Local Academy Training

On 20-21 of June 2023, ALDA – European Association for Local Democracy organised the Local Academy Training in Vicenza. 

The objective of the training was to increase the capacity of local authorities coming from countries with the lowest participation rate in the European elections, to construct an active and fruitful dialogue with citizens and communities towards participatory process in the definition of local policies and improve citizens engagement.

The training offered an intensive and strategic learning environment through different thematic modules, with a focus on: good democratic governance and the 12 principles of Good democratic governance outlined by the CoE; participatory instruments (i.e. participative budget, committees of citizens etc.); local context related to specific needs identified by the participants. The workshops and working groups gave participants a great opportunity to acquire new knowledge and exchange with others on these topics as well as sharing experiences and opinions. In addition, the training material has been shared with all participants to be used by local authorities to implement participatory processes and engage more citizens at local level. 

We hope that the new toolkit in particular will have a long-term impact by improving the participants’ knowledge and skills when it comes to participatory instruments and good governance.