Branding Solution for International Municipal Fair

The Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South East Europe requests proposals from interested consultants for the provision of professional services to develop a new brand for the international Municipal Fair scheduled to take place in Sarajevo between 10 and 11 March 2011. The project is to be completed in phases, the last one ending with the Municipal Fair. The request for proposal can be downloaded from the link below and is open until Friday, 14 May 2010.  

Management of projects in the area of tourism and rural development

Between 7 and 8 April 2010, NALAS and UNDP Regional Hub organized a workshop on Management of projects in the area of tourism and rural development. The workshop was opened by Mr Drazen Grgurovic, Vice Mayor of the City of Zadar. Just over thirty mayors, project managers and association staff participated and worked together to develop joint tourism initiatives. Among the ideas developed were initiatives for summer schools and festivals, health tourism activities, branding of child friendly municipalities etc.

Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova

On March 21, 2010 a General Assembly for the establishment of the Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova (CALM) took place in Chisinau. The meeting was attended by about 300 mayors and representatives of local communities, leaders of most regional and national associations of local public authorities and leaders of the civil society and political parties. Mr. Filat Vladimir, the Prime Minister of the Republic and Mr. Stefan Uritu, the counselor of the Interim President and the Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Mihail Ghimpu were all present at the Assembly. NALAS was represented at this event by Ms. Ginka Chavdarova, the Executive Director of the National Association of Municipalities from Bulgaria.

Energy Community Investment Conference on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Energy Community Investment Conference on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy took place in Vienna on the 18th of March. The event was organized by the Energy Community Secretariat in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The objective of the Conference was to identify ways forward in terms of financing energy efficiency and renewable projects using innovative instruments, while drawing upon the experience of the European Union. Over 150 participants from 30 countries were represented at the forum. One of the discussion panels touched the aspects of the role of municipalities and the civil society in facilitating development of infrastructure and investments in renewable energy, but also protecting environmental and cultural heritage. NALAS presented to the conference the concept and first interim results of the currently ongoing multi-national cooperation study on “EE and RE measures in South-East Europe and the strategic role of NALAS and its member associations”, which is involving all 13 states of NALAS member associations and which is supported and co-financed by the GTZ Open Regional Fund Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energies.

NALAS at the 18th Session of the Congress

The 18th session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe took place in Strasbourg between 17 and 19 March 2010. Having an observer status, NALAS was present at the session and used the opportunity to conduct numerous meetings with partners important for the democracy and local authorities in South East Europe. Meetings were held with Ms Claudia LUCIANI, Director of the Directorate of Political Advice and Co-operation, Mr Alfonso ZARDI, Head of the Department of Local and Regional Democracy and Good Governance, Mr Keith WHITMORE, President of the Institutional Committee of the Congress , Mr Frédéric VALLIER, Secretary General of CEMR and Mr Redjep SALIU, deputy ambassador of Macedonia. NALAS was also briefly introduced to Mr Andreas KIEFER, the newly elected Secretary General of the Congress.

At the meetings with the partners, NALAS expressed gratitude for the ever increasing cooperation and support by the partners, even during these difficult times of financial crisis. However, NALAS also expressed concern that the reorganization within the Congress might affect the direct flow of information which has been very valuable in the past.

Having gathered unique experience in association development and local government matters, NALAS offered the expertise of its members to the local governments beyond the boundaries of South East Europe. This experience and expertise in NALAS, together with the work of the expert groups of the Council may prove to be very valuable for the newly emerging or developing local authority associations, for example in the South Caucasus.

NALAS meets with the China International Friendship Cities Association

On 17 March 2010 NALAS met with the China International Friendship Association, an association from the People’s Republic of China focused on empowering friendship between the Chinese people and organizations and institutions around the world. Being established in 1954, CIFCA has established partnerships with 120 countries and over 600 partnerships around the world and earlier this year initiated cooperation with NALAS for knowledge exchange and city partnerships.

The NALAS presidency welcomed the initiative and informed CIFCA about the role and value of NALAS and the local authorities in South East Europe in providing citizen services in SEE and in the EU integration processes. The NALAS president, Mr Moskov, noted that Europe follows the progress of the People’s Republic of China with admiration and NALAS is interested to establish cultural and knowledge links with China. Mr Rrugea and Mr Keskin added that there are already strong business ties between the countries in SEE and China and that these ties can be further enriched with by exchange of experience and expertise at local level.

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides for three levels: the province, county, and township. However, two more levels have been inserted in actual implementation: the prefecture, under provinces; and the village, under townships. The People's Republic of China administers 33 province-level regions, 333 prefecture-level regions, 2,862 county-level regions, 41,636 township-level regions and even more village-level regions.  

The Future of Information Society and Challenges for Good Governance

Between 10 and 12 March 2010, NALAS participated in a workshop and conference part of the 11th Bled Forum on Europe. The aim of the conference was to identify and facilitate discussions on key future challenges for information society development, while focusing on the region of the Western Balkans. The conference hosted world famous visionaries, businessmen, international organizations and university professors and resulted with a declaration addressed to the United Nations, European Council, the European Union Presidency, Council of the EU, European Commission, European Parliament, decision makers in the region South Eastern Europe, NGOs and other actors to actively seek and develop ways to support the further development of inclusive information society, particularly in meeting the challenges for good governance.

11 National Conference on e-Governance

Between 10 and 11 March 2010, representatives of the central, local and regional authorities in Bulgaria, as well as regional organizations such as NALAS, consultants and IT companies gathered in Sofia to share and discuss the issues and developments in the field of e-governance. One of the organizers of the event was the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria. The conference stressed hot topics related to the new strategy for administrative reform, the certification and standardization of all administrations' information systems, shared services, the Bulgarian accomplishments regarding 2006/123/EC Services Directive, the communication aspects of e-governance, e-government 2.0, etc. All materials from the conference are available at the link below.