During the month of October, the ELDW 2016 took place, with main topic “Living together in culturally diverse societies: respect, dialogue, interaction”. ALDA, in cooperation with its members and partners, renews its commitment towards promotion and fostering of democratic participation at grassroots level with a number of initiatives.
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The ELDW is an annual European event co-ordinated by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, aiming at further disseminating the Council of Europe universal values, such as democracy and human rights, but also offers the participants the opportunity to join a European network engaged for the promotion of citizen participation at the local level by organising public events that foster good governance and democratic participation with a bottom-up approach.
Within this week, ALDA took part in three important events together with its members.
On 6-7 October a seminar on decentralised cooperation between local authorities, with focus on development and attractiveness of territories, took place in Cimişlia, Moldova. The event, co-organised by ALDA, CALM (congress of Local Authorities from Moldova), ISAM (Institute of Administrative Sciences of Moldova) and the French Embassy in Moldova, together with the support of UNDP, Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, ANVPAH (National Association of Cities and Countries of Art and History). The seminar saw the participation of Nino Tvaltvadze, EaP Coordinator and Project Manager of ALDA, and aimed at developing structuring projects in the framework of decentralised cooperation, in compliance with local and national development strategies. A particular accent was put on the share of French experience in the field of intercommunal cooperation and governance. Furthermore, the event was an important occasion to discuss the development of structuring projects with diaspora communities, and the development of the attractiveness of territories through heritage tourism.
On 7-8 October the 2nd Forum on “Intercultural Dialogue & Refugees” was organised by ALDA’s member Patras Municipality in Patras, Greece. The Forum was attended by representatives from the educational sector, Academia, Local Authorities and networks. Developed using the Delphi methodology, it was an occasion to discuss about the situation of refugees in Greece & Europe (including refugee flows) & the role and challenges of local stakeholders, dealing with the situation on a daily basis, and the educational challenges (school attendance for refugee children, education of adults, inclusion in society, exchange and mutual understanding with local societies) of the refugee situation & the notion of “other”. Nikos Gamouras, Project Manager of ALDA within the LADDER project, attended the forum among speakers, stressing the challenges as well as the opportunities that Local Authorities and CSOs have in global trends such as the refugee crisis. The importance of the awareness raising dimension was in particular stressed, being crucial to inform citizens and engage them in such contexts.
On 14 October ALDA was invited to take part to a seminar in Valongo, Portugal, organised by its member Valongo Municipality. Title of the seminar was “Transparency: participative community is a more enlightened community”. The event saw the participation of key actors and representatives of Portuguese local authorities, such as Mr. José Luís Carneiro, Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities, Mr. José Manuel Ribeiro, Mayor of Valongo, Mr. João Paulo Batalha, Executive Director of the civic association TIAC, Mr. Carlos Carreiras, Chair of the Network of Participatory Local Authorities, and Mr. Neslon Dias, Chair of the Board of the IN LOCO Association, while ALDA was represented by Elena Debonis. Transparency of budget, good governance, citizens’ participation at local level were the main topics discussed, and the role of ALDA as strategic partner for the opening of Valongo Municipality to the European dimension was confirmed. Valongo Municipality is in fact in an advanced phase of inclusion of citizens in public life and decision making process, and the exchange of good practices with other Local Authorities and Civil Society Organisations would represent an added value that is particularly needed. The seminar was an occasion to further discuss about the lack of trust towards institutions, the fight against corruption and the importance of having a representative democracy and a participative one working together to achieve better results on local level.
During the month of October, the ELDW 2016 took place, with main topic “Living together in culturally diverse societies: respect, dialogue, interaction”. ALDA, in cooperation with its members and partners, renews its commitment towards promotion and fostering of democratic participation at grassroots level with a number of initiatives.
***
The ELDW is an annual European event co-ordinated by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, aiming at further disseminating the Council of Europe universal values, such as democracy and human rights, but also offers the participants the opportunity to join a European network engaged for the promotion of citizen participation at the local level by organising public events that foster good governance and democratic participation with a bottom-up approach.
Within this week, ALDA took part in three important events together with its members.
On 6-7 October a seminar on decentralised cooperation between local authorities, with focus on development and attractiveness of territories, took place in Cimişlia, Moldova. The event, co-organised by ALDA, CALM (congress of Local Authorities from Moldova), ISAM (Institute of Administrative Sciences of Moldova) and the French Embassy in Moldova, together with the support of UNDP, Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, ANVPAH (National Association of Cities and Countries of Art and History). The seminar saw the participation of Nino Tvaltvadze, EaP Coordinator and Project Manager of ALDA, and aimed at developing structuring projects in the framework of decentralised cooperation, in compliance with local and national development strategies. A particular accent was put on the share of French experience in the field of intercommunal cooperation and governance. Furthermore, the event was an important occasion to discuss the development of structuring projects with diaspora communities, and the development of the attractiveness of territories through heritage tourism.
On 7-8 October the 2nd Forum on “Intercultural Dialogue & Refugees” was organised by ALDA’s member Patras Municipality in Patras, Greece. The Forum was attended by representatives from the educational sector, Academia, Local Authorities and networks. Developed using the Delphi methodology, it was an occasion to discuss about the situation of refugees in Greece & Europe (including refugee flows) & the role and challenges of local stakeholders, dealing with the situation on a daily basis, and the educational challenges (school attendance for refugee children, education of adults, inclusion in society, exchange and mutual understanding with local societies) of the refugee situation & the notion of “other”. Nikos Gamouras, Project Manager of ALDA within the LADDER project, attended the forum among speakers, stressing the challenges as well as the opportunities that Local Authorities and CSOs have in global trends such as the refugee crisis. The importance of the awareness raising dimension was in particular stressed, being crucial to inform citizens and engage them in such contexts.
On 14 October ALDA was invited to take part to a seminar in Valongo, Portugal, organised by its member Valongo Municipality. Title of the seminar was “Transparency: participative community is a more enlightened community”. The event saw the participation of key actors and representatives of Portuguese local authorities, such as Mr. José Luís Carneiro, Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities, Mr. José Manuel Ribeiro, Mayor of Valongo, Mr. João Paulo Batalha, Executive Director of the civic association TIAC, Mr. Carlos Carreiras, Chair of the Network of Participatory Local Authorities, and Mr. Neslon Dias, Chair of the Board of the IN LOCO Association, while ALDA was represented by Elena Debonis. Transparency of budget, good governance, citizens’ participation at local level were the main topics discussed, and the role of ALDA as strategic partner for the opening of Valongo Municipality to the European dimension was confirmed. Valongo Municipality is in fact in an advanced phase of inclusion of citizens in public life and decision making process, and the exchange of good practices with other Local Authorities and Civil Society Organisations would represent an added value that is particularly needed. The seminar was an occasion to further discuss about the lack of trust towards institutions, the fight against corruption and the importance of having a representative democracy and a participative one working together to achieve better results on local level.