The Second Regional Workshop on the Changing Urban Rural Interplay in South-East Europe within LoGov took place on 28 May 2021. This time the emphasis was on Local Government structures, intergovernmental relations and people’s participation in local decision making.
At the workshop, moderated by NALAS Knowledge Manager, Ms. Jelena Janevska, the welcoming remarks were addressed by:
- Ms. Petra Malfertheiner, Researcher at the Institute for Comparative Federalism, within Eurac Research
- Mr. Kelmend Zajazi, Executive Director of NALAS
The first part of the workshops was focused on Intergovernmental Relations of Local Governments (LGAs and consultation Mechanisms).
Mr. Elton Stafa, Expert from NALAS spoke about Intergovernmental Dialogue through a Formal Two-Level Executive Mechanism of Policy Consultation and Coordination, respectively presented Albania’s Central/Local Government Consultative Council.
Mr. Viorel Girbu, Expert from CALM shared about the Professional Networks of the Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova as mechanism for Inter and intra governmental relations in Moldova.
Mr. Dario Runtić, Expert from the Association of Croatian Cities talked about the Institutionalization of Intergovernmental Relations in Croatia and the Parliamentary Board for Local Government.
In the second session, the Territorial and Administrative Reform in Albania, as a top-down approach, the integrated bottom-up alternative model to Territorial and Administrative Reform in Moldova and the Inter-Municipal Cooperation of the Island of Krk were presented.
The third component was centered on People’s participation in local decision-making processes. The following practices were highlighted:
- Mr. Elton Stafa: Participatory Urban Planning in Albania
- Mr. Viorel Girbu: Participatory Budgeting Process in Chisinau
- Mr. Dario Runtić: Participatory Budgeting in the Town of Pazin – Pazi(n)! Proracun (Watch out! Budget)
The exchange and discussion were further enriched with the contributions of the ensuing regional and international experts:
- Merita Toska, Researcher, Polis University, Co-PLAN, Institute for Habitat Development (Albania)
- Alexandra Schantl, Senior Expert for European Governance and Urban Policy, KDZ – Centre for Public Administration Research (Austria)
- Sergiu Țâra, Executive President, Association of Communes of Romania
- Daniela Șofineți, Public Administration Advisor, Association of Communes of Romania
- Marija Risteska, Executive Director, Center for Research and Policy Making (Macedonia)
- Silvia Bolgherini, Professor of Political Science, University of Perugia (Italy)
- Flavien Felder, Researcher, University of Fribourg, Institute of Federalism (Switzerland)
- Carmen Navarro, Professor of Political Science, Autonomous University of Madrid, Instituto de Derecho Local
