The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is organising a workshop “Local councillors: everyday actors of local democracy” in Kharkiv on 16-18 May 2017. The workshop will provide a platform for exchange between Ukrainian peers, experts, and members of the Council of Europe Congress on the ways to develop an inclusive and participatory decision-making process, and higher ethical standards in local policies. This workshop is proposed as part of the Project “Promoting Local Democracy in Ukraine” and the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017.

The main objectives of the workshop are to raise awareness on the principles of local and regional democracy (including the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government), to discuss the role and responsibilities of councillors in relation to local political governance, to enhance councillors’ capacities with a view to engaging citizens in local affairs, and to foster transparent and ethical decision-making.

This call for application is disseminated among councillors from the regions of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The selection criteria are the following:

• Clear motivation to participate in the workshop;
• Commitment of councillors to engage with the community and promote local democracy in an inclusive manner
• Balance of urban and rural local authorities (at least 30% of councillors representing villages or urban type settlements with a population of up to ten thousand inhabitants);
• Diverse representation of the political affiliations (at least 30% of small parties, as per the results of the latest local elections);
• Applications from young councillors, female councillors and councillors from an ethnic minority background are highly encouraged;
• Priority will be given to councillors elected for the first time.

To proceed with your application, please fill in the enclosed questionnaire and send it to: [email protected] before 4 May 2017.

Selected candidates will be contacted individually, by 11 May 2017 at the latest, and additional information regarding their participation in the workshop will then be provided.