Born out of the ashes of conflict and the urgent need for reconciliation, the Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs) were first established in 1993 under the auspices of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. Originally known as Local Democracy Embassies, these pioneering initiatives emerged during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, designed to serve as beacons of dialogue, peace-building, and democratic resilience in regions torn apart by violence and division.

Read the publication to discover how LDAs function and why they ha e been a sustainable and successful example of local democracy at the grassroots level for over 30 years.