The Association of Local Democracy Agencies participated in the European Congress of Rural Municipalities, which took place in Warsaw on 19-20 October 2011. The congress was organised by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Union of Rural Communes of the Republic of Poland within the framework of the Polish Council presidency. Under the patronage of Polish President Bronisław Komorowski, the event brought together Polish Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak, Adam Struzik, Marshal of the Mazovia Region, Mariusz Poznański, President of the Polish Union of Rural Communes, CoR members and over 1.000 representatives of rural municipalities.
In presentations and discussions, speakers stressed the fact that despite their diversity, Europe’s rural areas face many common challenges such as high unemployment, lack of basic infrastructure or depopulation. A common strategy for rural development, uniting all EU funds, was an idea put forward by many participants, often stressing the tight links between urban and rural areas and their importance for future development.
To highlight the role of rural regions in EU policymaking, congress participants adopted the ‘Warsaw declaration’. The declaration insists on the importance of taking the needs of rural areas into account and to strike the right balance between rural and urban policies, and calls for stronger links between the rural and urban areas to develop a more integrated territorial approach.

Find the Warsaw Declaration here
Learn more about the Congress on its website.

On the 23rd of October it was officially launched in Budapest, Hungary, the Grundtvig project “Network for Community Development with Marginalised Social Groups” in which ALDA is partner. Lead by the Hungarian Association of Community Development, the project will aim at facilitating the mutual learning of innovative tools of community development that tackle the problems of marginalised social groups in different regions of Europe.

ALDA will be responsible for the organisation of a Study visit in Strasbourg in March 2003 with the aim of sharing with the other partners of the project its own experience in community development and its networking methodologies implying the promotion of social and economic local development all over Europe. Moreover, ALDA will send 12 participants in 3 study visits in Spain, Scotland and Hungary in order to exchange best practices with the other partners of the programme

On 11 October 2011, as part of the activities in its committee «Wider Europe», AFCCRE took the initiative to organise a meeting between the French and the Croatian representatives of local authorities in both countries. The meeting was held in Zagreb in partnership with the Association of Croatian counties, the Union of Croatian towns and municipalities and CIDEM, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Embassy of France in Croatia.
This initiative was a follow-up of the Conference that AFCCRE organised in the French Senate last February on the contribution of local authorities to the European future of the Western Balkans.
In addition, this meeting in the Croatian capital had symbolic meaning, following the European Council decision on 30 June, to close the accession negotiations of Croatia and is expected to join the European family on 1st July 2013.
In this context, the conference was an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences on Europe territories and Europe for citizens, particularly the impact on local Croatian forthcoming accession to the European Union and the prospects for trade and cooperation between the two countries.
ALDA’s projects and work of the LDA’s in the field of local democracy was presented by Ms. Ivana Dimitrovska, Head of office in Skopje. Ms. Dimitrovska also presented the methodology of work in the Project for decentralised cooperation between the Region Lower Normandy and Republic of Macedonia.
Following the examples presented, it is clear that the Croatian-French cooperation strengthens from year to year. In view of the forthcoming accession of Croatia to the European Union, their field of work is expanding, which will give a wider access to local Croatian actors in the European programs.

Mr Dragan Marinkovic, associate of LDA Niš and Head of Environmental Protection Department of the City of Kragujevac, will take part in the international conference on climate change, “Green capital” in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 20th of October. As a good practice example he will present joint project of LDA Niš and City of Kragujevac, “Waste management: Raise Awareness On Waste Management Through Education And Implementation Of Selective Compilation Of Cardboard And Pet Waste“.
The audience of this conference will be representatives from educational sector: teachers, school authorities, schoolchildren. Also, policy makers from Georgia president office, Parliament, Government and Tbilisi City Mayor office will be present.
Conference is being organised by Lithuanian Youth Centre and supported by Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Supporting participatory urban development and start a solid relationship of decentralised cooperation with an Armenian town.
These are the main aims of the project launched by the City of Thiene with the City of Ijevan, Armenia, in cooperation with ALDA, the Association of Local Democracy Agencies.
The project is co-financed by the Veneto Region under the “Direct Initiative 2011 – Decentralised cooperation for development” for the promotion of human rights, culture of peace, development cooperation and solidarity.

Ijevan is a city of about twenty thousand inhabitants, the capital of Tavush region in the north-east of Armenia, near the border with Azerbaijan.
The project will develop over a year and includes study visits and training courses in the two cities.
“Citizen’s participation in local government is one of the pillars of democracy and good governance-says Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA – and if in Europe this is a consolidated phenomenon, the situation is very different in many of the Eastern countries, which are still facing the transition from post-Soviet European to democracy. If we want democracy found fertile ground there, too, we must work hard with citizens to encourage them to participate. To reach this goal, ALDA promote this twinning project and will open in a few days, October 28, in Armenia his thirteenth Local Democracy Agency, with the support of the Council of Europe, in addition to the one opened five years ago in Georgia and the other eleven active in the Balkans. “
The project will establish an exchange of good practices, to develop, in the near future, citizens’ participation and democracy. Environmental sustainability and sustainable development are other issues at the heart of future cooperation, which could spread to the management of waste and the public awareness on environmental issues.
The project is divided into three activities aimed at increasing the participation of the citizens of Ijevan and the instruments used to facilitate the dialogue between local authorities and civil society.
The first activity will be a training session in Ijevan, starting on the 26th of October, managed by expert of Thiene Municipality and ALDA.
The second action will involve an expert of ALDA in a lab with about thirty representatives of local authorities and civil society organisations of Ijevan on issues of active citizenship and cooperation between local authorities and civil society in urban development.
The last action will be a study visit in Thiene of a delegation of representatives of the Armenian community (next March), during which will be illustrated the practical activities and initiatives of the Italian town, such as the Urban Center, a reality that could also be replicated in the Armenian city. The visit aims to create a network between authorities and civil society organisations, which will be the basis for a durable cooperation.

Respect of freedom of expression and assembly, and immediate release of political prisoners, in Azerbaijan. Is what asks the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum to the Government of Azerbaijan, to the Heads of all EU institutions, to the Governments of the EU member States and to the Council of Europe.
In a statement of the Steering Committee the Co-Chairs of the Forum, Mrs Antonella Valmorbida, (ALDA), and Ulad Vialichka (International Consortium EUROBELARUS) claim that the work of civil society – including those formally recognised within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum – continues to be obstructed by government authorities in Azerbaijan.
“Democracy campaigners received jail sentences in Baku- is written in the statement-. Since their detention for participation in peaceful demonstrations on 2 April 2011, 14 civil society activists and opposition leaders have been sentenced to jail for periods of up to six years in politically motivated trials based on falsified evidence. On 2 April 2011, peaceful protesters were beaten and arrested in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and others were arrested in pre-emptive police action before the 2 April public gatherings calling for democratic reforms in Azerbaijan. These actions were condemned by the Civil Society Forum in its statement of 5 April 2011.
The fourteen individuals sentenced include a well-known human rights defender, the deputy head of the opposition Musavat Party, and the chairman of the National Statehood Party. The convictions were based on charges ranging from kidnapping and hooliganism to disobeying police orders and forcing a citizen to vote against his will or preventing him from voting. The results of the monitoring of the investigation process and court hearings by Azerbaijani Human Rights Defend Organizations shows that the right to a fair trial was violated both during the investigation and court hearings, and that the accusations against the defendants were of a political character and based on ungrounded and suspicious conclusions”.
The Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum calls upon the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release the political prisoners, and to respect freedom of expression and assembly.
The Steering Committee of the Civil Society Forum considers the court decisions unfair and politically motivated, and calls upon governments of the member-states of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy, to communicate to the Azerbaijan authorities their unambiguous disapproval of these sentences, and to call upon the government of Azerbaijan to release the prisoners immediately.
The Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum strongly condemns these politically motivated convictions, which are clear violations of the obligations of Azerbaijan as a member of the Council of Europe and a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and urges the European Commission, the EU Council, and EU member-states to consult extensively with representatives of civil society, and to ensure that they meet directly with them on every official visit to Azerbaijan to hear first-hand about the observance of human rights and democratic freedoms in Azerbaijan.

ALDA and the LDA Central and Southern Serbia were present at the 2011 European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels. During the workshop on the Adriatic- Ionian macro- region on 12 October Mr Saša Marinkov, Delegate of the Niš based LDA presented ALDA and the creation of the LDA as a good practise of public-private partnership.
During his presentation at the seminar in the Committee of Regions he explained to the representatives from several regions and cities from all over Europe as well as the European Commission the method of decentralised cooperation. He highlighted the best practise between ALDA and City of Niš that made LDA Central and South Serbia to one of earliest best practise examples of PPP in Southern Serbia. The Agency was established in 2001 in the Central Serbian city Niš. As a good practise example Mr Marinkov enumerates the Youth-the right direction project that was implemented from 2006 to 2009 by the LDA. It was dedicated to promote the possibilities of EU Youth in action programme among young people in South East Europe and the South Caucasus and reached a broad target group.

Photo description: Saša Marinkov is speaking at the European Week of Regions and Cities 2011 in Brussels. Photo: ALDA Brussels office.

ALDA is having a central role in the promotion of the ELDW , the European local democracy week, among its members and its partners, as main partner of the Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the body which promotes the initiative.
ALDA, together with the LDAs, is organising several initiatives in the framework of the ELDW all over Europe. Moreover, ALDA is partner in many other initiatives within the Week organised by its members and partners.

The European Local Democracy Week is an annual European event where local authorities from all the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, as well as their national associations, organise public events to meet and engage with their citizens on issues of current interest. The main aim is to promote and foster democratic participation at a local level. The week around 15 October has been chosen for holding this event as a tribute to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, opened for signature on that date in 1985.
ELDW purpose is to raise European citizens’ awareness of how local authorities operate, and inform them of the opportunities available for taking part in decision-making process at the local level.
The leading theme of the Week 2011 will be ‘Human Rights at local level’ and the Congress recommends that at least one of the activities should focus on it, allowing however the participants to organise events on issues of particular interest to them.
To give a more concrete overview of the role of ALDA in the promotion of the ELDW, we publish a list of events ALDA is directly organising, also through its LDAs, or in which it will be partner:

• Opening of the Local Democracy Agency in Armenia.
  On October 28, as the official day for the opening ceremony of LDA Armenia in Gyumri, an awareness-raising conference will be organised to gather citizens, NGOs and other groups actively involved in local governance issues to discuss and learn about the best practices of involving citizens in public life. The conference will give the participants a chance to better understand the bottom-up methodology for the development of local self-government and increasing citizen participation. The opening event in October will mark the link between the LDA in Armenia and its work in support of Local Democracy and Human Rights in the Country as part of the ELDW and as a medium-long term project. More info.
• Celebration of the 15° Anniversary LDA Sisak
  The International Conference “The Road of Croatia towards the EU: the role of Croatian Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs)” will be organised on the 4th November 2011 in Sisak, Croatia. The Conference is organised in the framework of the celebration of the 15th Anniversary of the Local Democracy Agencies Sisak and as a part of the ELDW. In this regards the Municipality of Sisak obtained the 12 Stars Label from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, a prestigious label awarded to Municipalities and local communities particularly active in the promotion of ELDW.
  ALDA will take the opportunity of the Conference to reflect and to open the discussion with participants on the future of the Croatian LDAs in prevision of Croatia entering the EU in July 2013. Other activities will be organised by LDA Sisak to promote human rights among youth.
• ALDA organising two major events in Venice from the 15 to the 17 November.
  ALDA will organise in Venice a conference whose overall topic will be Mobility and Volunteering in Town Twinning and International Seminar on twinning relations. The events will unite around 180 participants from 10 different European countries involving representatives of Local Authorities and their associations, NGOs, civil servants and citizens’ groups who will develop a dynamic evaluation of how mobility and volunteering can strongly support the building of a developed Europe. The overall goal of those activities, both organised within the Europe for Citizens programme and in the framework of the ELDW, is strengthening CSO’s involvement in the overall framework of EU twinning in order to create a better organised cooperation system between LAs e CSOs and a more present Public-Private Partnership in the fight against economic and social crisis, in the promotion of mobility for democracy and the ownership of European identity.
• LDA Kosovo organising its first activity in the framework of the ELDW
  On the 21-22 November LDA Kosovo, in cooperation with ALDA and all its partners will organise its first official activity in Peja/Pec (Kosovo) on the occasion of the Celebration of the International Child’s Rights Day. An international conference will be organised to foster the discussion on the topic among the main international and local stakeholders (UNICEF, CoE, UNDP, EC, Ministry of Local Authorities, local and international CSOs working of the topic), the conference will be followed by a plain “air afternoon” which will be attended by families and citizens from all the region of Peja/Pec.
• ELDW in Georgia. Art and Nature in Kutaisi for Human Rights
  In Kutaisi, LDA Georgia (celebrating its 5th anniversary) and the Association of Local Authorities of Georgia, will organise in cooperation with the Municipality a photo exhibition on human rights in the country and a competition and award called “The greenest Neighborhood in Kutaisi” that will see the involvement of a high number of citizens and representatives of LAa and CSOs.
• 10 years of LDA CSS keeping working on the promotion of Human Rights
  On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary LDA CSS, City of Nis – Office of the Mayor, NGO Youth Education Center, Media Center Nis and LDA are organising European Local Democracy Week from October 10 till October 16. Numerous workshops, discussion groups, entertainment events, exhibitions and other activities will be organised during this week. Nis University Faculty of Economics, Metropolitan University Education Center and Nis City Children’s Center will take active part in the activities during this week. More info .
• CRCD Promoting Rights of Children in Albania
  The Center for Research Cooperation and Development – CRCD, ALDA’s member, in cooperation with European Information Center in Vlora (Albania) will initiate the promotion of the ELDW in Vlora by organising one seminar at EU info as well an open public presentation to one of the school related “EU Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child”.
• Strategies to promote Human Rights at the local level in Italy
  The Municipality of Vibonati, Morigerati and Casaletto Spartano in Italy, new members of ALDA, will organise in mid-November a Conference on the means Municipalities have to promote human rights at local level and an interactive activity in the high school of Sapri (Italy) targeting youth promoting human rights. ALDA will participate with one representative at both the events.
  For more information about each event please contact Mr. Alfonso Aliberti, Project Manager of ALDA, at alfonso.aliberti@aldaintranet.org.

The new Local Democracy Agency Armenia will open on 28th of October in Gyumri. It is the second LDA in the South Caucasus area and the thirteenth LDA opened by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
“Decentralisation of power and the development of administrative capacities at the local level, together with a capable and vivid civil society, represent a fundamental step in the process of democratisation, stability and development of Armenia”, says ALDA President, Per Vinther.
On occasion of the official opening ceremony, ALDA organises a conference to gather Local Authorities, NGOs, citizens, and international representatives that are actively involved in local governance issues to discuss and learn about best practices of involving citizens in public life. The opening conference will take place in the City Hall of Gyumri and will be also be part of the European Week of Local Democracy.

In an effort to support the process of democratisation, stability and development of Armenia ALDA and the Congress decided to establish the Local Democracy Agency in the country. The opening plan has been developing since 2008.
It is a long term project and it will utilise the expertise of ALDA and the other LDAs and the network, which gather about 160 members, including Local Authorities, Associations of Local Authorities and non-governmental organisations, coming from more than 30 countries.
Partners of LDA Armenia will come from three countries: the Rhône-Alpes Region (France), the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy), the International Committee For The Development of Peoples CISP (Italy), the Union of Communities of Armenia, the Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (Armenia), the Journalists’ Club Asparez (Armenia), and the Armenian Municipalities of Gyumri, the host city, and Ijevan. The role of the international partners will be to provide core financial support, participate in activities where they have the skills and capacities, to encourage their own partners to participate in the work of the LDA and to promote the work of the LDA in their own community and encourage wider participation.
Gyumri is the second largest city in Armenia, situated in the North of the country and has been selected as host since it will provide a good basis to allow the LDA to work on a national level.
The Municipality of Gyumri provides an office and rooms for the LDA in a building which already hosts other public associations and NGOs in Gyumri. “Furthermore the vibrant civil society in Gyumri and the possibilities to improve the situation for cooperation between civil society and local authorities are also very important factors”, stresses President Per Vinther. “In addition”, says Mr Vinther, “Gyumri is also twinned with the Georgian city Kutaisi which provides a strong basis for developing the cooperation between both cities”.
The first LDA in the Caucasus is based in Kutaisi, Georgia since the year 2006.
The LDA will facilitate the participation of civil society in the decision-making process at the local level, increase the interest, awareness and capacities of citizens to take part in the decision-making process at the local level and increase the awareness and skills of the local communities and local authorities to address the needs of their citizens. So a practical exercise of policy sharing between citizens and local authorities should also be facilitated. The LDA will support capacity building of civil society and local authorities and it will implement its activities at the local level with trainings, study visits and other participative methods.
Acting as a promoter of democracy and local self-government, the Local Democracy Agency will also promote human rights and sustainable development. The realisation of all objectives will be reached by implementing projects with local authorities and NGOs using the international partners support. 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.
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. “There are plans to set up an LDA in Azerbaijan in the near future as well. So the LDA in Armenia will also become part of a network of LDAs in South Caucasus that can promote cooperation and mutual understanding between the countries in South Caucasus” announces Per Vinther.

During the past 2 weeks, 4 trainings on use of wiki sites were held as part of the project for decentralised cooperation between North Macedonia and Lower Normandy. The first 3 trainings were focused on editing contents for the wiki sites (September 23, 28 and 30) and the fourth training was intended for administrators (October 1).
These trainings are an extension of the training cycle held in April this year in Debar, Veles and Skopje.

The three trainings were attended by a total of 17 candidates from different cities from North Macedonia, who had the opportunity to be familiarised with the wiki software and its use, to learn how to edit text, create links and add sources, edit photos, multimedia, tables, categories and discussion pages. After these 3 basic trainings, training was also held for wiki-site administrators, covering the editing of portals and user and content administration. This training was attended by 10 participants who had previously undergone the basic training. Trainings were attended by participants from the following cities: Skopje, Veles, Strumica, Kumanovo, Kavadarci, Gevgelija, Makedonski Brod, Kicevo.
The 4-hour trainings were conducted by trainers-representatives from the Metamorphosis Foundation, whereas the administration training was held by a representative of the NGO Wikimedia Macedonia, the partner in this project of the Metamorphosis Foundation. Participation in the trainings was free and they were held in the premises of Metamorphosis, and all participants received a copy of the Wiki Guide. The purpose of the trainings and the internship is to motivate young people to contribute to the enrichment of local content and to the improvement of its quality through cooperation enabled by the wiki-platform, and do strengthen the active citizen participation through the use of new technologies.
The purpose of these activities, in particular, is to encourage the enrichment of content on the local wiki-portals, which would lead to the creation of regional wiki-portals, connections of municipalities, and most of all, promotion of regional opportunities and values, which will stimulate business development, increase awareness of employment opportunities for people from other regions and will promote the local artistic, cultural and other events. So far, 3 portals have been created on wiki.mk, Skopje, Debar and Veles, but by increasing the contents of local importance it is expected to create portals for other cities as well, and connect them in regional wiki-portals in the future.
This activity is part of the Programme for decentralised cooperation between the Region Lower Normandy and Republic of North Macedonia, coordinated by ALDA.
For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/

The participants of the Eastern Partnership Conference, that took place in Warsaw (29 Semptember 2011) adopted a declaration in which they express their continuing concern about the ongoing human rights violations and the existence of political prisoners in some of the EaP countries.
In the document they also call for more consistency of the EU policy towards the political developments in all countries of the Eastern Partnership.

Moreover, the participants of the Conference call for an increased assistance for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.
The international conference entitled “The Eastern Partnership Conference: Towards a European Community of Democracy, Prosperity and a Stronger Civil Society” took place as an event accompanying the Eastern Partnership summit, which is one of the most important events of the Polish presidency.
The conference was attended by a number of important guests, including: Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland; Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy; Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament. ALDA was represented by its Director, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida.

ALDA will take part in the International conference for the European Year of Volunteers on “Italy – Central and South Eastern Europe: Volunteerism and Institutions in comparison”, 7-9 October 2011 – Gorizia (I).
Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Director, will take the floor on the last day, after the presentation of the results of the working groups, together with Anica Mikus Kos, Slovenska Filantropija President, Andrea Waxenegger, University of Graz, President EUCEN (European Network of University Centers for Long Life Learning), and Luca Jahier, the Economic and Social Committee, President Group III.

The conference is promoted by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and organised by the regional CSV in collaboration with CSVnet – National Coordination Centres for Voluntary Service; it has also received the patronage of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, European Commission Representation in Italy CEV – European Volunteer Centre, Brussels.
The conference will be an opportunity to continue the comparison between volunteerism and institutions in Italy and in Central and South Eastern Europe, focusing on issues such as diversity and social inclusion, young people and participation. The aim is to draw a roadmap for future advocacy activities and common planning.
The event represents an important moment to engage and support existing realities of volunteering of those countries which are not members of the European Union yet.
The conference will be attended by over 100 Italian and foreign volunteers, institutional representatives and leaders of voluntary organisations, the Centers for Voluntary Service and Volunteer Centers, coming both from Italy and other countries such as Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.
The Conference will be opened, the first day, by a plenary session titled: “Which role for volunteering in the Europe of the future”.
The second day will be dedicated to working groups, accompanied by the interventions of Italian and foreign associations introduced by the relations of Joachim Ott, Acting Head of Unit, Directorate General Communication, Unit Policy for Citizens of the European Commission, and Martijn Pakker, Director CEV – European Centre for Volunteering.

A delegation from the Municipality of Sciacca, consisting of the Deputy-Mayor, Carmelo Brunetto, the manager of the Economic Development Sector, Nando Rapisardi, accompanied by Paolo La Bella, entrepreneur, Diego Santaliana, ALDA, Ferhat Emil and Oya Otman, United Nations, went to Turkey to strengthen the friendship relationship with the Municipalities of Kirşehir and Mustafakemalpaşa.
This was the third step of an initiative launched at the beginning of the year in Turkey, which has also provided an exploratory mission of the Turkish authorities in Sciacca in early summer 2011.

The spa tourism, the use of the thermal sources to produce geothermal energy, cultural exchanges and trade were the main points of interest identified by Sciacca, Kirşehir and Mustafakemalpaşa Municipalities.
“We have laid the foundation – said the Deputy-Mayor Carmelo Brunetto – to build a bridge between our city and a friendly country, growing, attracted by our land, which has became a model of development to which Europe looks with great interest” .
Specifically, the partnership with the Turkish cities was formalised with a memorandum of cooperation in four areas.
Local economic development, with the aim to transform the economies of the cities from agriculture to services sector; to exchange information and technical expertise in the area of geothermal energy including illness treatments, wellness treatments and heating systems; to develop trade relations to foster and to promote the Municipalities’ respective leading sectors including, but not limited, to the area of food (dairy products, frozen food), agro-technology; dairy products technologies; vineyard technologies; textile; furniture; automotive spare parts; to build projects concerning environment and nature conservation.
Culture and Tourism, with the aim of the touristic promotion in the areas such as sea, ski-resorts, thermal tourism and history in the respective towns; the preservation of historical sites; the development of festival organisation skills; the promotion of local gastronomy; the development of joint participations to festivals in Italy and Turkey including exchange of artists and folkloristic groups, the exchange of students and mutual school visits, activities to promote civil society dialogue; youth related activities through the EACEA’s programmes (Lifelong Learning Programme, Eurydice, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Media, Culture, Europe for Citizens andYouth in Action).
EU Funds and Project Management, with the ultimate aim of contributing to further developing cooperation between Italy and Turkey (even through specific future twinning programmes Italy-Turkey).
Other areas, as municipal services: exchange of staff and best practices.
The Municipality of Sciacca, Kirşehir and Mustafakemalpaşa have identified the Union of Municipalities of Turkey (UMT) and ALDA as supervising organisations of the cooperation actions.
This initiative was made possible thanks to the project LAR II (Support for the further implementation of the Local Government Reform Programme in Turkey – Phase II) run by the United Nations, the Union of Municipalities of Turkey and the Ministry of Interior Turkey.
In the coming weeks (7th-9th October and 24th-29th October) the project LAR II foresees new meetings in Turkey with the signing of a further partnership agreement between the municipalities of Brindisi, Monfalcone, Karadeniz Eregli and Zonguldak.

“Twinnings between Municipalities have paved the way to concept of decentralised cooperation and local government engagement at the international level. They need to become operational in a political and general framework”, stated Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Director, in her intervention at the general meeting on Twinning between municipalities.
The Congress was organised in Rybnik, Poland, (29 September – 1 October) by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), in partnership with the Association of Polish Cities, a CEMR member association, and the City of Rybnik, with the financial support of the European Commission and under the patronage of the Polish EU presidency.

The event was attended by more than 300 participants from 31 countries all over Europe. It focused on the methods of Twinning in building the european citizenship and further enlargement.
The Association of the Local Democracy Agencies was associated to this event and participated in the workshop on Europe XXL. The workshop was moderated by M. Tansel Kaya, member of the Municipality Assembly of Istanbul.
In her speech the Director of ALDA, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida also stated that “there is no shared development and democratic processes without a process of decentralisation based on functioning local authorities and participative and strong civil society. It is a process sine qua non, because peace, stability and growth need this element. A centralised and monolithic state does not have a chance. Even in the centralised countries (China), forms of autonomy and decentralisation (called in a different way) are necessary”.

Twinning between Municipalities make it possible to obtain an improvement of the capacity of public services, the development of cross-border cooperation projects and new forms of territorial cooperation upon which are based the majority of European policies, including those on social cohesion and development, and support administrative reform in transitional countries.

“The role of local and regional authorities –said Mrs. Valmobrida- is fundamental in transitional (east and now south) countries (like all the former CIS countries) and the practice of twinning/city to city cooperation is an additional element for institutional building. Many countries and areas are trying to find figure out their way : we need to strongly support democratic process, local democracy and civil society. It is for the benefit for us all, not only for stabilising our borders but also for strengthening our values – in Europe – and what we believe in”.

ALDA will take part in the First World Forum of Local Development Agencies “Territory, Economy and Governance: New Glances in Changing Times” on 5-7 October 2011 in Seville, Spain. The event, organised by the Andalusian Employment Service (Junta de Andalucía), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-ART Initiative and the Andalusian Fund of Municipalities for International Solidarity, in co-operation with the Seville County Council and City of Seville, will bring together Local Development Agencies from around the world.

This Forum aims at creating a space for reflection for local development actors and facilitate new perspectives, with a view to promoting networking and strategies tailored to the current global context with a human solidarity and sustainable development approach. Particularly, ALDA will participate, in the person of Mr. Alfonso Aliberti, Project Manager of the Association, to the workshops “Public Policies for Territorial Development” and “Local Development, Decentralisation and Governance. The Role of International Co-operation”.

In this way, ALDA will contribute to prepare an agreed set of local development ideas and contents to be explored in a theoretical framework and will take part in producing training materials that shall be the basis for building the capacity of local development professionals. In this framework ALDA will promote the role and the experience of LDAs as Local Development Agencies active in the Balkans and in Caucasus.

For any further information visit
http://www.foromundialadel.org

On 29 and 30 September, the second Summit of Heads of States on Eastern Partnership takes place in Warsaw, under the auspices of the EU Presidency. The Partnership and its results and failures will be assessed by the States of the EU and by the Partners Countries.
The issues at stake will be both the composition and the common activity of the Partnership.

There are concerns about the future of Belarus in the present group after the dramatic democratic breakdown after the elections in December 2010. Other countries present strong democratic failures like Azerbaijan with the recent arrests of demonstrators as well as Ukraine with the recent events on internal political retaliation. The content of the Partnership will address the progress on different sectorial approaches (mainly in economic and environmental field).
The Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership is present at the Summit with a side event, co-organised with the Polish Institute of International Affairs.
A position paper reflecting a recent monitoring of the results achieved and to be reached, will be presented and debated. The Association of the Local Democracy Agencies will be present with the Director of ALDA, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, co Chair of the CSF opening the conference.

Read the Position paper in English here

Read the Position paper in Russian here

At its meeting in Brussels on 22 September 2011 the Board of the European Movement International (EMI) approved the application for full membership of ALDA.
The EUROPEAN MOVEMENT is an international organisation open to all political, economic, social and cultural trends in civil society. Its objective is to “contribute to the establishment of a united, federal Europe founded on the principles of peace, democracy, liberty, solidarity, and respect for basic human rights. It seeks to provide a structure to encourage and facilitate the active participation of citizens and civil society organisations in the development of a united Europe”.
Its 42 National Councils and 31 associated Member Organisations work towards bringing together representatives from European associations, political parties, enterprises, trade unions and individual lobbyists.
Born over half a century ago, the EUROPEAN MOVEMENT has played a crucial role in the construction of Europe. The EUROPEAN MOVEMENT’s main focus of attention centres on influencing political, social and cultural arenas within the framework of the European Civil Society.
The EUROPEAN MOVEMENT works as a study and information group, and also as a pressure group. It operates as a study and information group through the many projects and activities undertaken, and has been at the forefront in helping large segments of the public take part in the dissemination of information on European affairs and activities. It operates as a pressure group through the influence exerted by its members at all levels in each sector of activity. The European Parliament, Commission, national parliaments, authorities and governments, business-people, industry associations, NGOs and the many associations which make up the civil society in Europe have been influenced through the European Movement’s network of contacts.

“Municipal co-operation agreements: challenges and perspectives of democratic participation at local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, will be the main focus of the conference that will be held in Tuzla (BiH) on 7th and 8th of October 2011.
This conference is organised as the opening event to present the activities envisaged within the two-year regional co-operation project: Civil society in action for dialogue and partnerships (IPA 2009 Bosnia), leaded by ALDA, with the support of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina provided within the wider Programme: Support to issue-based NGO networks.
Lead partner of the project is ALDA, while the partners are its network members in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia – Local Democracy Agencies Mostar, Zavidovici, Osijek, Subotica, as well as the Forum of Tuzla Citizens, Centre for Local Development Breza, DON Prijedor and Novenade Bihac, local NGOs contributing effectively to local democracy development and implementing municipal co-operation agreements.
The conference thematic workshops will give an insight into the present challenges of implementing EU standards of democratic governance at local level, the role of local self-governments in EU integration process as well as an overview of local practice in implementing municipal co-operation agreements in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Some 50 representatives of NGO-s, local government experts and practitioners, representatives of local self-governments and their associations, government representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia are expected to participate in the opening conference.

For any further information please contact:
Vehid Šehić
Forum of Tuzla Citizens
Tel/Fax: +387 (0)35 258 075
E-mail: fgt-urbana@forumtz.com

Dženana Dedić
LDA Mostar
Tel/Fax: +387 (0)36333 830
E-mail: ldamostar@aldaintranet.org
Download the conference agenda (not final) here
Download the project’s leaflet here