activities.
  • During the project formed several youth clubs to change the attitudes of young people / students towards civil society and community- based organizations; Each course of seminars continues for three months.
  • The public consultations will be provided at the regional level to discuss important issues at the regional level with the involvement of relevant actors.
  • The Meetings are held with the persons responsible for relations with the non-governmental organizations of the municipalities. The aim of the activity is to promote the role of civil society in public policy.
  • Imereti regional hub offers hotline service any interested persons who will be able to receive information remotely on a legal issue of interest to them/not only;
  • Newly established CSO and CBO organizations will be selected to support their development with whom the organization will work on refining its structure, developing internal management documents.
  • Regional Civil Society Forums will be held to increase the accountability of civil society and improve public attitudes. Connect with potential sponsors and funding seekers.
  • Imereti regional hub supports to strengthen youth club in Baghdati municipality. During the project will be created a model of mayor’s order, model of provision, will be held trainings and youth conferences, will be funded youth initiatives.

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

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For several years now, ALDA has been one of the beneficiaries of the operating grant of the “Europe for Citizens” programme of the EACEA – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union.

Thus, we are thrilled to announce that, again this year, ALDA has been confirmed beneficiary of the operating grant of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) of the European Union!

The CERV stems from the fusion of the previous programmes “Europe for Citizens” and “Rights, Equality and Citizens Programme”, and aims to protect and promote rights and values as layed down in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights in particular by supporting civil society organisations active at local, regional, national and transnational level.

This grant proves the effectiveness of ALDA’s actions for the promotion of democracy and citizens participation in Europe and beyond

More specifically, the operating grant just awarded is dedicated to networks, organisations or think tanks contributing to the implementation of programme objectives, including training and capacity building activities, conferences, mutual learning, cooperation, awareness-raising, communication and dissemination activities.

The whole ALDA is honoured to be again among the few beneficiaries, proving the effectiveness of ALDA’s actions for the promotion of democracy and citizens participation in Europe.

A great opportunity and an important responsibility: ALDA is ready to act more than ever as a driver of participation, democracy and European values, giving a strong input towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030.

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ALDA – The European Association for Local Democracy, is proud to be recognised by the European Commission as one of the 59 most active organisations that work to protect and promote Union values.

Indeed, ALDA has been recognised in the Framework Partnership Agreement of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) of the European Union for the period 2022-2025.

Such framework partnership is of great importance for ALDA, being both a confirmation of the effectiveness of ALDA’s work in supporting good governance and citizen participation in Europe; as well as evidence of the confidence that the European Commission has in ALDA as a strategic partner in the implementation of the new EU priorities for the next 4 years.

ALDA is proud to be recognised by the European Commission as one of the 59 most active organisations that work to protect and promote Union values

More in depth, the agreement consists in a long-term cooperation between the Commission and the selected partners with the aim to contribute to the objectives of the Union policy in the following areas:

  • promoting and protecting Union values;
  • promoting equality, preventing and combating discrimination;
  • promoting gender equality;
  • combating racism, xenophobia and all forms of intolerance;
  • protecting and promoting the rights of the child;
  • promoting European remembrance;
  • promoting citizen engagement;
  • preventing and combating gender-based violence;
  • preventing and combating violence against children.

Visit the dedicated web page of the European Commission to learn more and click HERE to have a glance of ALDA’s main activities for the 4-year period, titled “Local democracy: shaping the future together”

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ALDA podcast: the new and fresh initiative directly from our Communication Department!

The Association, as well as its network and friends, is engaged in concrete and tangible actions. Willing to promote positive change and democracy, through dialogue and interaction, ALDA has launched this new multimedia project: Shades of Democracy, the ALDA podcast! 

Why a podcast? Because we don’t need to grab a heavy book to learn about democracy and democratic practices.With this new podcast series, we want to get closer to people, in a more informal way, turning what may seem as an abstract topic, into a daily exercise.

Shades of Democracy: your monthly pill of good, democratic, stories

What do we mean by “Democracy”? When can we talk about citizen engagement and participatory process? Through our podcast “Shades of Democracy” we give explanations, examples and hopefully inspiration, with the objective of stimulating your curiosity and stimulating dialogue and interaction.

Curious to know more about, citizens engagement, crowdfunding, culture and youth participation? We are going to discuss all of this and more on “Shades of Democracy”, but this is just the beginning. Much is going now, and new interviews and chats are already scheduled.

Every month a brand new episode right in your headphones, to understand what local democracy looks like in our everyday lives. 

What are you waiting for? Find it the main podcast platforms:

Spotify
Google Podcast
Spreaker
Deezer

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The AVATAR project – Alto Vicentino Territorial Alliance for Networked Actions, which aims to spread digital literacy in a territory involving some 155,000 inhabitants, has concluded its third semester. During these months, the focus of activities has been on digital literacy to promote the use of public services such as SPID and PA portals, but also to show useful tools in everyday life.

In addition to numerous citizens, the growing participation saw the involvement of PA operators, freelancers and Third Sector organisations. For the latter, important digital tools and strategies were presented, such as:
– crowdfunding
– digital communication and
– cloud systems to manage their activities.

AVATAR project: spreading digital literacy in the Alto Vicentino territory

Thanks to numerous collaborations and the enlargement of the community of interest, AVATAR is constantly enriched with new contents such as the “App Wednesdays” that present useful applications for smartphones to citizens, or the cycle of webinars on digital hot topics such as fake news, infodemics, media literacy.

The year 2022 has already begun full of new collaborations to continue the digital learning process thanks to volunteers who will guide and assist citizens, to future sessions dedicated to change management to meet the challenges posed by digitalisation and with a full calendar of seminars, courses, webinars, meetings to transfer skills and accompany citizens, PA, schools and third sector in the digital transition already underway.

AVATAR is also a fortnightly newsletter full of reflections, events and opportunities to keep up with digitalisation: subscribe_newsletter

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The research paper, aimed at analyzing the needs of communities and community workers in Europe, has been released by the PIECE project’s partners

The research is based on a survey spread out by every partner through their networks; as well as on 25 in-depth interviews. This last analysis brought something new compared to others: the international and cross-sectorial elements.

With this report, the partners tried to understand what are the current needs of community workers to improve their work and enhance the local community participation. Hence, this output highlights both common and different needs amongst European countries and regions, such as:

  • learning practical and educational tools to apply to their work;
  • gaining soft skills and ability to engage further their communities;
  • dealing with important issues (gender, racism, sustainability, etc.), or
  • knowing how to create a safe online community space.

This last research brought something: the international and cross-sectorial elements

Moreover, this theoretical work is a key step within the project. Furthermore, it will be the foundation for the next stages, mainly by raising some difficulties that would be addressed through the creation of training materials and an e-learning platform for the target group.

Finally, the overall objective of PIECE project is to up-skill and empower community workers. This will consequently allow beneficiaries to enhance social inclusion, skills and employability of the people they will train or involve in their activities.

The report can be used by everyone out of the project; it is freely available on the outputs page of the project’s website : https://pieceproject.eu/

If you want to find out more, have a look at the Facebook page.

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2021 was a year filled with activities for the Climate of Change project, despite many challenges arising from the Covid 19 pandemic!

After the first year of implementation, 2021 marked the launch, in all 13 countries of the project, of the debate contest: an educational activity that included – among others – familiarizing with climate change and migration related issues; developing analyses skills and the ability to synthesize data and information to take position and be critical.

More in depth, coordinated by ALDA in partnership with FINEP, participants, divided into two groups (students from high school and from universities) joined a training module session and the drafting of debate papers for all partners. ALDA implemented the activity in both France and Belgium. At the end, the national winning teams in each age group met in Brussels in November to dispute the Pan-European Debate Finals with the other national teams (see our previous article).

Furthermore, last November, ALDA in cooperation with the European Environmental Bureau welcomed the circus show MadgaClan in Brussels for the final dates of the Pan-European Street Action Tour. The tour was scheduled during the EU debate finals to allow students to participate in the activity.

Sign the petition “End Climate Change, Start a Climate of Change” demanding policy changes that will safeguard a healthy and sustainable tomorrow

Additionally, ALDA participated in the drafting of the campaign guide #ClimateOfChange. The output has been published on the website and used by all partners to promote the campaign at national level, while producing surveys and factsheets. Overall, the objective is to highlight the connection among migration, climate and the need to transform our economy and everyday lives. The campaign will last until the end of the project in 2023.

Finally, “End Climate Change, Start a Climate of Change” petition was launched, demanding policy changes that will safeguard a healthy and sustainable tomorrow. (Sign the petition!).

What will happen next year?

In 2022, the lead partner WeWorld will develop a 4-episode webseries on the topic of climate justice, aimed at promoting the campaign through online platform and across Europe.

In addition, this year focuses on research work to support an evidence-based narrative on the nexus between migration and climate. Specifically, it is intended to produce 4 case studies in Cambodia, Guatemala, Senegal and Kenya and to give voice to local communities most affected by climate change.

Meanwhile, some national and international events will enable the partners to introduce the public to the outputs and outcomes of the project, especially the results of case-studies and advocacy actions while promoting the petition.

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Two more Capacity Building Workshops (CBW) to go before the Final Conference of BRIGHT project!

As the one taking place in mid November in Calabria, a southern region of Italy, Spain and Greece will host the fourth and fifth CBWs respectively. 

What is the idea behind these interactive meetings? From a general perspective, BRIGHT Capacity Building Workshops, five in total, are intended to enhance the capability of local institutions, as well as European countries, to rely on participatory governance systems – be they Collaboration Agreements – as far as enabling mobile women in decision-making processes.  

Capacity Building Workshops discussing the broad topic of “mobile women’ inclusion” employed in the sector of agriculture in other similar areas of 3rd sector

As for the previous occasion, also these two CBS will see the participation of several stakeholders, discussing the broad topic of “mobile women’ inclusion” employed in the sector of agriculture in other similar areas of 3rd sectors (as cleaning and care services) sectors on how to address the need for new and innovative strategies to guarantee access to fair, adequate, and sensitive public services. The way to reach underrepresented groups is a joint effort of authorities, social services, trade unions, citizens, and employers in order to design innovative and inclusive welfare solutions.

Based on this, the BRIGHT project, not only is willing to overcome this gap, but also it has set 5 CBWs to produce and design concrete outputs to be shared at European level. Within this framework project’s partners will join the workshops, and invite people to join:

Last but not least, follow the project on social media, and do not miss the final conference, which will take place in Brussels on February 22nd-23rd (dates TBC).

🟡  Upcoming next: the Holistic Online Facilitation training 🟡

This new learning experience shows you how to create interactive online workshops and to avoid online fatigue; while finding out new tools helping you to facilitate online events in a holistic and interactive way. The training will take place online on 10, 15, 17, 22 & 24 February 3-5pm CET, and it will be in English. Special price for ALDA Members: only 150€ instead of 190€.

This training has been organized in cooperation with MitOst e.V.
Registration are open here: http://ow.ly/UgpZ50HFcgC

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As part of the SMELT project, the Center for Democracy Foundation organized free workshops in order to strengthen the capacity and increase the knowledge of participants as far as their labor rights concern, while encouraging them to actively participate in the labor market.

With much enthusiasm, more than 30 participants took part in the workshops, joining the training, organised from 14 to 22 December 2021. Developed  through two modules, the workshops was held both on line and in presence (hybrid form), so that to allow participants to attend this training opportunity regardless of their location.

Center for Democracy Foundation organized free workshops in order to strengthen the capacity and increase the knowledge of participants as far as their labor rights concern

From a general perspective, the goal of the training was to increase the level of knowledge of participants on:

  • the structure of unemployment;
  • the labor market in the EU and Serbia:
  • areas where the percentage of workers is critical;
  • the position of vulnerable groups;
  • the importance of training, education, and skills of active job search and networking and
  • the role of social media in job search, participation in job interviews.

The above-mentioned topics were tackled and explained by lecturers and trainers, experts in the field of labor rights, trade union representatives and civil society organizations.

Finally, these series of meetings and training had a positive impact on participants, ad on the overall project!

***
The project is implemented in cooperation with 8 partners – Samarcanda società cooperativa sociale Onlus, Italy; SSOU Mosha Pijade, Northern Macedonia; SYNTHESIS Center for Research and Education Ltd, Cyprus; Asociación Mar Violeta, Spain; Sdruzhenie Yuni Partners, Bulgaria; European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), France; Ecor International SpA, Italy and the Center for Democracy Foundation, Serbia. The project is funded by the European Union through the Erasmus + program.

[Thank you to Center for Democracy Foundation for the news]

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Members and ALDA: together for a brilliant new year!

Despite the big challenge the whole world is still facing, 2021 marked a great year for ALDA: spreading democracy, supporting local initiatives are at the heart of the Association’s activities. Yet, much of this has turned into real thanks to, and in collaboration with, members and friends of ALDA.

Hence, listening to members’ ideas and proposals is a daily commitment: through interactions the best projects have been made possible! Therefore, ALDA is very much committed to engage and animate its network, offering several concrete opportunities

Yet, what does “being a member mean”? As many of you already know, by joining ALDA and become an ALDA Member, you will enter an international network offering several benefits, such as:

  • Networking, partnership opportunities and facilitation;
  • Capacity-building activities;
  • Free webinars and workshops specifically designed for the members;
  • Assistance in finding funding opportunities.

Listening to members’ ideas and proposals is a daily commitment: through interactions the best projects have been made possible!

Yet, this is not everything. Believing in its network is a concrete exercise for ALDA: thus, the association re-invests in its members the majority of its total budget. As shown on the picture  on the right, the 55% of its resources are allocated to Local Authorities, Civil Society Organizations, and Local Democracy Agencies. In other words: to ALDA’s network!

Furthermore, members will benefit from great visibility on ALDA’s website and social media channels. On ALDA’ website, each member has a dedicated page with all related information, whose content is customisable according to each member’s needs. More, by following the hashtag #ALDAMember, each Friday a post will be dedicated to the presentation of a member, on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Yet, ALDA Team will be glad to share further information, initiatives and events of our members!

Hence, if a member is willing to spread specific information through ALDA communication channels (social media, website, newsletter), it only takes a few minutes! Write an email with all the information to alda@alda-europe.eu or fill in the form, upload the visual material (if any), and enjoy seeing your initiative spread throughout the enlarged Europe, and beyond!

Last but not least… 2022 already brings something new! ALDA has launched a new communication initiative called “Shades of democracy” – the new ALDA Podcast. Each episode, monthly broadcasted, tackled several topics related to democracy, from crowdfunding, to ELoGE, from culture to youth! 

Listen to it on the main platforms, and contact us at alda@alda-europe.eu if you want to know more!

Hope to see you online soon! Great to have you as #ALDAMember

***
Shades of Democracy on:

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This newly started 2022 has also marked the inauguration of a new Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Following Slovenia, from the 1st of January 2022, France has taken over the Presidency for the next six months, until June 30th, 2022.

In light of the delicate and peculiar situation the Union and the whole World are going through, the French Presidency will focus its mandate according to citizens’ expectations and needs, trying to bring the needed changes in a concrete way, as stated in the latest news.

2022 starts with the beginning of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union

From a general perspective the trio programma, that means the overall mission of French, Czech and Swedish Presidencies, up until the beginning of 2023 will focus on:

  • Protecting citizens and freedoms; based on European values;
  • Promoting a new growth and investment model for Europe, inspired by sustainable green growth;
  • Building a greener and more socially equitable Europe, with special regard to health and
  • A global Europe that promotes multilateralism and renewed international partnerships

Specifically on the French Presidency, its main priorities around three emblematic areas: climate, digital and social. At the same time, it will work to lay the basis for important changed and achievements linked to the economic sphere, youth, health and culture.

ALDA welcomes with enthusiasm the new French Presidency and encourages it to keep the active participation of citizens in the European governance high in the political agenda, thus giving the needed impetus to the closing phase of the Conference on the Future of Europe!

Check the Presidency website

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[Picture source: www.theparliamentmagazine.eu]

It’s with great sadness that we acknowledge the loss of David Sassoli, European Parliament President and former journalist.

On behalf of the whole staff of ALDA, its Governing Board and entire network, we will always remember Mr Sassoli as a convinced and committed European politician and activist, a person who could wisely lead one of the most important but complex Institution, as the European Parliament, since July 2019.

Davide Sassoli contributed to lead European policies and politics  in an extremely difficult period with a remarkable know-how and a solid set of principles: respect, loyalty and coherence to the cause.

Being the Parliament the EU institution which best represents its citizens, since its members are directly elected every five years through universal suffrage, David Sassoli perfectly represented the values carried on by ALDA: citizens participation, active commitment, solidarity, tolerance, equality, justice and much more.

Our condolences go to its family, his close colleagues, friends and to all who knew and appreciated him.

May he rest in peace.

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Winter Greeting and Happy New Year from ALDA President, Mr. Oriano Otočan, ALDA Secretary General Mrs Valmorbida and all the ALDA team!
As every December, it is time to stop for a second and look back at what has been done during the last 12 months. A year full of initiatives, meetings and events that give great energy for the upcoming 2022.

“Dear Members, Partners and Friends of ALDA, behalf of the whole team of ALDA, its Governing Board and all the LDAs, let me wish you all the best Winter Holidays that 2021 can offer to all of us!” – stated our President Mr Oriano Otočan  at the beginning to its letter.

“The year about to end has been a unique one – continued Mr. Otočan –  with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis still challenging deeply the implementation of our activities and everyday work all around Europe and beyond. Many of you have faced difficulties in the management of the crisis, from the economic to the social and cultural point of view. It is the reason why our support towards local communities has been more important than ever.

This year more than ever, our goal has been to connect our network of local communities and actors from Europe and beyond, deeply convinced that only together, by sharing ideas and by working together, we will overcome the complex challenges of our time. In this regard, we also launched a series of new opportunities for our members, among which the working groups, giving the opportunity to share, cooperate and shape together the future of our Association and of Europe as well.

Despite difficulties in the phase out this global pandemic, that deeply affected the life of all of us, we are ready to do our part to protect the more vulnerable ones and to approach ourselves to 2022 with renewed energy to finally come back to a new-form of “normality”, enriched by all the thoughts and challenges we all together faced in the past 2 years.

I wish also to use this opportunity to remember our dear friends and colleagues Sasa Marinkov, delegate of the Local Democracy Agency Central-Southern Serbia, and Victor Cotruta, Eastern Partnership Project Coordinator, that left us this year. Friends that we would truly remember and adore till the end of days.

“Let me wish you all the best Winter Holidays that 2021 can offer to all of us!” – Mr Otočan – ALDA President

As said, the year(s) behind us were not easy. Yet, besides challenges, they were also full of opportunities to prove the importance of mutual support that only the global community, composed by the local communities all over the globe, can provide. That is the core of ALDA, the core value of all of us: local communities working for a global sustainable change, towards a better future for all the human beings and for our planet as well!

Last but not least, – concluded Mr. Otočan –  I wish everyone all the best!  I wish you a better, calmer, safer and happier 2022!”

Similarly, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General wished to the network and friends of the association warm winter greetings and happy New Year, and willing to see each other soon in 2022.

Play the video and listen Mrs. Valmorbida’s winter greetings in Italian, French or Russian

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2022 will bring great new steps and activities for PART-Y Project! Let’s have a look at them together.

Kallipolis, the lead partner, will be developing the second intellectual output of the project, namely a Learning Methodology of Placemaking by Design Thinking, aimed at reshaping design thinking by applying it to the placemaking of urban spaces, with a view to guaranteeing equal access and use to girls and boys.

Similarly, partners will also keep doing trainings to find out more on the “design thinking” method and technique. Meanwhile, some national and international events will enable the partners to introduce the public to the outputs and outcomes of the project.

But has been done so far? Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 was a year filled with activities for the PART-Y project.

2022 will bring great new steps and activities for PART-Y Project

After an online kick-off meeting in March, the eight partners met each other three times for management and trainings where they learnt more about placemaking and gender equal cities via study visits. Due to the health crisis, the meetings have been done online. Nevertheless, the partners have been able to meet face-to-face for the first time in Madrid in October 2021.

In addition, activities in the youth centers owned by the municipalities of Trieste and Koper have been organized. These workshops will be used to implement and test the methodologies studied during the trainings; enabling the partners to collect young people’s feelings about their opportunities to play a role in placemaking projects.

From its end, ALDA wrote the first project’s intellectual output: the Toolkit to Build a Communication Campaign for a Young and Inclusive Placemaking addressed to youth and municipalities seeking to be involved in placemaking actions. The output has been disseminated during the one-month PART-Y Street Art Festival hosted in Trieste, Italy.

Last but not least, in October, the partners also had the great opportunity to present the very first project’s outcomes and the Toolkit during the 2021 European Union Week of Regions and Cities.

Based on these great initiatives, 2022 will be even better, and PART-Y partners are ready to start the new year with great energy!

***
Follow the project on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

[PART-Y HANDBOOK – Soon available
PART-Y TOOLBOX – Soon available]

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From 17 to 19 November 2021, the 5th and final event of the DIGITAL project– Supporting Democratic Union and Active Citizenship in Digital Era  – took place in Madrid, Spain. The event entitled “Fake news: How to counter the fake news and disinformation that spread online?” was held both online and offline and offered the possibility to debate and share opinions on topics such as the impact of digitalization, the future of the European Union, and the place of citizens in this digital transformation. For ALDA it was attended by Elisabetta Uroni, Head of the Communication Department.

The DIGITAL project is led by the Federation of Municipalities of Madrid (FMM) and financed by the Europe for Citizens Programme. Its aim was to assemble policymakers and citizens from 15 European countries to enhance democratic and civic participation across Europe.

The first day of the event focused on the proliferation of fake news in the digital age and included interventions by José Antonio Sánchez Serrano, the Deputy Minister of Local Administration and Digitization of the Community of Madrid, and Cristina Moreno Moreno, the General Manager of FMM. In addition, conclusions were drawn from the previous international events, including through interactive sessions.

The event focused on the proliferation of fake news in the digital age; the effects on on local democracy  and on digital transition

The second day focused on issues such as the effects of fake news on local democracy with speakers José Manuel Hoyo, the Mayor of Brunete and Vice President of the Information Society Commission, Alfredo García-Plata, the Mayor of Torrelodones and Member of the Information Society Commission, Jorge Alberto Campos, the Mayor of Paracuellos del Jarama and Member of the Governing Board FMM, and Asensio Martínez Agraz, the Mayor of Sevilla la Nueva and Member of the Governing Board of the FMM. Furthermore, strategies, methods, and techniques in the fight against fake news were discussed together with Francisco Serrato from The Objective, Vincenzo Tiani, Advisory expert in Digital Policies and professor at the IULM University (Milan), Andrés Jiménez, the MALDITO BULO Coordinator, and an expert from NEWTRAL. The day closed with an interactive session on good local practices with regard to fake news.

The third day started with a round table discussion on best practices that make a significant contribution to the “digital transition” at EU level, presented by Cristina Moreno Moreno and featuring Myrian Redondo from VerificaRTVE. This was followed by a presentation of the conclusions of the teamwork of day 2 and the closing session.

The event provided an important forum for analyzing and discussing the issue of fake news and its impact on local democracy from a variety of perspectives. It brought together a number of experts and stakeholders but also allowed citizens to actively participate.

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This month, ALDA welcomed the partners of the DEVOTE project (Developing the Competencies of Teachers to Integrate Students from Migrant Background into European Schools) in Strasbourg in order to work together on the development of the online course foreseen by the project. In addition, the consortium discussed the sustainability of the project, especially after its completion, while having preliminary discussions on the Community of Educators. The latter will be created for teachers to support each other;  and exchange good practices. Of course participants took some informal time to discover Strasbourg and its Christmas sparkle!

Promote the “Whole School Approach”, to set up an assessment of students with migrant backgrounds and to learn from good practices

From a general perspective, the project aims to strengthen the integration of students with migrant backgrounds in schools and improve their success in education by providing training, coaching and guidance to teachers equipping school leaders and educators with the necessary skills and innovative tools to support secondary students in the process, strengthening collaboration between schools, families, and other external stakeholders.

To this end, at the core of the project is the creation of a brand new online course for teachers to strengthen their approach towards language support, parental support, psycho-social support, but also to enable them to promote the Whole School Approach, to set up an assessment of students with migrant backgrounds and to learn from good practices already used across Europe.

The course, currently under development, brings together the expertise of 5 project partners (4 associations and 2 universities) with complementary expertise on issues related to inclusion, support for migrant populations, education and digital training.

The meeting in Strasbourg was a necessary step to discuss the technical development of the platform, the content of the modules, the evaluation of the learners: The online course is expected to be available in 2022!

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After the first steps of the programme in Croatia and North Macedonia, ALDA was awarded with the accreditation to implement the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in Kosovo*.

In the next 2 years, ALDA will implement the ELoGE assessment of around 15-20 municipalities in Kosovo* and work with them to be able to understand and apply good democratic practices. They will also facilitate and monitor the process of the implementation of the 12 principles of good democratic governance as outlined by ELoGE and spread awareness among authority figures.

This project will last for a 2-year period, starting the activities in January 2022 and ending-up in November 2023.

From January 2022, ALDA will contribute delivering better local governance for citizens of Kosovo*

Previously, ALDA received the accreditation to be able to implement ELoGE in Croatia and North Macedonia, which was a precursor for the work in Kosovo* and another step in the greater ambition for the Western Balkans. Along with that, recently on September 28th, the Secretary General of ALDA, Antonella Valmorbida, visited Kosovo* in order to create a proposal for the support of local governance, encourage and facilitate capacity building, and grow regional cooperation in the Country and the rest of the Balkans. Important factors are the promotion of good management of EU funds and the promotion of EU programmes.

Strong of this further accreditation, ALDA is excited and committed to supporting local government and EU integration ambitions in Kosovo*.  Through the implementation of the principles of the ELoGE programme, ALDA will contribute to deliver better local governance for citizens.

Why the ELoGE? The ELoGE evaluation allows local authorities to understand their strengths and their weaknesses when providing public services to the local community and exercising public authority. To improve the quality of local governance, local authorities can use various tools developed by the Centre of Expertise and take inspiration from their colleagues’ best practices.

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The event “Post-catastrophic cities in a comparative perspective” supported by the program Normandy for peace, was held on a hybrid format the 13th of December 2021 in Skopje, North Macedonia.

This gathering was an opportunity to hear on various interpretation on post-catastrophic cities in Europe and abroad. Experts were able to present their researches on the destruction and the reconstruction of cities.

Ms. Stefanie Dupont from the “General inventory of cultural heritage” office of the region Normandy, presented the label “Heritage of Reconstruction in Normandy”, created by the same region to protect its cities’ heritage after its the rebuilding due to WWII. Mr. Gruia Badescu from the University of Konstanz brought many examples of European and non-European cities, like Bucharest or Mostar, which were rebuilt after being destroyed.

An opportunity to hear on various interpretation on post-catastrophic cities in Europe and abroad

Finally, Naum Trajanovski, from the Polish Academy of Sciences presented the book “Skopje’s earthquake in 1963 and its post-seism reconstruction: Personal testimonies”, written as part of the project “Skopje’s 1963 earthquake, memories, identities and actions”.

The event is a part of the project “Skopje’s 1963 earthquake, memories, identities and actions” implanted by CINIK – Center of research for nationalism and culture, and is supported by the Ministry of culture of North Macedonia, ALDA and the program Normandy for peace of the region Normandy.