On October 15th 2021, the city of Edremit hosted the opening ceremony of the newly established Local Democracy Agency (LDA).  Bartek Ostrowski – Vice President of ALDA; Antonella Valmorbida – ALDA Secretary General; and Giulia Sostero – ALDA Middle East and Africa (MEA) Coordinator, arrived in the Turkish city for the opening ceremony and official beginning, as well as the signature of the “Memorandum of Understanding” among the following founding partners:

• Edremit Municipality and Edremit City Council (Turkey);
• ALDA – European Association for Local Democracy;
• Budva Municipality (Montenegro); 
• Lushnjë Municipality (Albania) ; 
• Ahmetbey Municipality (Turkey)  
• CSOs representatives. 

Participants, gathering both online and offline, were eager to be present in such an historical moment for the development of democracy. Hence, LDAs embody a positive and effective experiment of supporting democracy, by engaging local governments and civil society organizations in Europe and beyond. Thus, as recalled by the Mayor Selman Hasan Arslan “the opening of the LDA in Edremit is the demonstration that what we are doing in the framework of local democracy and citizens’ participation is right and we are following the right path”. 

The activity of ALDA in the MEA region is solid and fruitful, as also testified by the two projects now implemented in Turkey: DEVOTE project and TEAM 4TEAM, tackling migrants’ inclusion and reinforcement of civil society respectively. From a broader perspective, benefitting from citizens’ involvement; capacity building and multi-stake approach, ALDA together with local partners and LDAs is playing a strategic role in the development of local democracy.

LDA Edremit “is a sign of hope in dark times”

Precisely, more than 1 million people benefited from the projects’ implementation in the whole MEA region. Yet, this is not possible without common efforts. Thus, as stressed by Bartek Ostrowski, the relation has to be based on reciprocity, and dialogue, being a “two-way road for mutual benefit”. Based on values, such as common good and good governance the Association is very much committed to have a concrete and tangible impact in local communities; and it is therefore, very much glad for this new achievement.

The opening LDA Edremit “is a sign of hope in dark times” – said Antonella Valmorbida – stressing the essential role of the agency as “an instrument of peace, social cohesion” reinforcing the dialogue among CSOs and local authorities, as well as among partners, citizens and the whole community. More on a broad perspective, LDAs serve, in fact, as a bridge among countries and the European Union, based on a programme set up more than 20 years ago by the Council of Europe.

Specifically on the LDA Edremit, thanks to a participative approach in the decision making process and multilateral decentralised cooperation, it will work on information exchange and empowerment of other CSOs; citizens’ participation and involvement. Furthermore, as illustrated by Giulia Sostero, it will design its actions and activities in tackling several topics and issues, such as: 

• Cultural heritage and tourism;
• Relationship between local authorities and citizens stressing the importance of accountability; 
• Migration; 
• Gender;
• Disability

Overall, the opening of this 16th LDA in Edremit paves the way to new horizons, and further steps in the development of democracy. The ceremony ended with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, and it  coincided with the reception by Edremit of the Plaque of Honour, awarded by the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.

ALDA is very much glad to have promoted such a great achievement, and thank the Municipality of Edremit for its courage and spirit of initiative, as well as all other partners that believe in this new adventure: the journey has just started!

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Watch the opening ceremony online at this link

[Picture from Edremit Municipality and ALDA colleagues]

Tunisia welcomed ALDA Secretary General during one of her latest tours in October 2021. Thus, on October 8th, Antonella Valmorbida travelled to Kairouan, meeting Afaf Zaddem, Statutory Member of the Governing Board and Delegate of the Local Democracy Agency (ADL) in the city; together with Monua Alouini, Project Assistant, and Abdealaziz Bouslah, colleague and Project Manager from the Tunis office. With great enthusiasm and joy in seeing each other after a long time, the occasion served as a moment to reflect and analyse the achievements of the LDA and the future steps.

Similarly, ALDA Secretary General took time to talk and discuss with colleagues from the AUTREMENT project, while visiting the office, and sharing with Younes Aggoun, head of the mission, Kenza Yusfi, communication officer, and  Fatma Mnif, logistic and financial officer, on the implementation and progress of the project itself. Focusing on slow mobility in Tunisia, AUTREMENT project launched several initiatives in 2021, such as the bike parade, and this meeting was the perfect opportunity to discuss the project’s future events.

Together in developing democracy in Tunisia, in Europe and beyond

Yet, the day proceeded with lunch with the Municipality of Kairouan. Together with ALDA colleague Abdealaziz Bouslah, Antonella Valmorbida met Radhouen Bouden, President of the Municipal Council of Kairouan. Thus, the city not only is involved in ALDA projects, as the one mentioned before, but it also hosts one of the 16 LDAs. Therefore, it represents a key place in Tunisia, as also discussed among the three.

Last but not least, even though only for few hours, meeting old and new colleagues, representatives of the municipality and LDA gave to ALDA a new-found sense of community and belonging, together in developing democracy in Tunisia, in Europe and beyond

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More on the mission in Tunisia:

• Meeting with Solidarité Laique (5th  Oct)
• Final project event with the Municipality of Carthage – KAS (6th Oct)
• Training session within “Autrement” project ( 7th oct)
• Event of project T4D  with UNDEF ( 8th oct)

After the successful experience in Moldova and Ukraine, the project to support good local governance and local stakeholders through participative democracy in Tunisia has come to its end.

“Empowering local authorities and civil society to deliver solutions with Participative Democracy ” – here it the project’s title – supported by the Tunisian branch of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation officially ended on October 6th, during a final event held in cooperation with the Municipalities of Carthage and La Goulette, also project partners.

“Empowering local authorities and civil society to deliver solutions with Participative Democracy ” supported by the Tunisian branch of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation officially ended on October 6th

In addition, the event was particularly dedicated to council members, technicians and administrators and members of civil society in the two municipalities mentioned above. Together with participants, colleagues from ALDA Tunisia and “Autrement” project took part in the session as well.

Overall, this event has to be understood within a greater context. Hence, Antonella Valmorbida had the occasion to have meetings, moments of sharing and exchange with other key players, committed, as well as ALDA, for the best of local communities in Tunisia. 

After more than a year, the training session in Sousse marked not only an important moment for the implementation of the project, but also an essential occasion to meet old and new staff members, delegates from the ADL and all the friends of ALDA in the amazing country of Tunisia.

***
More on the mission in Tunisia:

• Meeting with Solidarité Laique (5th  Oct)
• Final project event with the Municipality of Carthage – KAS (6th Oct)
• Event of project T4D  with UNDEF ( 8th oct)
• General news on your trip to Tunisia: meeting with local staff, LDA, planning and assessment

Sousse, the lovely town on the Mediterranean coast, hosted a training session within the “Autrement” Project. With great joy and happiness in meeting colleagues and friends, ALDA Secretary General – Antonella Valmorbida got to the city during a warm tunisian day, at the beginning of October 2021.

Targeting “Local and Participatory Democracy and Social Accountability”, Ms. Valmorbida delivered a valuable and interactive training session on October 7th, for the Municipality of Mahdia and the Municipality of Kairouan. Several participants gathered at the conference room in Sousse, where the session was taking place. 

Round tables; a projector and a board were everything needed to start the training with enthusiasm! Gathered around tables, participants joined the morning session, tackling the key aspects and tools when it comes to implementing local democracy. Furthermore, the occasion offered time and space for   questions, dialogue and sharing on crucial issues related to the topic. 

Sousse, the lovely town on the Mediterranean coast, hosted a training session within the “Autrement” Project

In addition, the event was particularly dedicated to council members, technicians and administrators and members of civil society in the two municipalities mentioned above. Together with participants, colleagues from ALDA Tunisia and “Autrement” project took part in the session as well.

Overall, this event has to be understood within a greater context. Hence, Antonella Valmorbida had the occasion to have meetings, moments of sharing and exchange with other key players, committed, as well as ALDA, for the best of local communities in Tunisia. 

After more than a year, the training session in Sousse marked not only an important moment for the implementation of the project, but also an essential occasion to meet old and new staff members, delegates from the ADL and all the friends of ALDA in the amazing country of Tunisia.

***
More on the mission in Tunisia:

• Meeting with Solidarité Laique (5th  Oct)
• Final project event with the Municipality of Carthage – KAS (6th Oct)
• Event of project T4D  with UNDEF ( 8th oct)
• General news on your trip to Tunisia: meeting with local staff, LDA, planning and assessment

From the 27th to the 30th of September, ALDA Secretary General, Ms. Antonella Valmorbida, took part in an institutional mission in Kosovo* and North Macedonia to convene with colleagues, delegates and ministers at local and European level.

More specifically, on September 28, ALDA Secretary General Ms. Valmorbida, and Director of the ALDA Office in Skopje and SEE Coordinator , Ms. Katica Janeva had a meeting with Mr. Frank Power – Head of Office of the Council of Europe, in Pristina, Kosovo*. The meeting, which was held in the Council of Europe Offices, consolidated the longstanding connection between ALDA and the Council.

The next day, September 29, Ms Valmorbida and Ms Janeva were received by Ms. Lejla Dervisagic and Ms. Katalin Tamus, respectively: Head of Operations  and Head of Programmes from the Council of Europe, in Skopje, North Macedonia, for another fruitful encounter.

Both of these meetings were meant to lay the foundation for the implementation of the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) program, for which, in 2021, ALDA received the accreditation from the Council of Europe to implement it both in North Macedonia and Croatia until 2023. ALDA is already a partner organisation in the implementation of ELoGE in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The aforementioned project aims to contribute to activate different Local Authorities from North Macedonia

More in depth, ELoGE is designed to support municipalities to enhance their performance and provide high quality services in an improved system of local self-government. Local government offices who want to take part in the program must evaluate the quality of their own implemented public services through the 12 principles of Good Governance (developed by the Centre of Expertise during the past 10 years) to assess the performance of the Local Governments in the Council of Europe Member States. Principles range from responsiveness to rule of law, ethical conduct, sound financial management, fair conduct of elections, representation and participation. If a local Government scores proves to be efficient enough in these sectors, it gets the label ELoGE – European Label of Governance Excellence. 

ALDA is currently implementing the ELoGE programme in North Macedonia, while in Kosovo* the application is being evaluated and more information will be disclosed in the following weeks. More specifically, the “European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in North Macedonia” is a 2 year project funded by the Council of Europe and implemented by the European Association for Local Democracy – ALDA in partnership with the Center of Expertise for Local Government Reform of the Council of Europe.  Both program offices of the Council of Europe in Pristina and Skopje are willing to support this project and to contribute to its implementation and promotion.

The aforementioned project aims to contribute to activate different Local Authorities from North Macedonia:

• by providing selected Municipalities from North Macedonia with trainings on good local governance standards and methods; 
• by raising awareness among selected Municipalities in North Macedonia on the role of CoE and the 12 Principles of Good Governance; 
• by informing citizens about the existence of tools to measure the performance of their Local Authorities and make them aware of what good governance means by facilitating citizen participation in all the decision-making processes and involving civil society organisations in the implementation of good governance principles in North Macedonia and 
• finally by  assisting the selected Municipalities in the application process for the ELoGE accreditation at the Council of Europe.

As an entity fully accredited to implement ELoGE, ALDA is committed to do so in a meaningful number of municipalities, within a set timeline, by making necessary adaptations, identifying the municipalities who wish to implement ELoGE and helping them undertake the different steps required to meet the criteria.

These two days of the mission, as well as the others, were rewarding, inspiring and beneficial to everyone involved.   

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More information about the mission can be found here

• Meeting with Zoran Dimitrovski – Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government (North Macedonia)
• Meeting with Elbert Krasniqi – Minister of Local Government Administration (RKS)
• Meeting with Emir Coric – ALDA Governing Board Member

After a long period of virtual contacts and meeting, ALDA Secretary General took the occasion to visit in person some key Western Balkan countries where ALDA is working.

Thus, on September 28^th, 2021, Antonella Valmorbida landed in Kosovo* where she arranged a meeting with the Ministry of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, and the deputy General Secretary in the Ministry, Trim Berisha  and other Minister’s councillors.

The main objective was to work on a concrete proposal to support good local governance in Kosovo*.

Bearing in mind the commitment of Kosovo* to achieve EU integration, the challenges of governance and local development, ALDA proposed to support the role of Local Authorities in the EU integration process, raise awareness among the local authorities and the central government about the importance of the local dimension in the integration process.

Meeting  M. Krasniqi to work on a concrete proposal to support good local governance in Kosovo*

Moreover, ALDA’s large European network can put in place advocacy activities for Kosovar local authorities towards EU institutions and other key stakeholders in Brussels.

Such a proposal is rooted in the major role ALDA has been playing in enhancing the capacity development of municipalities all over Europe. Thus, the delivery of capacity building for the good management of EU funds, the promotion of EU programmes, as well as needs assessment for the development of municipalities is among the priorities of this proposal.

The meeting concluded on an important not, underlying the prominence of cross-border cooperation as a fuel for local development and regional cooperation in the Balkans.

All in all, ALDA wants to bring new perspective and new visions in the Balkan region and put in place concrete tools to support local municipalities.

On September 30^th, 2021, another important institutional meeting took place in North Macedonia, in the premises of the Ministry.

Hence, Antonella Valmordiba – ALDA Secretary General, and Katica Janeva – ALDA Skopje Director and SEE Coordinator, and Emir Coric – Governing Board member, met Zoran Dimitrovski, Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government of North Macedonia.

The Ministry and ALDA have a long-standing history of cooperation, that started in 2007 at the occasion of the implementation of the project for decentralised cooperation between Normandy Region (France) and North Macedonia.  Thereafter, ALDA implemented numerous projects and activities in cooperation with local authorities and regional stakeholders, continuing the cooperation with the Ministry through different action and programmes.

Mr Dimitrovski and ALDA: focus on ALDA’s work in the field of local development and local democracy in North Macedonia

At first, the meeting with Mr Dimitrovski focused on ALDA’s work in the field of local development and local democracy in North Macedonia.

Then the discussion shifted toward EU enlargement and the role of the Local authorities in this process, as well as ALDA’s long and rich experience in assisting local authorities to be prepared for the EU accession.

In this vein, ALDA representatives presented the project ELoGE, supported by the Council of Europe, conceived to support municipalities to enhance their performance and provide high quality services in an improved system of local self-government. The project aims at contributing to activate different local authorities from North Macedonia in order to get the ELoGE accreditation at the Council of Europe, thus increasing the number of Municipalities awarded by the Label as a guarantee of good governance for all citizens in North Macedonia.

Crowdfunding: thanks to the project AVATAR  “Alto Vicentino Alliance for Networked Action”, it is now possible to participate in a unique training opportunity dedicated to associations, Civil Society organization and informal groups that have a project idea that could be financed through a crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding is a practice of grassroots micro-financing, a tool for fundraising and collective financing through digital platforms. Thanks to this tool it is possible to activate collaborative processes to support the work of your organisation, and learn how to communicate in the correct way online. This course offers three intense days of training and workshops to learn how to best use this increasingly important tool for the nonprofit world. Moreover, thanks to the practical workshop during the course it will be possible to build one’s own crowdfunding campaign in order to start putting into practice the notions acquired right away.

Crowdfunding free training! Register on the online form

The meetings will be held at the Palazzo Festari, in Corso Italia 63 in Valdagno (VI). In order to participate it is necessary to register on the online form, briefly describing the project idea that would be developed during the workshop.

Participants must demonstrate proof of vaccination or a negative covid test done within the previous 48 hours.

FIRST MEETING MON 25 OCTOBER h. 9:00 – 12:00

• Context
• What is crowdfunding
• Facts and figures on crowdfunding in Italy
• Co-design, CSR and Open Innovation
  

SECOND MEETING TUE 26 October h. 9:00 – 12:00

• How to communicate a crowdfunding campaign
• How to plan the communication
• How to support your crowdfunding campaign
• How to upload a project
  

THIRD MEETING WED 27 October h. 9:00 – 12:00

• Practical workshop, let’s work on your projects!

Lecturer:

Angelo Rindone

Considered one of the pioneers of Italian crowdfunding, he founded Produzioni dal Basso, the first Italian donation/reward crowdfunding platform, in 2005. Managing Director of Folkfunding srl Benefit, a leading company in Italy for the development of Crowd Economy strategies and tools that provides consultancy for crowd investing projects for the lending and equity market. He has overseen the development of several community platforms, including Intesa Sanpaolo’s Donation Platform, and developed CSR and Open Innovation projects for large Italian companies. Consultant on crowdfunding issues for Banca Bper and Banca Etica. Member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Equity Crowdfunding Association (AIEC) and lecturer for The FundRaising School of Aiccon and Sole24ore Business School.

December 29th, 2020 marked a crucial moment for millions of people in the area around Glina and Sisak. Thus, few minutes after midday an earthquake hit the two towns as well as the  the surrounding territory of epicentre, which was only 5 Km from Petrinja.

Being Sisak, the one of first seeds of the Association, the news left everybody speechless. In 1996, in fact, the third Local Democracy Agency (LDA) opened in the city, years before the creation of ALDA itself. It comes with itself that astonishment, disorentiation, and a sense of helplessness spread around ALDA’s offices soon after having received the news.

Yet, one question remains. How is the situation after 9 months?

Unfortunately, much is still to be done, the going is heavy and reconstruction is far from being completed. Sadly, several buildings and Municipal premises are unsafe for normal use, leading to a shortage of working spaces. More concrete, it took 4 months for LDA Sisak, and other organisations, to find suitable offices.

LDA Sisak launched a dedicated crowdfunding campaign in order to raise funds to be invested in the development of the two centers

From a general perspective, emergency measures are still in place and the situation is chaotic. Nonetheless, with a great spirit of solidarity and initiative, LDA Sisak with other organisations started a joint campaign to build a new Social-cultural Centres. Similarly, this initiative is also replicated in Petrinja.

While waiting for fundings, containers have been placed in each town, serving as a temporary spot for the Social-cultural Centres. A dedicated crowdfunding campaign has been launched in order to raise funds to be invested in the development of the two centers. Why social-cultural centres, then? Besides primary needs, it is essential to provide meeting spaces, allowing people to gather, to talk, to engage in volunteering activities and much more. Considering the circumstances it is believed that supporting citizens and local realities with cultural initiatives is essential for the well-being of the communities.

ALDA is very much committed to concretely support this initiative, and invites everyone to take part in it too. For any further information please read the LDA Sisak article

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Useful information:

• Projects dealing with the social-cultural center
• Campaign Facebook Page
• Link with the instructions how to donate, including bank transfers

ALDA Secretary General – Antonella Valmorbida – together with Katica Janeva – Director of ALDA Skopje office and South Eastern Europe Coordinator – visited Kosovo* and North Macedonia on an institutional mission, from September 27th until 30th. Several meetings and events on the agenda, one of which with Emir Coric, ALDA Governing Board Member.

Yet, before proceeding, a few primary remarks are needed. From a general perspective, with no doubt ALDA is considered a stable and strategic partner for members and stakeholders in the region, in view of the operational office in Skopje, the 8 Local Democracy Agencies and the over 40 members ALDA counts in the area. Last but not least, ALDA is also among the founders of the Balkan Network for Local Democracy (BNLD), since 2019.

Having that in mind, on September 29th,  Ms. Valmorbida together with Ms. Janeva had a meeting with Emir Coric, ALDA Governing Board Member (GB), and representative of the Municipality of Centar, in Nord Macedonia. Considering the great and fruitful relation among ALDA and its GB Members, this occasion of sharing and dialogue has been as positive and stimulating as expected. Thus, key issues were discussed, especially as far as ALDA’s new strategy and vision with members in the Balkan Region concerns.

Mr. Coric, Governing Board Member, stressed that the “Association’s priorities for the Region has to be translated into decentralization, subsidiarity and interaction with citizens”

More in depth, larger discussion about ALDA’s initiatives to support regional cooperation and EU integration processes in the Region was at the heart of the matter. Hence, promoting  local democracy and citizens’ participation as a precondition for local sustainable development is essential in ALDA’s work and engagement in the Balkan areas. 

Moreover, the positive examples of:

• “Link4Cooperation” the project is based on the ELoGE principle; 
• “VALID” – a Europe for Citizens project, lead by Municipality of Peja; and 
• “DAFLS” – ERASMUS+ project with University Caen, University of Skopje and University of Belgrade

clearly testify the great and positive impacts that ALDA, and its members, have in the area. Thus, as also stressed by Mr. Coric, “the Association’s priorities for the Region has to be translated into decentralization, subsidiarity and interaction with citizens”. 

Overall, the meeting has served not only as a great occasion for discussing together the future of the Association in the Balkan Region, but also to see each other in person, spending valuable time together.