The balance co-chairmanship was approved by the Steering Committee to share the burden and responsibilities and also corresponding to the organisational scheme of the Steering Committee, where the EaP and the EU representatives are balanced in the Working Group meetings.
The appointment is a great opportunity and challenge for ALDA to be present and work in Eastern Europe with contacts and projects. Antonella Valmorbida is also involved and leader of the lobbying group which promotes the visibility and the contact of the CSF in the European Institutions. In this perspective, number of meetings took place in Brussels, like with the Commissioner Fuele, the President of the Committee of the Regions, Mrs. Bresso and the President of the European and Social Economic Committee, Staffan Nilsson.
A meeting with the Secretary General will take place soon in Strasbourg.
ALDA is partner of the programme Working Together, gathering a large number of training institutions for local governments in Eastern Europe since its creation. The focus is capacity building for local authorities and support of civil society. The annual meeting of the programme took place in Budapest on the 28th and 29th of January at the European Youth Centre of Budapest. It focused on the assessment of the activities related to the programme Fighting Corruption at the Local Level. The leader organisation, FPDL Romania invited 20 participants implementing the strategy and 4 cases where presented. Craiova Municipality. It is the capital of Dolj County, has more than 300.000 inhabitants and a rich history, attested in documents since 1475. It is a powerful industrial city and an important educational center with rich cultural life. Craiova Local Government has more than 500 employees, a directly elected Mayor and 27 elected councillors. Zabok and Vrbvovec, two cities from Croatia. The Georgian team of anticorruption practitioners (Girogi Meshkidze, Helen Romelashvili from Civitas Georgica) and Lanchkhuti city. Sok�?ka City (Poland). Participants received the booklet Healthy Organisations, curing and preventing corruption in local governments that describes shortly the anticorruption approach. The event was attended for ALDA by the Director, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, member of the Steering Committee of the programme Working Together.
A more democratic and transparent Europe, strengthening the role of the EU and national Parliaments, and giving the people more opportunities to make their voices heard.
These are the most expected aspects of the Lisbon Treaty realisation.
Its coming into force (December 2009) was only the start of a course of discovery and implementation that will give concrete results if it will involve, in the years to come, all European citizens to make them closer to institutions, at present perceived as far away, and make them active and participatory.
The Municipality of Thiene (IT), the Urban Center and ALDA promoted an info-day about the Lisbon Treaty and the perspectives it will open on participation.
The event is scheduled for the 10th of February (Meeting hall of the City Library, starting at 9:30).
In the morning Meps Mara Bizzotto and Debora Serracchiani, Mr Matteo Fornara, EC Office in Milano, Mrs Maria Rita Busetti, Mayor of Thiene and Mrs Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Director, moderated by the journalist Antonio Di Lorenzo, will explore the opportunities for citizens by the Treaty.
In the afternoon two workshops will take place, where participants will discuss about decision making process and civil society participation, and the role of the local authorities in Europe after the Treaty.
There are already many ways in which European citizens can find out about and take part in the political process of the EU. The newest of these is the citizens’ initiative, whereby people will be able to ask the Commission to present a proposal in any of the EU’s areas of responsibility. The practical details of this initiative will be worked out once the Treaty of Lisbon takes effect.
The treaty also recognises the importance of consultation and dialogue with associations, civil society, workers and employers, churches and other non-denominational organisations.
To promote citizens participation in the construction of a tighter-knit, democratic, world-oriented and united Europe, tackling the challenge of immigration as an “opportunity” to develop active citizenship and sense of ownership of the EU, whilst enhancing tolerance, solidarity and mutual understanding.
These are the objectives which GOAL — Granting Opportunities for Active Learning, an ALDA project whose Steering Committee Meeting is taking place for the first time in Strasbourg (2nd- 4th of February) — aims to. In these days also a Training Course will take place, addressed to Citizens’ Panels Activators, those people who will be in charge of setting up the local citizens’ panels on immigration that are the crucial point of the project.
Immigration and immigrants’ participation represent vivid issues at the EU level and particularly affect citizen’s daily life in the addressed countries.
The project presents a set of activities that allow citizens the chance to interact both at the local and at the European level and offers them the occasion to “work” together towards a common aim.
GOAL specific aim is to further improve the methodology of “citizens’ panels” adding the “component” of immigration.
It represents an unbiased platform where citizens and other stakeholders gather information (with a bottom-up approach), debate, collect individual and collective opinions, formulate their views (duly guided and supported) and draft them in the form of recommendations for policy makers at the European level in the field of “immigration”.
The action foresees 9 steps, having an impact both at the local and at the European level. Following the partnership building phase and the selection of the theme, the process is planned as follows: 1. Training for citizens’ panels activators 2. Set-up of local citizens’ panels 3. Local workshops 4. International meeting of citizens’ panels 5. Open days at the local level 6. Production phase 7. International final workshop 8. Final publication 9. Evaluation and follow-up.
The partners of the project are civil society organisations, local and regional authorities and associations of local authorities coming from 6 different countries, old and new EU Member States and pre-accession countries, where immigration represents one of the most vivid issues on the national and European agenda.
From the 20th to the 27th of February 2011 ALDA and UNDP are organiSing the Study Visit “Local Governments in Europe: responsibilities, competencies and management” in the framework of the project “Support to Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey (LAR Phase II)” financed by the European Commission.
The Study Tour (in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Bristol and London), addressed to a delegation coming from Turkey composed of elected representatives, staff from local authorities and professional managers, will provide the Turkish participants with a view over the local administrative field of European Union countries seeking an interactive approach on the relation between EU local authorities and Turkish ones.
The activity represents only one of ALDA’s contributions to LAR Phase II project. As a matter of fact, the Association is also involved in other components of the project through its support and experts, namely in the development of international municipal partnerships between Turkish and European Municipalities and in training activities.
Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA, is senior international trainer in the framework of the programme as for the support to build a community of practices and the approach of peer-to-peer learning and assistance.
The aim of the project is to train the Turkish civil servants and engage them into a critic and positive dialogue with several European local authorities and associations of local authorities thus strengthening their capacity to implement the administrative reform and the new legislation adopted in 2003-2005. The specific objective of the project is to develop and strengthen the administrative capacity and co-operation of Turkish local authorities in the task of ensuring effective and full implementation of new policy and legislation on local administration.
The activity designed is that of a study tour to England enabling the participants to gain a first experience of European best practises in local self-government through meetings with their European counterparts and seminars on specific topics. In particular, the study tour is planned to support activities on improvement of land development and planning services in local government and simplification of approval processes of construction and occupancy licences.
The selected Turkish local authorities will increase their capacity and vision in terms of knowledge and good practices through field visits to municipalities (among which we could mention Birmingham and Wolverhampton), to relevant institutions in the field of land planning or construction and occupancy licenses processes (as RTPI- the Royal Town Planning Institute) and on site observations. In addition to this, trainers from different EU member countries (as Sweden, France and Italy) will deliver presentations on their national administrative systems, especially on the topics of building control, strategic planning and process management.
Mrs. Valmorbida, ALDA Director, will hold one of the training sessions.
ALDA Staff meeting 2011 took place in Subotica from 25th 28th of January. The meeting was held with a purpose to get the members to meet each other, to exchange their views and opinions in different topics of work, to get to know about the overall project progress in their Association, and improve some skills through training. All ALDA staff members were involved in this meeting.
In a three day working period, staff members conducted several training lessons, discussed about resources and fund raising, practised communication and exchanging of information; besides they discussed issues regarding past ALDA projects or/and difficulties in the project management, as well as activities and options for improvement of their work in years to come.
Trainings, discussions, exchanging views and skills improvement were held separately during the first two days of the meeting by two ALDA project management and implementation experts Biljana Zasova and Marco Boaria.
On the third day, director Antonella Valmorbida presented the past year results, aims, objectives and focus for upcoming 2011 and discussed organisational structure and staff improvement.
After a three days work, general conclusion is that all staff members dealing with different types of tasks within ALDA are showing great responsibility and whole-hearted efforts in their work, but also that there is a place for improvement.
New perspectives and possibilities in the field of international and regional cooperation have emerged from a meeting between ALDA Staff and local authorities in Subotica. This meeting took place in Subotica City Hall on Friday, 28th of January.
The meeting was attended by City of Subotica representatives: Mr. Sasa Vucinic (Mayor of Subotica), Mr. Slavko Parac (City Assembly Chairman), Mrs. Erika Kudlik and Melinda Nagy-Kiseresmiss (representatives of International and regional cooperation department); Mrs. Antonella Valmobrida (ALDA Director) and Mrs. Stanka Parac (Partnership manager) and representatives of LDA Subotica and LDA CSS: Sasa Marinkov LDACSS Delegate as well as Olga Perusic and Milan Bosnjak form LDA Subotica.
City of Subotica is the first city supported establishing a Local Democracy Agency. LDA Subotica started activities in 1993 and in the beginning of 2000 LDA Subotica and City of Subotica were first active member and partner of ALDA. As such, City of Subotica enjoys special treatment in ALDA network. Therefore this meeting was a really good opportunity for all sides to determine new perspectives and possibilities in the field of international and regional cooperation. Main aim of the meeting was to enhance and ensure connections and cooperation between actors involved in the meeting.
On January 27th, 1945, 66 years ago, the German concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by the Russian Army, giving name to the International Holocaust Memorial Day on that date every year.
A new Europe has been built on the ruins of war and hatred, with the conviction that something like the Shoah should never be allowed to happen again.
Against such a background Local Democracy Agencies were established in the wake of the conflict leading to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia with the objective of helping to build a society founded on democratic principles, rule of law and respect for human and minority rights.
Engaging various ethnic groups in this endeavour and at times mediating between them has reconfirmed to the
Local Democracy Agencies and their umbrella organisation the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) that the past plays an important role in shaping a future based on tolerance and reconciliation.
Together with its partners, ALDA works daily for intercultural understanding and active participation of citizens in its programme on Active Remembrance. The President of ALDA, Per Vinther, stresses that ”one of our goals is to bring people to remember their past and learn from mistakes their ancestors have made! This also has a direct bearing on the appreciation of the benefits of living in a democratic society”
The Association of Local Democracy Agencies, ALDA, is heavily engaged in promoting active citizenship within the EU Programme “Europe for Citizens” and in that vein has embarked also on the project E-For, Education for Remembrance, as a natural element of active citizenship.
Currently, the project PEACE — Peace Education and Active Citizenship in Europe reunites partners from all over Europe to reflect upon innovative ways of transmitting knowledge of past crimes and injustice to generations having grown up in a peaceful society. New pedagogic methodologies are currently being tested in local events and will be discussed in an international conference uniting experts on historical education as well as local authorities and NGOs interested in implementing projects on active remembrance.
Thus, ALDA is linking its involvement for better local governance with the struggle for active remembrance that is so crucial for the survival of our peaceful and democratic societies.
The two days activities in the framework of LAAR 2 — Further support to Local Administrative Reform in Türkiye, conducted by the Director of ALDA, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, took place in Antalya the 24th and 25th of January 2011.
70 medium size municipalities took part in the training which based on the presentation of best practices in local government.
The experiences presented with the support of videos are :
- the city of Strasbourg : intermodal urban transport
- the city of Reggio Emilia : the international experience of social services for the infants and Reggio Children
- the city of Brindisi : an experience of dialogue with citizens
- the city of La Paz and the World bank Institute : tackling corruption: http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/Preventing_Corruption_web/index.htm
The training was interactive and made the participants living a peer to peer experience, which is so useful for local government and civil servants. A specific case on tourism, was presented by the Mayor Necdet Aksoy , from the city of Sanfranbolu. The second day was open to the a civil servant of the Ministry of Interior, whom exchanged many concrete inputs with the participants.
The module on Communities of Practices will continue throughout February and March and the final join training will be in Ankara on the 6th and 7th of April 2011.
Mr. Jacques Lelandais, Mayor of Hermanville-sur-Mer and Mr. Pero Ilievski, Mayor of Vevcani, signed a Convention for cooperation between the two cities on 17th January 2011. The Convention is expected to have positive impact on youth exchange, ICT, multimedia libraries and schools, tourism and cultural heritage, etc.
The delegation of Hermanville-sur-Mer, composed of 11 Municipal Councillors, public servants and experts was happy to visit Vevcani during the traditional Vevchani Carnival, a Macedonian local and cultural tradition. The two Mayors discussed similarities between the two cities on architectural, cultural and historic level and expressed hopes for productive cooperation.
The signature followed after several technical meetings where general objectives of the cooperation had been discussed. During the six day visit, the French delegation and different representatives of Vevcani Municipality, held several workshops presenting the two regions and their structure. The workshops were themed according to objectives of the cooperation: folklore, tourism and cultural heritage; youth exchange and equality rights; education, information and multimedia, etc.
The group of elected representatives from Hermanville-sur-Mer, expressed its gratitude for the warm Macedonian reception, admired the Carnival spirit and held successful meetings with the institutional managers of Vevcani.
«The signing of this Convention meets our objectives and completes our mutual cooperation. The Convention was the key addition to our development policy and cultural progress» — said Mr. Ilievski, the Mayor of Vevcani.
The three year Convention will enter into force at the beginning of this year.
Town twinning is part of the Project for decentralised cooperation between Republic of Macedonia and the Region of Lower Normandy, France. This program is coordinated by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA).
For any further information about the project please consult: http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/francais
ALDA is preparing a proposal for the “Youth in Action. Action 2 — European Voluntary Service” whose deadline is the 1st of February. The proposal (entitled “VOICE”) consists of group exchanges of volunteers between several European Structures and South Eastern Europe organisations.
ALDA holds an accreditation as Coordinating and Sending organisation inside the European Voluntary Service (EVS). It will coordinate “VOICE” and send volunteers towards two of the project’s partners.
ALDA’s staff would like to select 2 volunteers that will be sent as EVS, one in Serbia (city of Nis) for a period of 6 months, one in the Republic of Macedonia (city of Prilep) for a period of 9 months.
The starting period of the exchange should be beginning 2012.
On 13th January, CITIES project final conference took place in Dordrecht (NL). Workshops and exchange of experiences at the International Conference on Town-twinning Initiatives.
Town twinning as a way to enhance local tolerance and mutual understanding, to help and facilitate integration, to multiply relations: these are some of the focus points emerged from the Conference held in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, on 13th January. Coming to its conclusion, CITIES project revealed a valuable and effective means to develop citizens’ participation at a local level.
The event – organised by ALDA, together with the Municipality of Dordrecht, the Netherlands, and its partner BMC – was the final conference of CITIES (Creativity and Innovation in Town-twinning Initiatives in Europe and South-eastern Europe), a EU-funded project, led by ALDA, aimed at revitalising and creating town-twinning relationships through innovative methods in Europe.
“Dordrecht has always been an international city. This very town-hall was built in the 14th century as a trading place to attract textile merchants from Antwerp. No wonder twinning started in a very early phase. – declared A.A.M. Brok, Mayor of Dordrecht upon his welcome speech – The first official Dordrecht twinning with Hastings in England started in the seventies of the last century, more recent are the twinnings in Africa with Bamenda in Cameroon and with Dordrecht in South-Africa and latest are our contacts with Varna in Bulgaria to have a connection with the new European countries. Dordrecht thinks that twinning adds important aspects to its society, because twinning for us is not just helping other cities but especially learn from our twinning partners as well. And that exchanging best practices of excellent ideas will prove to be inspirational and fruitful .– the Mayor of Dordrecht concluded – You know what we say: Twinning is Winning.”
To the Conference took part approx. 45 foreign representatives part originating, inter alia, from Albania, Lithuania, Macedonia and Bulgaria. Further participation consisted of representatives of Dutch municipalities, the foundations town twinning and the COS Zuid Holland (Centre for International cooperation).
“Twinning between cities and towns across Europe has existed successfully for a good many years – stated in his opening speech Mr Per Vinther, ALDA President – but lately a certain “twinning fatigue” has set in. The more traditional culture and sport elements of a partner relationship between cities seem to have lost their attraction and the injection of new life – and purpose – into Town Twinning is clearly needed. Joined by a number of dedicated partners the Association of Local Democracy Agencies has taken up this challenge within the EU Programme “Europe for Citizens” with the objective of identifying new ways and skills of co-operation between partner cities which bring together all players in the community: local authorities, business and civil society.
ALDA has been working in the Balkans for more than ten years in a bottom-up approach to encourage local authorities and civil society organisations to co-operate about improving living conditions in their community, involving also transfer of know-how and best practices from international partners in what could be called multilateral twinning. Based on this experience – pointed out Mr Per Vinther – ALDA plays a relevant role in promoting city-to-city co-operation drawing on its members and partners in the rest of Europe. Town Twinning is but one component of the effort to bring EU populations closer together and embrace the objective and values of a united Europe so the inclusion of cities and national associations of local authorities from South East Europe in the CITIES project has been an important element for ALDA.
Dissemination of the ideas and suggestions which have been tabled during various conferences in the partner countries and in the concluding international conference in Dordrecht – declared ALDA President – should encourage other cities across Europe to engage in Town Twinning as a means to share experience and learn from each other, to bring the countries of South East Europe closer to the EU and to promote active citizenship in general.”
The project was based on a partnership of six associations of municipalities in Albania, Slovakia, North Macedonia, two in Bulgaria and Lithuania. During the year it lasted, the partners organised national workshops aiming to identify innovative tools for town-twinning and the variety of fields in which such a relationship can develop. This final conference taking place in Dordrecht has gathered twinning experiences from Dutch municipalities and best practices from all over Europe from the partner countries and ALDA.
Six workshops were held in smaller groups allowing concrete discussions and encounter of many municipality representatives, in order to conclude on new cooperation projects, that could lead to future town-twinning agreements. The International Twinning Conference for Innovation provided information on international cooperation at local level today, and showed the possibilities that the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme of the European Union offers.
The Cities project has been implemented by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) in cooperation with the Association of Municipalities from Albania, the Regional Association of Municipalities “Central Stara Planina” and the Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities from Bulgaria, the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania, ECOVAST –National section for Republic of Macedonia, the International Co-operation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, and the Union of Towns and Cities of Slovakia. The project was launched on 1st February 2010 and will finish on 31st January 2011.
In these last years and in particular in view of the recent constitutional reform, the system of local authorities and in general local administration is now under review and reformed.
In particular, the capacities of the municipalities to receive competences and adequate resources is to be strengthened and developed. European Commission and UNDP launched the project “Support to Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey” (LAR Phase II). The beneficiaries are the Ministry of Interior and the local authorities. The Director of ALDA, Mrs Antonella Valmorbida, is senior international trainer in the programme.
The overall objective of the project is to ensure effective, transparent, inclusive and participatory local administration in Turkey, in particular through full implementation of the new legislation adopted in 2003-2005.
ALDA is fully involved thanks to its support and experts in two of the main components of the projects, namely the training activities and the study tours. The Director of ALDA is a senior international trainer in the programme as for the support to build a community of Practices and the approach of peer to peer learning and peer to peer assistance. She is working together with two local senior experts, Prof. Bekir Chair of Public administration Department at ULUDAG University Mursa, and Prof. Yakup Bulut, from the Mustafa Kemal University and expert in civil society participation.
The study tour component will bring to the United Kingdom 25 local authorities from Türkiye, for a week.
They will therefore approach the British experience in different fields. ALDA involved very high level experts and members of the organisation.
ALDA participates in the work of the European Alliance for the Statute of the European Association (EASEA). The Alliance works towards mobilising support for a statute for European Associations. Currently Associations can’t formally be considered as European Associations, but have to register nationally and function as either national or international organisations.
The campaign seeks to make it possible for Associations to adopt a European legal standard that would allow Associations to hold an official status as European association. This legal standard wouldn’t necessarily replace national laws for registration of associations, but could work as an optional possibility for Associations wishing to be considered as European. Such a statute would promote the role of civil society in European politics, would respect the right to create associations at all levels and would remove the administrative constraints that some European associations are facing today.
The campaign for a statute for European Associations was launched in November last year with a written declaration for MEPs. So far almost 90 MEPs have signed the declaration. The declaration has to be signed by a majority of the Members of the European Parliament, only then can it formally be forwarded to the European Commission.
The Alliance and ALDA encourage individuals and Associations to contact their MEPs and ask them to sign the written declaration. ALDA will also work with the Alliance to ask MEPs to sign the declaration during the European Parliament session in Strasbourg from January 17-20. The time limit for securing enough signatures is 17 February 2011.
For more information and the written declaration in various languages please visit: www.europeanstatuteswrittendeclaration.eu
«Volunteer! Make a difference»: European Commission launched at the end of last December the European Year of Volunteering 2011.
To highlight volunteers’ work, encourage others to join in and address the challenges they face, the 2011 European Year of Volunteering has four main objectives: lowering obstacles to volunteering in the EU; empowering volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering; rewarding and recognise volunteering activities; raising awareness of the value and importance of volunteering.
To meet these goals the Commission is working closely with the “Alliance” of volunteering organisations, the European Parliament, the Member States, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Council of Europe and the United Nations Volunteers.
ALDA is member of the Alliance EYV2011 and will participate to the hundreds of activities and projects that will be promoted.
ALDA is also active in SVE the European Voluntary Service, and promoted a pilot project, in the framework of the MoDE Project (Innovative Action, Europe for Citizens), involving senior volunteer. ALDA works on volunteering with the particular perspective of the «participation».
«If our hopes of building a better and safer world are to become more than wishful thinking, we will need the engagement of volunteers more than ever» — Kofi Annan said. It is in this spirit that 100 million Europeans dedicate their time and expertise to help those in need and give back to their communities.
«I want to pay tribute to the millions of Europeans who take the time to make our world a better place,» said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. «Deep within all of us lies the ability to step up and care for those in need. Volunteering strengthens our core European values: solidarity and social cohesion. As we launch the European Year of Volunteering, I want to rally support for people who make a difference. Now is the time for us to share and to give something back, for us to focus on helping the helpers!«
A Eurobarometer study in May 2010 revealed that 3 out of 10 Europeans claim to be active in a voluntary capacity. There are many different definitions and traditions concerning volunteering. A common thread throughout these activities is that wherever people come together to help each other and support those in need, both society as a whole and the individual volunteers benefit. Through volunteering, people gain knowledge, exercise skills and extend their social networks, which can often lead to new or better employment opportunities, as well as personal and social development.
The Commission helps young people participate in volunteering activities. Through the European Voluntary Service, thousands of adolescents and young adults travel outside their home countries to teach, promote cultural awareness and develop important life skills.
During the European Year of Volunteering, the Commission will encourage the exchange of good practices between Member States’ authorities and volunteering organisations. The focus will be on training volunteers, accreditation and quality assurance, and efficient and effective match-making between potential volunteers and volunteering opportunities. The Commission will encourage new Europe-wide networking initiatives to encourage cross-border exchanges and synergies among volunteer organisations and other sectors, especially with businesses.
Throughout the Year of Volunteering, hundreds of activities and projects will be highlighted and promoted. At the EU level, these include:
EYV2011 Tour: Volunteers will tour EU countries over a one-year period, showcasing their work and engaging with policy makers and the public at each step of the tour.
EYV Relay: 27 “Relay” volunteer reporters will follow the work of 54 volunteering organisations and produce audio, video and written reports to be broadcast by the media. At the end of the year, the combined reports will be compiled to form a broadcast-quality documentary about the European Year and its tour.
Four thematic conferences in 2011 to highlight key issues related to volunteering: 8 January in Budapest: Recognition of Volunteering; May/June: Celebrating volunteers and their valuable contribution; October: Empowering volunteering organisations; December: Closing conference on future challenges.
More information:
- Official website for the European Year: www.europa.eu/volunteering (includes the timetable of the EYV Tour)
- The Alliance’s website: www.eyv2011.eu
- Homepage of Viviane Reding, Vice-President and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/reding/index_en.htm
ALDA, together with the Municipality of Dordrecht, the Netherlands, and its partner BMC has organised the CITIES final conference that will take place in the City Hall of Dordrecht on Thursday 13th January 2011.
CITIES — Creativity and Innovation in Town-twinning Initiatives in Europe and South-eastern Europe — is a EU-funded project, led by ALDA, aimed at revitalising and creating town-twinning relationships through innovative methods in Europe.
“Joined by a number of dedicated partners — states Per Vinther, ALDA President — the Association of Local Democracy Agencies has taken up this challenge within the EU Programme “Europe for Citizens” with the objective of identifying new ways and skills of co-operation between partner cities which bring together all players in the community: local authorities, business and civil society. Dissemination of the ideas and suggestions which have been tabled during various conferences in the partner countries and in the concluding international conference in Dordrecht declares Per Vinther should encourage other cities across Europe to engage in Town Twinning as a means to share experience and learn from each other, to bring the countries of South East Europe closer to the EU and to promote active citizenship in general.”
The project is based on a partnership of six associations of municipalities in Albania, Slovakia, North Macedonia, two in Bulgaria and Lithuania. During the past two years the partners have organised national workshops aiming to identify innovative tools for town-twinning and the variety of fields in which such a relationship can develop. This final conference taking place in Dordrecht will gather twinning experiences from Dutch municipalities and best practices from all over Europe from the partner countries and ALDA.
To the Conference will take part around 45 foreign representatives part originating, inter alia, from Albania, Lithuania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Further participation will consist of representatives of Dutch municipalities, the foundations town twinning and the COS Zuid Holland (Centre for International cooperation).
Six workshops will take place in smaller groups allowing concrete discussions and encounter of many municipality representatives, in order to conclude on new cooperation projects, that could lead to future town-twinning agreements. The International Twinning Conference for Innovation provides information on international cooperation at local level today, and shows the possibilities that the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme of the European Union offers.
The Cities project is implemented by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) in cooperation with the Association of Municipalities from Albania, the Regional Association of Municipalities “Central Stara Planina” and the Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities from Bulgaria, the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania, ECOVAST National section for Republic of North Macedonia, the International Co-operation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, and the Union of Towns and Cities of Slovakia.
The project was launched on 1st February 2010 and will finish on 31st January 2011.
The project aims at promoting “innovation and creativity” in the framework of town-twinning, both in Europe and with a special focus on South-eastern Europe, as a way to revitalise and develop town-twinning relationships and thus strengthen cooperation among “old”, new and forthcoming Member States.
More specifically, the project aims at:
- Promoting the concept of town twinning;
- Starting, revitalising, and developing town twinning relationships;
- Improving the quality of the activities within existing twinning relationships, especially by means of developing thematic cooperation;
- Developing new skills amongst those who are responsible for twinning activities at a local level;
- Promoting exchange of good practices in the field of town-twinning.
The general objectives of the project are to:
- Give citizens with the opportunity to interact and participate in constructing a tighter-knit Europe, which is democratic and world-oriented, united and enriched by its cultural diversity, thus developing citizenship of the European Union;
- Develop a sense of European identity, based on common values, history and culture
- Foster a sense of ownership of the European Union among its citizens:
- Enhance tolerance and mutual understanding between European citizens, respecting and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, while contributing to intercultural dialogue.
The association “Savoir Faire et Decouverte” from Caen is organising a debate on January 14, themed as “Balkan’s Cultural and natural Heritage: The Macedonian example“. The aim is to present the cultural and natural heritage of the Macedonian rural regions as well as to present the activities for development of sustainable tourism and citizens’ participation in the regions: Berovo, Mavrovo and Novaci.
This debate is part of the Project for decentralised cooperation between Republic of North Macedonia and the Region of Lower Normandy, France. The project is coordinated by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA).
For any further information about the project please consult: http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/francais
As a result of the cooperation between cities of Lower-Normandy and North Macedonia, a delegation from the city of Hermanville-sur-Mer (FR) will visit Vevcani (MK) this week (January 13 — 18), in order to formalise their mutual interests and sign the conventions for cooperation.
The cities have already discussed their partnership and benefits during their previous visits. This time, they will focus on the strengthening of their institutional partnership, and discuss the future of their cooperation.
Direct cooperation between municipalities from Lower Normandy and Macedonia is one of the objectives in the Programme for decentralised cooperation between these two territories. This programme is coordinated by the Association of local democracy agencies (ALDA).
For any further information about the project please consult:
http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/francais
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