SEE LDAs coordination and partnership building meeting

With a view to constant efforts of ALDA to improve its network performances, the first SEE LDA-s coordination and partnership building meeting was held in Nis – Serbia, 9/10 January 2012, hosted by the LDA Central Serbia team members.
The two day meeting was designed as a capacity building and activity planning seminar intended for the delegates / LDA staff members.
During the event, a group visit was organised to the City administration of Nis, where the reception was hosted by Mrs. Dusica Davidovic, member of the City Council, member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of CoE and member of Alda’s Governing Board.
Project development and implementation planning was the main focus of the meeting, while the exchange of specific case study based information was the main training methodology applied. Most of the eleven Agencies present have been operating at grass-root level for over one decade with a strong commitment to building local capacities for democratic governance, respect for human/minority rights and citizen participation in policy and decision making. Substantial expertise gained, during perhaps the most difficult times of conflicts and the democratic transition in the Western Balkan countries, led to numerous cross-border, regional and country based co-operation and networking activities into which the LDA-s in this region have involved a wide range of stakeholders, above all, the local authorities, CSO-s, development agencies, thus contributing to effective cross-sectoral co-operation agreements for sustainable development strategies.
In their respective municipalities- the host cities, the LDA-s today play a key role in bringing the local self-governments and the citizens in local multicultural communities closer to the European values and standards, within overall efforts in the region aimed at EU integration.
Further to this, the Delegates had the opportunity to share the lessons learnt from both successful and not so successful project ideas. The intention was to substantially increase the data basis of “good practice of LDAs” to be presented in ALDA documents. As agreed in the meeting, such a long lasting experience in jointly developing and implementing co-operation projects connecting the LDA-s, cities and numerous outstanding experts, NGO practitioners and individuals in the region needs to be widely promoted and shared within entire ALDA network. Therefore it was agreed that the LDA-s perspective and expertise will be compiled in the new thematic publication on Local Democracy in Southeast Europe – its present status, comparative analyses and the practice.
A separate session was dedicated to LDA-s strategic role and further contribution relevant for EU enlargement process in the document to be presented to DG Enlargement and the EU Delegations in the region. Finally, financial planning for 2012 and sustainability resources were discussed. ALDA Director, Antonella Valmorbida, and ALDA staff members Alfonso Aliberti and Stanka Parac assisted in facilitation and coordination of the meeting to help achieve its main objectives: improving ALDA network performances and LDAs sustainability.