On July 13 and 14 a preparatory partner meeting for LDA Armenia took place in Yerevan to discuss the establishment of an LDA in Armenia. The participants in the meeting were among others Region Rhône Alpes, Regional Administration of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Union of Communities of Armenia, Urban Foundation for sustainable development and CISP Italy. Furthermore Mr. Nersisyan mayor of Ijevan, Mr. Manukyan, Vice Mayor of Gyumri, Ministry of Territorial Administration in Armenia, Counterpart International and GIZ also participated in the meeting.
The future partners of the LDA decided that LDA Armenia will be hosted by Gyumri municipality with a satellite office in Ijevan. Gyumri is the second largest city in Armenia and was selected since it will provide a good basis to allow the LDA to work on a national level. Furthermore the vibrant civil society in Gyumri and the possibilities to improve the situation for cooperation between civil society and local authorities were stressed as important factors. In addition to this, Gyumri is also linked with Kutaisi which provides a strong basis for developing the cooperation with Kutaisi city and LDA Georgia, which is located in Kutaisi.
The LDA will work to improve local democracy and involvement of citizens and NGOs in the work of local authorities. It is important to ensure that the LDA is independent of the local authorities in Gyumri and to ensure that it can work on a national level. The LDA will aim to serve as a bridge between Europe and Armenia and will bring Armenian practice to Europe and European experience to Armenia – and at the same time operate as a link between Local Authorities and NGOs in Armenia. Finally the LDA will also work to ensure cross border cooperation in South Caucasus and will work to promote peace and understanding in the South Caucasus region.
The meeting confirmed Region Rhône Alpes as lead partner for the LDA, while Regional Administration of Friuli Venezia Giulia, CISP Italy, Union of Communities of Armenia, Ijevan and Gyumri will be partners of the LDA. There will be a further process during the coming months to involve more international partners and to select national and local Armenian NGOs to be partners of the LDA.
The partners at the meeting confirmed October 27 as the official day for the opening ceremony of LDA Armenia in Gyumri and will work to initiate the selection of a delegate and registration of the LDA as a Foundation before that date.
The LDA will be located in the right wing of the building (see photo) which hosts other public associations and NGOs in Gyumri.
ALDA General Assembly 2011 took place in Bydgoszcz (9th July 2011), the day after the important International Conference on “Volunteering for Democracy”.
ALDA members approved all the documents presented at the end of a challenging year for the Association.
“After the achievements of the first ten years of existence – stated Mr.Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress of the Council of Europe in his speech – the Association has become an important player in local democracy-building and a genuine driving force behind cross-border co-operation at both local and regional level – not only in South-East Europe but also increasingly in South Caucasus and the rest of the Eastern Partnership countries. And let’s not forget the crucial role played by ALDA in promoting the entry of South-East European countries in the European Union, and preparing the ground at local level for their future integration”.
ALDA and the Local Democracy Agencies, since their creation, have been actively promoting democracy and respect for human and minority rights in the countries of South Eastern Europe and of Southern Caucasus.
Some of these countries are at the threshold of the European Union, though there are a number of challenges to be tackled before that step will be carried out.
Volunteering is a fundamental instrument for the growth of democracy. Europe believes in its strengthening and intends, with the European Year of Volunteering, to promote the involvement and the participation of European citizens.
At the moment one hundred million of European people are active in a voluntary service and the main objective of the year is to develop this part of active citizens. In order to raise the goals the activity of all the European countries all involved and active to support the volunteering. Is very important.
This is what has come out during the international conference on “Volunteering for Democracy”, organised as part of the European Year of Volunteering 2011, jointly by ALDA and the Bydgoszcz City Hall, that was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland (8th of July).
The event, which main aim was the promotion of voluntary services and civil participation, represented the launching event of the first Polish Presidency of the European Union for Kujavy and Pomerania Region.
It was attended by 150 representatives from civil society groups and local governments from all over Europe.
Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress of the Council of Europe, participated and opened the Conference with a speech.
“What we need today – stated Mr Whitmore – is the practical partnership between local and regional authorities and the volunteer sector, and a practical framework for their cooperation. The authorities at the grassroots should support voluntary organisations, help with the training of volunteers and provide guidance in voluntary project management. They should themselves set a good example by actively participating in voluntary projects. A particular attention should be paid to involving young people and youth organisations, including setting up youth councils or assemblies at local and regional levels. Our objective should be to bring together local and regional authorities and civil society to spread expertise and good practices, raise awareness and encourage exchanges of experience – in other words, to build partnerships for the benefit of our citizens and the improvement of local democracy and self-governance”.
John Macdonald, Representative of the European Commission, Head of Task Force European Year of Volunteering, addressed the audience through a video message underlining the role of volunteering for the growth of citizen participation and democracy.
“The event of such kind – stated the Mayor of Bydgoszcz, Mr. RafałBruski– is exactly what we need locally and regionally. A phenomenon of participation is what local community sees as democracy. The visible need to promote formal and non-formal levels of these activities is both: a task for and ambition of local authorities of Bydgoszcz. I am sure this experience has shown a path and clear direction for public institutions and non-governmental organisations”.
ALDA President, Mr. Per Vinther, underlined that wherever people help and support those in need, society gains in cohesion and democracy. This is why ALDA and its members work to promote the active citizenship and the civil participation both in Member States and neighbouring countries.
The conference included formal and non-formal participation; representatives of several European Ngo’s and Institutions illustrated the experiences of their organisations and countries in the field of voluntarism.
The conference was part of a three-year VIT project (Very Important Twinning) – “Europe for Citizens” programme. The project envisages 20 international events.
Dear visitors,
Welcome to the webpage of the Association of Local Democracy Agencies, ALDA. The internet is only one, but certainly a very important, communication tool which we shall continue to develop and make available in order to inform all the people about our activities and if possible motivate them to engage in similar worthwhile activities with us or other partners. Below I have summed up the far-reaching endeavours undertaken by our Association.
Since 1999 ALDA – and some of the individual Local Democracy Agencies in our network even longer – have been actively promoting democracy and respect for human and minority rights in the countries of South Eastern Europe and of Southern Caucasus.
Some of these countries are at the threshold of the European Union, though there are a number of challenges to be tackled before that threshold can be crossed. ALDA and the Local Democracy Agencies through helping local communities create a better life for all of their inhabitants have constantly kept in mind that this effort should also be targeted to help the countries in question prepare themselves for the “demands” of EU membership.
Recently, involvement in the Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership of the EU, EaP, has led ALDA to increase attention on the countries of Eastern Europe and intensify its longer term activities to help strengthen and promote the role of civil society in Belarus and Georgia as well as engage itself in the other countries of the EaP. To this one might add our ongoing cooperation with civil society organisations in EU neighbourhood countries on the southern rim of the Mediterranean.
ALDA enjoys the support of members in most of the countries of Europe, i.e. regional and local authorities, NGOs and individuals. Based on its commitment to a Europe for All, ALDA has become a dedicated partner of the EU within the programme Europe for Citizens and has together with its members been implementing many projects to promote civic participation in its various forms, including volunteering.
I wish you and interesting and inspiring read, browsing through our site.
Per VINTHER
President
Starting from July 4 until July 8, 2011, Macedonian and French professionals will work on discovering and practicing the technics of renovation of traditional buildings in Pont Farcy, Lower Normandy.
This practical workshop on renovating ancient buildings with natural and ecological materials will be held in the Norman farms and sites, where the experts from the two countries will demonstrate their skills in reconstruction using traditional methods.
The experts will work not only on the implementation, but also on the basic theory knowledge regarding preparation of building sites, renovating and constructing stone walls, cob walls, etc. while using the traditional (natural) materials, easy to practice individually. More information on this specific workshop and building heritage activities can be found at www.balkansheritage.eu.
This practical workshop is organised in the framework of the Decentralised cooperation between the Lower Normandy region and Republic of Macedonia, in the component 5 – Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Heritage, project coordinated by ALDA. For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/
In the four years that have elapsed since the beginning of the creation of the decentralised cooperation between Lower Normandy Region and North Macedonia, the cooperation has marked significant number of achieved goals. In the domains of both bilateral and multilateral cooperation, strengthening the development of policies and raising initiatives for cooperation, the decentralised cooperation between Lower Normandy and Macedonia will try to create economic ties between the two territories. Following that idea, the tourism sector has emerged as great opportunity.
Macedonian tourism potential combined with Norman know-how can lead to new goals and activities. Driven by this idea and the tourism diversity of the South-West region in Macedonia, Normand delegation will visit this region on an exploratory mission with actors from Lower Normandy, particularly the Caen region, since the city of Caen and city of Ohrid are twinned in 2009. This study mission starts on July 03 until July 08 and will focus on the city of Ohrid and its region.
This mission aims on validating possible areas of cooperation in tourism fields, develop and share experiences with the institutions of the South-West region in North Macedonia, as well as establish an inventory of Macedonian tourism infrastructure and identify local partners. This study visit will represent the beginning for cooperation between tourism actors, and great reinforcement in the decentralised cooperation between the Lower Normandy region and Republic of North Macedonia so far. For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info.
The Project for decentralised cooperation between Republic of North Macedonia and the Region of Lower Normandy, France is coordinated by the Association of local democracy agencies (ALDA).
Sicilian Region and ALDA promote the second meeting with the mayors in Sicily on “Active citizenship and participation for local governance in the Mediterranean” (Catania 1st of July 2011, conference hall of ESA Palace, via Beato Bernardo, 5).
Following the meeting held the 19th of April 2011 in Palermo, the Sicilian Region, the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) and several Sicilian Municipalities, have started the elaboration of a series of planning paths for the promotion of a stable partnership in the Mediterranean.
How can local governments to become positive leaders in Sicily of a new concept of local governance in the countries of the Med, which from the bottom, try to give concrete answers to the causes of migration and the problems they bring to their communities?
One possible answer to this question will try to give tomorrow in Catania the Sicily Region, in particular the Department of Foreign Affairs in Brussels, led by Dr. Francesco Attaguile, and ALDA, Association of Local Democracy Agencies, with Director Antonella Valmorbida, who organised a second meeting with the Sicilian municipalities.
Tomorrow (Friday 1st of July 2011, 10.00) at the conference hall of ESA Palace, (via Beato Bernardo, 5) will discuss the theme “Active citizenship and participation for local governance in the Mediterranean”.
The Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA), in collaboration with the Sicilian Region has achieved, among other initiatives, a project for the entrepreneurial and managerial training of citizens of the Maghreb to “capitalise” their ability to develop new activities in their country of origin or to facilitate a full integration in the host countries.
In line with the “Palermo Declaration”, signed by 50 institutions representative of 20 countries in May 2010 during the conference “United by the Mediterranean” organised by the Sicilian Region, ALDA is strongly convinced of the importance of strengthening the euro-Mediterranean partnership for the promotion of human rights and participation of all citizens in the life of local communities in which they live.
Many Sicilian municipalities have joined the meeting, which aims to promote the development of synergies between the activities of ALDA, Sicily Region and Sicilian municipalities interested in promoting local governance and participation of citizens in Europe and in the Mediterranean, sharing experiences and best practices among the actors involved. The ultimate objective of the meeting is to develop local projects, within the project guidelines and funding of the European Community, as an opportunity for stable cooperation for development and peace in the Mediterranean.
The General Assembly of Concord, that took place in Brussels on 21th-22nd of June, with around 120 participants, voted on and approved ALDA’s application to become its associate member. At the General Assembly, the Confederation also accepted three other new members: The Romanian national platform FOND, Islamic Relief Worldwide and Handicap International.
Concord is the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development. Its 18 international networks and 26 national associations from the European Member States represent more than 1600 European NGOs vis-à-vis the European Institutions.
ALDA is looking forward to being part of Concord and participate actively in its work. ALDA is in particular interested in sharing experience with the Confederation and its members on ALDA’s work in development, such as project under the Non State Actor and Local Authorities programme. ALDA is currently running two projects under this programme, the Working Together for Development project and TANDEM in Belarus.
ALDA believes that the membership of Concord will provide ALDA with the opportunity to bring its expertise and experience in development at the local level to the benefit of Concord and its members and that the work with Concord will provide access to important expertise for ALDA’s work.
More information about Concord can be found at http://www.concordeurope.org
In the next three years ALDA will be in charge to coordinate and organise local public events (including theatre performances) in France, Belgium, Serbia and Croatia within the project “CARAVAN. Artists on the Road”.
It is a project of Community Theatre conducted by a multi-disciplinary partnership that includes 11 cultural organisations from 9 European countries. Partner leader of the project is the CRT Foundation (Turin, Italy), supervisor artistic and methodological of the project will be the Master in Social and Community Theatre of the Faculty of Education – DAMS, University of Turin.
The idea of a traveling theatre production that involves the community by making it the protagonist of the show earned to the project the first place in Europe.
In the evaluation conducted by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) for the European Commission, CARAVAN got a score of 99/100, ranking first among the 61 submitted applications for funding across Europe.
It’s the first time that a foundation of banking origin obtained a similar result in a European tender, as leader.
Other partners of the project are Universidade da Coruna (Spain), Teater Spira (Sweden), Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium / Odin Teatret (Denmark), Projekte, Action, Kunst, Theater P.A.K.T. eingetragener Verein (Germany), Wydzia Sztuk Piknych Projektowych Wyszej Szkole Informatyki (Poland), Movimento delle Associazioni di Volontariato Italiano Onlus (Italy), Association for Culture and Education KIBLA (Slovenja) and Municipal Theatre Vazrajdane (Bulgaria).
The project originates from the economic, social and cultural crisis that in recent years has had a major impact on society throughout Europe. It plans to tackle the theme of “Rebirth of the crisis” through the creation of cultural and artistic performances, based on the methodology of social and community theatre, in order to foster the social and cultural empowerment of the communities affected by the crisis in symbolic places.
The central element in the project is the “Theatre Caravan” traveling, a vehicle with multimedia equipment, which will make a tour through Europe. The Caravan will make about 40 stops in 11 countries in Europe, staging more than 50 performances completely free to the public.
The Caravan will travel a total of 13.000 km through Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, returning finally to Italy.
The performances will take place in different contexts, such as, for example, outside of historic houses, squares, schools, hospitals, railway stations, but always in public spaces to engage the local population.
ALDA participated to the launch event in Turin (21st-22nd of June) where will be held, on next September, the second preparatory meeting.
In the framework of the component 3 regarding the protection and inventory of architectural heritage, starting from 25th June until 2nd July, the activities will continue through a study visit to North Macedonia.
The French delegation from the The National Association of Towns and Regions of Art and History and tows with protected areas will spend several days working on cities and protected areas with The Association of historical and artistic cities of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The two partners will prepare detailed plans for cities and protected areas in the municipalities of Veles, Kumanovo, Berovo, Stip and Kratovo. French experts will go on field and observe the conditions for the protection of architectural heritage, where they will define the priorities in this domain. The first detailed plans for protected areas will serve to plan and prepare the protection of architectural heritage at local level.
This stage of the project includes meetings with institutional representatives following the visit and conference held last February in Veles.
This visit is part of the Project for Decentralised Cooperation between Lower Normandy and North Macedonia, in the component 3 – Inventory of Cultural Heritage. The project is coordinated by the Association of local democracy agencies (ALDA). For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/
LDA CSS, Center for Civil Resources Development and Media Research Centre Nis in cooperation with the Office for European Affairs of the City of Nis and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) began with preparation of the exhibition entitled “Strong Words” in May 2011.
The exhibition “STRONG WORDS” will be held from 27 June to 1 July 2011. in the European corner and will consist of the selected photos from the call for photographers invited to record examples of the hate speech on the walls of our city.
Photographs will form a whole that will be followed by texts which will point out the ideological sources of graffiti that insult the human rights and human dignity. We want to emphasise the importance of promoting human rights and tolerance but also to draw attention to the terrible consequences that can result by the tolerating of hate speech.
We believe that the results of those kinds of activities can make a significant contribution to guiding the citizens of Serbia to respect human rights as one of three key values underpinning the European Union.
The Mayor of Niš, Mr Miloš Simonović, visited yesterday (23rd of June) the ALDA office in Brussels which is hosting the newly established Representative Office of the City of Niš.
Dr. Alexandra Lugovic who is in charge of that office will be the eyes and ears of Niš in Brussels presenting what Niš has to offer potential partners and inversely looking for opportunities and contacts from which Niš can benefit.
The Mayor and his associates were welcomed by MrPer Vinther, ALDA President, and ALDA staff and spent time in the office discussing the potential for strengthening the co-operation between Niš and ALDA as well as between the City and the Local Democracy Agency for Central and Southern Serbia, which has been hosted by Niš for a number of years.
The visit was preceded by a well-attended reception the evening before, putting the Representative Office and the City of Niš clearly on the radar screen in the EU Capital.
On 17 June, the programme France-Balkans held their workshop on Youth aimed at further discussing the project submitted to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Regional Council of Auvergne.
ALDA was represented by the Director Antonella Valmorbida and the project-manager in charge with the programme France-Balkans, Biljana Zasova.
The main idea of the project is to organise an itinerary seminar for 40 young journalists, amateurs or students, disadvantaged youth working in local radios and TV channels coming from all the French and Balkan partners in the programme. The objective is to reproduce the itineraries of famous journalist, Albert Londres, who investigated about Balkan politics and social affairs in early 20th century. The youngsters will have the opportunity to realise a web documentary or open a web radio after their trip around the region. A Youth in Action project will be submitted in support to the present action within France-Balkans.
The Vichy Auvergne county (http://www.paysvichyauvergne.com/1_Accueil.html), a future member of ALDA, will be responsible for the main management and fundraising. ALDA and Courrier des Balkans will implement the project.
The exchange of experience through working visits continues this June and August between FFRM and AFDI.
In the framework of their cooperation, the Macedonian delegation is visiting the organisation IADK (Initiative for agricultural development of Kosovo) in Kosovo on 10, 11 and 12 June. This study visit and experience sharing will contribute to reinforcing the cooperation between FFRM and IADK, since IADK is AFDI’s Kosovo partner. The neighbouring organisations will work on creating new policies and practices in order to improve the agriculture in both countries.
The French delegation will visit North Macedonia at the end of the summer and will re-visit existing pilot groups in Tetovo, Gostivar, Resen and Berovo, as well as the south-west part of Macedonia. The team will visit the dairy producers, but also other farmers and cooperatives in North Macedonia.
This event is part of the Decentralised cooperation programme between the Region Lower Normandy and republic of NorthMacedonia, coordinated by ALDA.
For further information visit the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/
ALDA is attending in Foligno (Italy) the “International Forum on Aid Effectiveness at the Local Level “Territories Networking for Human Development” Innovative Tools and Practices for Decentralised Cooperation”, from 15th to 17th June 2011. The forum is organised by the Fund of Local Entities for Decentralised Cooperation and Sustainable Human Development (FELCOS Umbria) and the United Nations Development Programme’s ART Initiative (UNDP), and it is sponsored by the Umbria Region.
Development Cooperation is going through a crucial phase of transformation, with new perspectives and challenges ahead. Among these are the need to combine the implementation of innovative practices and principles related to the management and effectiveness of official development assistance (in the direction defined in the road map from Paris to Busan), even despite the constraints imposed by the global economic crisis. Mindful of the increasing interdependence and complementarity between the local and global realms, one of the new elements in this scenario is the continued and dynamic growth of the role played by the territories as protagonists of local development processes. In the last decade, the decentralised cooperation has gradually increased its role and it is steadily acquiring the profile of “territorial cooperation”, which from the political and institutional role played by local governments, it involves different territorial actors as active and leading players in the context of the territorial approach to development.
The main objective of the Forum is to provide an opportunity to analyse, discuss and debate on the situation and prospects for Territorial Cooperation and its articulation with the regions, national governments, the European Union and international agencies.
ALDA will play an active role in this event presenting the innovative experience of the LDAs and their methodology of multilateral decentralised cooperation. Mr. Alfonso Aliberti, Project Manager of ALDA in charge of the development of the LDAs partnership, will present ALDA’s experiences in this renard.
For more information download the programme of the event HERE or visit http://www.forumterritoriinrete.org/presentation-118-2.html
On May 26 the European Commission published its communication “A new response to a changing Neighbourhood”. The communication comes partly as a follow up to the crucial changes in Europe’s Southern Neighbourhood. The Commission proposes a new approach to strengthen the partnership between the EU and the countries and societies of the Neighbourhood: to build and consolidate healthy democracies, pursue sustainable economic growth and manage cross-border links – an approach that aims to ensure that EU’s support will promote deep democracy in the Neighbourhood.
The new approach proposes a higher level of differentiation, which will allow each partner country to develop its links with the EU as far as its own aspirations, needs and capacities allow. This change in approach will also mean that countries that are moving forward with democratic reform will be rewarded by more support and more integration – using the “more for more” concept. With the approach the EU does not seek to impose a model or a ready-made recipe for political reform, but it will insist that each partner country’s reform process reflect a clear commitment to universal values that form the basis of our renewed approach.
Specifically the Commission’s communication proposes to:
- establish partnerships in each neighbouring country and make EU support more accessible to civil society organisations through a dedicated Civil Society Facility
- support the establishment of a European Endowment for Democracy to help political parties, non-registered NGOs and trade unions and other social partners
- promote media freedom by supporting civil society organisations’ (CSOs’) unhindered access to the internet and the use of electronic communications technologies reinforce human rights dialogues
The European Parliament and Council will discuss this communication and their response to it in the following months and ALDA will follow this discussion and hopes this new proposal and discussion will lead to positive changes and more support from EU to ALDA’s work in the Neighbourhood.
The full communication can be found here – and a resume is available here.
The individual Neighbourhood country progress reports, which were also published on May 25, are available here.
LDA Central and Southern Serbia, in cooperation with NGO AssociaçãoMaisCidadania from Portugal started the new European voluntary service project “Share yourself” in order to promote volunteering experiences with following aims: to promote solidarity and tolerance, to increase social cohesion among European youngsters, to promote active citizenship and contacts between youngsters of different countries and to offer opportunities of non-formal education to 15 youngsters with low opportunities.
Beneficiaries are youngsters with low opportunities coming from different social neighbourhoods (suburbs) located in Loures, the north-west city just out of Lisbon.
LDA will host two volunteers, Maria FlorBrandão Vieira and Daniel InácioMourão, for two months to work on citizenship, promotion of participation of youngsters and breaking of social barriers through the promotion of the cultural diversities.
Closing conference and Diploma Ceremony marked the end of year and a half long project Economy & Management for NGOs in Serbia, funded by SLOVAKIAD and realised in partnership with Education Center for Non-Profit Organisation – CVNO, BanskaBystrica, Slovakia, the Faculty of Economy ”MatejBel” in Banska Bystrica and the Faculty of Economy in Nis.
The project aimed at raising the capacities of Serbian NGOs to deal with their own management and financial resources. Representatives of 10 NGOs from the southern part of Serbia took part in 6 on line courses led by the professors from the Faculty of Economy Nis: Management of NGO, Marketing of NGO, Global economy, Human resources, Finances of NGO and New trends in NGO. These on-line courses will now serve as a module for possible future accredited master’s programmes on one of the universities in Serbia.
We are also pleased to say that, through this project, LDA initiated cooperation between faculties of economy in BanskaBystrica and Nis.