The City of Sisak was awarded with the “12 star label” for its efforts in ELDW, the European local democracy week, by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
Mrs. Barbara Toce, member of the Congress and Vice Mayor of Pedaso (I), and Maria Baroni, ELDW Projet Manager, handed to the mayor of Sisak, Dinko Pintaric, the ELDW shirt to symbolise the award of the prize.
The delivery took place in the framework of the ceremony for the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the LDA Sisak, held on November 4 in the Croatian city.
“I am proud of this recognition that, despite being a small step for European democracy, is a great step for our beautiful city”. Stated Dinko Pintaric, Mayor of Sisak.
In the picture (from the left) Mrs. Kristina Ferenac, LDA Sisak, Mrs. Barbara Toce, Congress, Mr. Dinko Pintaric, Mayor of Sisak, Mrs. Maria Baroni, ELDW Manager, Mrs. Paula Rauzan , President LDA Sisak.

“The reforms that the Croatian government will finalise in the next twenty months to prepare the country to the European appointment in July 2013 should be shared with civil society, and European institutions will continue to monitor the situation, which is essential for the completion of the process act”.
The warning came without metaphor from Ambassador Paul Vandoren, Head of EU Delegation in Zagreb, during the ceremony organised to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the establishment, in Sisak, of the Local Democracy Agency.
Ambassador Vandoren has praised the work done by the ADL during these difficult years and noted the level of cooperation with the municipal administration, which has led to significant results, including the award of “12 star label” given by Congress of Local and regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to the city of Sisak for his commitment to the growth of local democracy.
“But the dialogue that exists today, especially at local level – stressed the Head of EU delegation in Croatia – should evolve in a partnership, a prerequisite for social cohesion and sharing of responsibility. We know that the Croatian government adopted new laws and amended its constitution to not miss the opportunity of entry into the European Community, but often the civil society is not consulted, and the Croatian the governors must remedy in the coming months”.
It is not entirely a surprise, this position. It is known that for its entry in 2013, Zagreb will be subject to close supervision because he has to finish the reforms demanded by Europe.
There is no doubt that the future accession of Croatia opens a new chapter for the countries of Western Balkans with a European vocation, and that despite some “Euro skepticism” or “Euro realism” as some call it, there is a high expectation in the completion of this process, especially among the population.
The progress made by Croatia is evident. Sisak, the tenth city in Croatia with more than 55 000 inhabitants, capital of the Sisak Moslavina County, which borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina, is an example of the progress reached in recent years and its image is very different from the one of fifteen years ago when it was established the ADL.
The ruin of the conflict, particularly intense towards the borders with Slavonia, where the Serbian troops created the Republic of Krajina, and Bosnia, are a distant memory and the process of pacification and democratisation has reached optimum levels.
“I am proud of the success of this ADL – stressed during the ceremony the Mayor of Sisak Dinko Pintaric – and recognition of the 12 stars label to our city, despite being a small step for European democracy, is a great step for our beautiful Sisak”.
At the official ceremony held on November 4, organised by the ADL, in cooperation with ALDA, the Association of Local Democracy Agencies, the Congress and the City, also attended Barbara Toce, member of the Congress and Deputy Mayor of Pedaso (I), the Ambassador of Belgium to Croatia, Nancy Adeline Marie Rossignol, the Ambassador of Norway to Croatia, Henrik Ofstad, Per Vinther, President of ALDA and Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA, as well as Diego Bottacin, Councilor of the Veneto Region, for many years Mayor of Mogliano Veneto, at the time city lead partners of the LDA.
“During these fifteen years the LDA of Sisak has developed more than one hundred projects, promoting values of tolerance, human rights, multiculturalism, cooperation, active citizenship and combating discrimination, involving directly more than fifteen thousand people and establishing itself as one of the key actors of the civil society in the democratic development of the city and the Sisak Moslavina County” said Paula Rauzan President of the LDA.
The conference was also an occasion for thinking about the future of the three LDA now active in Croatia (apart from Sisak, Osijek and Verteneglio-Brtonigla).
“With the accession of Croatia to Europe in 2013 – said Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA – the LDA of this country will no longer exist as they are now structured, and will assume a new role. The experience will certainly be available for further growth of local democracy and European values. “
The reflection on their future has been launched and there is time to define together with all their partners form and content of the activity that they will develop once materialised the entry into the EU.
In addition to the international conference, Sisak was selected by ALDA to host the Annual LDAs Delegates meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Lead Partners Representatives of the LDAs (3 – 5 November).

Mrs. Barbara Toce speech

The celebration for the 15th anniversary of the LDA of Sisak (HR) coincides, for a not accidental case, with the eve of Croatian access in the big European family, and the awarding of the “12 stars label” to the Municipality for its efforts in ELDW, the European local democracy week, by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
The official celebration will take place the 4th of November, with an international conference on “The Road of Croatia towards the EU: the role of Croatian Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs)”, organised in the framework of the ELDW, ) by the LDA of Sisak, in cooperation with ALDA, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the CoE and the the Municipality of Sisak (9.00-13.30 City Hall Sisak).
The Conference will be attended by many national and international experts and representatives of European and national institutions as well. Among them Ms Barbara Toce, Member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and Vice Mayor of Pedaso (Italy), Ambassador Henrik Ofstad, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Zagreb, Ambassador Paul Vandoren, Head of the EU Delegation to Croatia, Mr. Dinko Pintarić, Mayor of Sisak, Mr Per Vinther, President of ALDA.
In these 15 years, starting from the ruins of the conflict, the LDA has been a promoter of many initiatives whose aim was primarily to promote the participation of citizens and their associations and to strengthen the democratic debate with local authorities.
These are the values which Croatia has signed up to get access to the European community and some credit goes also to the work done by the ADL of Sisak.
During last 15 years LDA Sisak has implemented more than 100 projects that have directly involved over 15.000 people. Established in 1996 as a pilot project of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Council of Europe and since 2006 working as a domestic organisation, Local Democracy Agency Sisak enforced itself as one of the key actors in civil society development in Sisak and Sisačko-Moslavačka County. From its very beginnings LDA Sisak is implementing projects aiming to protect human rights and democratic society development, promotes values of tolerance and non-discrimination, multiculturalism, cooperation, partnership and active citizenship.
In addition to the international conference, Sisak was selected by ALDA to host the Annual LDAs Delegates meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Lead Partners Representatives of the LDAs (3 – 5 November).
The Association of LDAs is confident that the regular meetings and discussions among the Delegates and the Lead Partners of the LDAs could contribute to the development of all the network of the Agencies, in particular with regards the concept of partnership in the framework of the multilateral decentralised cooperation and the area of intervention and interest of each LDA.

The visit in Ijevan (Armenia) of two executives of the Municipality of Thiene (Italy) launched yesterday (27th of October) a twinning project between the two cities, in cooperation with ALDA.
Sara Bertoldo and Marta Tognon was received by the Mayor of Ijevan, Varoujan Nersisyan (in the picture) and meet the executives and others officials of the Armenian municipality.
The meeting focused mainly on the experiences and practices of the two local authorities on local taxes, urban development , education and waste management.
The analysis of these issues was deep and raised a great success. The management of a city, in fact, in different contexts, shows the same problems at all latitudes. Often there are different responses that people receive.
The importance of this project is in its opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences to improve services to citizens and make them active in decision making
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.
The project will develop over a year and includes study visits and training courses in the two cities.
The last action of the project 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.

The new Local Democracy Agency Armenia was opened 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.
With the signature of the memorandum of understanding by the partners of the LDA, officially is started the work of this important tool for the local democracy and citizen participation.
The Armenian local authorities and the civil society have very high expectations on the contribution of the ADL to the growth of local democracy in Armenia.
It has been demonstrated by the participation at the opening ceremony of a large number of citizens but also of representatives of the Armenian Government and local authorities.
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, represented by Vice-President Fabio Pellegrini, strongly believes in the possibility to further the process of democratisation in this country that is part of the Council.
Attended to the opening ceremony, with the Mayor of Gyumri, Mr. Vardan Ghukasyan, the, First deputy minister of the RA ministry of Territorial Administration, Mr. Vache Terteryan, the President of the Union of Communities of Armenia, Mr. Emin Yeritsyan, the Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Fabio Pellegrini.
Mr. Per Vinther, President of ALDA, AND Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA, attended too to the ceremony.
Mrs. Véronique Moreira, Vice-president of Region Rhone-Alpes responsible for development cooperation stressed the full involvement of the France Region, that will be partner leader of the LDA, by a video contribution.
After the opening ceremony took place a conference on Cooperation between local authorities and civil society and European cooperation in Armenia, with the participation of Mrs. Armine Tukhikyan, Urban Foundation For Sustainable development (Armenia), Mrs. Raffaella Viviani, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Italy, Mr. Levon Barseghyan, President of the Journalists’ Club Asparez, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA and Mr. Ioseb Khakhaleishvili, Delegate and Executive Director LDA Georgia.
Partners of LDA Armenia are 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 Councillor for International Relations of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Elio De Anna, stressed in a message that “The accession of the FVG Region in the LDA Armenia is in line with the strategic choices of international policy set by President Renzo Tondo, that see in the Caucasian territory an area of economic and social interest for the region. The action of the FVG, as a partner of the LDA Armenian, shall be aimed at achieving the objectives of respect for democratic values in line with what is established by the European Community. “

Mr. Fabio Pellegrini speech on the new ADL Armenia
Mr. Fabio pellegrini speech on the South Caucasus

“The new LDA Armenia, like the others established in the past years, will be a bridge builder! It will build bridges between the various stakeholders of the community, as local authorities, civil society, and the local business and educational sectors, in order to promote democracy and respect for human and minority right”.
Mr Per Vinther, ALDA President, in his speech on occasion of the opening of the new LDA Armenia, stressed that the objectives of this process are manifold.
“First and foremost – he said – is the aim to build a better and fairer community for all through dialogue between local authorities and civil society. A community where local government functions in a transparent and accountable way, where citizens enjoy the possibility of having their say not only on election day, in other words truly participatory democracy, where business and educational institutions contribute constructively towards an environment of peace, prosperity and dignity for all citizens”.
A second objective in the opinion of ALDA President, Per Vinther, is to contribute to the preparation of the host country for rapprochement to the European Union.
“With the opening of LDA Armenia one can begin to see the outline of an LDA network for South Caucasus. LDA Georgia has been the stepping stone, and based also on ALDA involvement in the EUs Eastern Partnership our intention is to establish in the foreseeable future an LDA Azerbaijan as well” stressed Mr. Vinther.
Being the 13th,this Agency will be able to draw on 18 years of experience of other agencies, established in the Western Balkans, and 5 years of experience of LDA Georgia, located in Kutaisi.
In conclusion of his speech,Alda President thanked all those who have contributed positively to making the opening of LDA Armenia possible: “From Rhône-Alpes Region who has accepted to be lead partner for the agency as well as all the other international and national partners who have joined in, over the Union of Communities of Armenia to the town of Gyumri which has agreed to host the Agency, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and – not least – the ALDA staff members who have worked tirelessly to keep all the balls in the air until this moment. I encourage them to continue to provide support for the new LDA Delegate who is facing a steep learning curve”

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.