The team of ALDA Table of Antonella Valmorbida Elisabetta Contents Secretary General Pinamonti antonella.valmorbida@ aldaintranet.org Assistant Financial Officer elisabetta. About ALDA 4 pinamonti@ Office in Brussels aldaintranet.org Governing Board and Advisory Committee 6 Anna Ditta Letter from the President 8 Elzbieta (Ela) Project Forward by the Secretary General 8 Development Horoszko Our objective – Act locally, think globally for Project Manager and Officer anna.ditta@ local democracy and citizen participation 9 Eastern Partnership aldaintranet.org Coordinator ALDA Europe 9 ela.horoszko@ aldaintranet.org Irene Zanetti ALDA Cooperation 11 Communication The network of Local Democracy Agencies – Aldo Xhani Officer Our raison d’être 12 Active Citizenship irene.zanetti@ aldaintranet.org Project Manager Focus on South-East Europe 17 aldo.xhani@ aldaintranet.org Elena Debonis Focus on Eastern Partnership 18 Assistant Focus on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation 19 Nikos Gamouras Communication LADDER Project Officer ALDA Plus 20 Manager elena.debonis@ nikos.gamouras@ aldaintranet.org Services to members and partners 20 aldaintranet.org Get involved! Oldian Metaj 22 Mattia Brazzale Logistics Officer Members of ALDA 23 Assistant to the oldian.metaj@ Secretary General aldaintranet.org mattia.brazzale@ aldaintranet.org Office in Subotica Stanka Parac Office in Strasbourg Damjanovic SEE Regional Biljana Zasova Programmes Responsible MED and Coordinator French Networks stanka.parac@ aldaintranet.org biljana.zasova@ aldaintranet.org Office in Skopje Anne-Laure Joedicke Ivana Project Manager - Dimitrovska MENA Region Head of Office annelaure.joedicke@ ivana.dimitrovska@ aldaintranet.org aldaintranet.org Sanja Trpkovska Office in Vicenza Communication Officer sanja.trpkovska@ Marco Boaria aldaintranet.org Resource and Development Unit Katica Janeva Coordinator Project Manager marco.boaria@ katica.janeva@ aldaintranet.org aldaintranet.org Barbara Elia Galina Financial Ivanovska Officer Project Assistant barbara.elia@ galina.ivanovska@ aldaintranet.org aldaintranet.org Elisabetta Bon Svetlana Assistant Financial Siljanoska Officer Youth Officer elisabetta.bon@ svetlana.siljanoska@ aldaintranet.org aldaintranet.org About ALDA The European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) is an organisation dedicated to the promo- tion of good governance and citizen participation at the local level. ALDA in particular focuses on ac- tivities that facilitate cooperation between local authorities and civil society in the European Union and its Neighbourhood. ALDA, established in 1999 at the initiative of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Region- al Authorities, among its activities coordinates and supports a network of Local Democracy Agencies, created in the early 1990s. The Local Democracy Agencies are self-sustainable, locally registered NGOs acting as promoters of good governance and local self-government in their regions. ALDA is a membership based organisation gath- ering more than 170 members – including local authorities, associations of local authorities and non-governmental organisations – from over 35 countries. It is funded through membership fees as well as project funding from the European Com- mission, the Council of Europe, and other public and private donors. What is unique about ALDA? Most of ALDA’s work is based on the method of multilateral decentralised cooperation. This meth- od involves a multi-stakeholder approach, which focuses on strong partnerships between local authorities and civil society organisations. These partnerships create positive synergy and ensure that common goals are reached jointly and suc- cessfully. What we do and where we work In the framework of promoting good governance and citizen participation at the local level ALDA focuses on various themes, such as European integration, decentralisation, civic initiatives and volunteering, human rights, and sustainable eco- nomic development. The activities of ALDA are articulated around three main areas: ALDA Europe, ALDA Cooperation, and ALDA Plus. 4 Over the years ALDA has proved to be so effective in pursuing its objectives and in accomplishing its mission that it has been able progressively to enlarge its scope, now encompassing also some of the Council of Europe’s neighboring regions. Andreas Kiefer Secretary General Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Continuous contacts between the citizens across borders are indispensable for a citizens’ Europe. By establishing a network between local authorities and civil-society organisations all over Europe and by offering a forum for the exchange of best practices, ALDA contributes greatly towards citizens’ involvement and good governance. Jo Leinen President European Movement International 5 Governing Board Members of the Governing Board in 2014 (mandate 2012-2016) GOVERNING BOARD - Elected members Mr. Oriano Otočan Ms. Imislawa Gorska Mr. Alessandro Perelli Mr. Roger Lawrence Representing the Region International School of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region Wolverhampton City Istria (HR), (President, Bydgoszcz, (PL), Principal, (IT), International Relations Council (UK), Councillor bureau member) (Vice President, bureau and Strategic Infrastructures (Treasurer of ALDA - member, Coordinator office (Vice President, bureau bureau member) Eastern Partnership member, Euro-Mediterranean Working Group) Cooperation Working Group Coordinator) Ms. Paula Raužan Mr. Per Vinther Ms. Annie Anne Mr. Mircea Cosma Delegate of the local (DK) Individual member Lower Normandy Region, Prahova County (RO), Democracy Agency of (Coordinator Eastern (FR) Vice-President, President Sisak, (HR) Partnership Working International relations (Vice President - bureau Group) (Coordinator Western member - Coordinator Balkans Working Group) LDAs Working Group) Mr. Lucio Gregoretti Mr. Dobrica Milovanovic Mr. Ruggiero Mennea Mr. Valery Deschamps City of Monfalcone (IT), City of Kragujevac (SRB), Apulia Region, (IT), (from December 2015, Head of the International Deputy Mayor Councillor Mr. Yvan Godefroy) relations Service Association “Maison (Coordinator Eastern de l’Europe”, Caen (F), Partnership Working President Group) (Coordinator Active Citizenship Working Group) 6 GOVERNING BOARD - Appointed members Mr. Dragan Dosen Mr. Herwig van Staa Mr. François Friederich Mr. Józef Rogacki Chair of the LDA Delegates’ President of the Congress Representing the Plenipotentiary of the Advisory Committee, LDA of Local and Regional Secretary General of the Governing Board of the Prijedor (BiH) Authorities of the Council of Europe (FR); Voivodship Fund for In 2015, Ms. Silvija Patarcic, Council of Europe, or his Head of division 'Electoral Environmental Protection LDA Subotica (RS) representative, Appointed assistance and census', and Water Management by the Secretary General Directorate general for (Toruń) / Councilor of the of the Council of Europe democracy Regional Parliament of the Kujava and Pomerania – President of the Committee on Foreign ADVISORY COMMITTEE Affairs, Poland Ms. Antonella Cagnolati Ms. Nadia Skenderovic Cuk Mr. Noël Orsat Ms. Rada Orescanin President of the Deputy Head of Office Head of Project for Financial and Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe, Touristic Development, Administrative Manager of General Coordinator of Serbia France EU Projects and Projects the Lisbon Forum 2013 of for Cooperation and the North-South Centre Development funds of the of the Council of Europe Region Friuli Venezia-Giulia (Consultant), Italy Ms. Maria Perrino Mr. Zoran Lukic Ms. Ruzica Jankahidac Mr. Hans Martin Tschudi Researcher at the Department Assistant Professor Senior Project Assistant Member of the Social- of Social Research of the at the Department of and Project Manager, Democratic Party / University of Eastern Piedmont Management and Business France and Serbia Teacher in the University / Member of the Governing Systems Organizations, St. Gallen, Switzerland Board of the Embassy of University of Banja Luka, the Local Democracy in LDA Bosnia Herzegovina Zavidovici, Italy 7 Letter from the President Dear members of ALDA, I am extremely happy to share with you the activity report for 2014. The year before, 2013, had challenged us with tight constraints. We rolled our sleeves up and worked even harder, and today are proud to show you how strongly we managed to improve ALDA situation, also thanks to the out- standing cooperation with our active members and partners. Step by step, ALDA has turned 15 years old, since the registration of its Statute in 1999 and the start of its activities in 2000. I am honoured to be celebrating this moment together with our mem- bers, Board, and staff, as each of us contributed to the success of the Association, as well as to its resilience, flexibility, and vision. Last year, 2014, was dedicated to the implementation of the recommendations on active citizen- ship produced in 2013 by the European Alliance for the Year of Citizens 2013. ALDA played an impor- Oriano Otočan tant role under this respect, and we also worked to bridge citizenship to development, focus of the President of ALDA European Year 2015, in the belief that no sustainable development can be achieved without citizens involvement at all levels. ALDA’s work to encourage EU citizens to “get out of the sofa” and vote at the European elections held in May was another milestone for the year. It is crucial to keep striving for our ideals of peace and democracy, and fight populism and euro-scepticism. Of course, our activities