In May 2020, the Balkan Network for Local Democracy (BNLD) was proudly awarded a grant by the prestigious Western Balkan Fund (WBF) for the implementation of the CulTours: Western Balkan Cultural Tours project, starting from the month of June.

Big news from the Eastern Partnership area, as both the AGREED and Media Dialogue projects are deep in the works with very exciting initiatives!

One of the main strategies that a metropolitan area can implement to improve the effectiveness of climate change adaptation measures is the design and development of the so-called Nature-Based Solutions.

On May 12th at 11am CEST ALDA hosted the 6th episode of the ALDA Talks series: we discussed best practices in participatory processes, with the examples of four current projects the Association is working on together with members and partners.

ALDA is delighted to see that its Local Democracy Agencies are undertaking interactive activities to the attention of local populations in this time of global health crisis, albeit painful, nonetheless inspiring enough for some to take such innovative initiatives.

On May 6th, 2020, the EU-Western Balkans summit took place via video conference between the heads of state or government from EU members states and leaders from the six Western Balkans partners

From 4 to 8 September, our member ‘Il Portico’ will hold its annual event at their premises, in Dolo, Italy.
Il Portico is a non-profit association working since 1985 in the province of Venice and dealing with a variety of topics, from social inclusion to education and EVS.

ALDA has moved to a new office in Vicenza. Our new office is very close to the train station and has a wide meeting room, which will be used for trainings and other events.

The Vice President of ALDA, Imislava Gorska, and the Director of ALDA, Antonella Valmorbida, met the International team of the Region Lower Silesia in Poland to further agree on the establishment of the future LDA in Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk. The meeting, in Wroclaw on 4 July, set the ground for identification of partnership, actions and future steps.

On 25 April, the Ukrainian Region of Dnipropetrovsk hosted a conference organized by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) on the opportunities interregional cooperation can offer in the context of the Eastern Partnership.
The event gathered 150 European, national and regional political representatives, among which Lower Silesia and Liege city’s representatives. A partner meeting for the LDA Dnipropetrovsk was part of this event.

The General Assembly of ALDA took place in Pula on the 19th of April 2013, hosted by the Region Istria, Croatia. Around 60 members of the organisation, local and regional authorities and civil society groups, participated in this important event.

As part of its strategy towards the Eastern Partnership countries, ALDA decided to establish a Local Democracy Agency (LDA) in Ukraine, aiming at furthering local self-governance and citizen participation collaboration with local authorities in the region.

The Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) has decided to set up an annual scholarship in memory of its Honorary President, Gianfranco Martini, who passed away in October 2012.

On 29 January, ALDA held a meeting at the Committee of the Regions together with the Region of Lower Silesia (PL) and the Region of Dnipropetrovsk (UA) to discuss the opening of a Local Democracy Agency (LDA) in Ukraine.

On December 13, 2012 ALDA together with the Congress of the Council of Europe organised a hearing on Local democracy in Azerbaijan, held at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels.

M. Danny Sriskandarajah, new Secretary General of CIVICUS – The world Alliance for Citizens’ Participation – visited the office of ALDA in Brussels on the 31th of January and met the Director of ALDA, Antonella Valmorbida, and the Policy officer, Peter Sondergaard.

The international conference “Migration and politics”, first international event of the project “My EU: young, equal, inclusive”, will be held in Brescia (Italy) from 1 to 3 February 2013.

The local event VIT in Vicenza took place on the 18th and 19th of January 2013. It was, for the whole community, full and intense days on the topics of twinning and cooperation between communities and cities.