Council of Europe

COUNTRY SPECIFIC PROGRAMMES FOR CAPACITY BUILDING
 

Completion of the 2nd Round the Strategic Municipal Planning (SMP) Programme in two pilot municipalities of the Guria Region (Ozurgeti and Chokhatauri), with the support of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) and the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) with funding from the Norwegian MFA;
Follow-up assistance provided to the pilot City of Lanchhuti involved in the 1st Edition of the SMP Programme; experts’ visited the city of Lanckhuti (30 March) to assess the implementation of projects identified during the first round of SMP.
Field visits to the pilot municipalities (March 2011) to examine the final version of their respective strategic municipal plans for 2011-2015;
Joint evaluation workshop (March 2011) of the MP programme held to discuss the regional plan developed by the Region of Guria.
Final evaluation conference of the 2nd Round of the SMP programme and last series of field visits (15-18 November)
The methodology and know-how developed in the framework of the programme were disseminated to all Georgian local authorities with the aid of the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG).

Activities in 2010

Programme on Training of Municipal Councillors and Local Government Officials

Description
NALAG organised various training sessions in several Georgian municipalities, especially for the newly elected municipal councillors

Partners:
GTZ and other international organisations

Tools:
training tools tested in 2008 and 2009 in 10 pilot local authorities

Publications
Preparation of a guidebook for newly elected municipal councillors

2nd Round the Strategic Municipal Planning Programme

Project location
Guria Region (Ozurgeti, Chokhatauri, Lanckhuti)

Aims:
Lanckhuti
opening, in June 2010, of several one-stop-shop/information centres all over its territory as well as some activities of promotion of tourism.
Ozurgeti et Chokhatauri
    - Various working groups and public meetings, some with the participation of Council of Europe experts, were organised with a
      strong political commitment of the Mayors as well as a strong involvement of the Governor of the Region.
   - a new field visit of the local and international experts was held in each pilot from 22 to 25 June 2010, with a view to meeting all
      key stakeholders of the Programme (Mayor and Chief Executive of pilot municipalities, some local officials such as heads of
      student and youth departments, as well as representatives of local NGOs and local media) and discuss with them the draft
      communities profiles of both pilot municipalities as well as to make a joint analysis of their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
      and Threats (SWOT).
12 October 2010,Oslo (Norway), mid-term evaluation workshop
    - Aim: to review the implementation of the 2nd Round of the strategic municipal planning programme, identify its weaknesses, and
      where needed bring the necessary improvements.
    - Participants: KS, NALAG, Council of Europe experts
    - Main conclusions:
         * 2nd Round of the strategic municipal planning programme is developing successfully, particularly given that the plans for 
            Ozurgeti and Chokhatauri are now at the point where SWOTs vision statements have been completed and development
            objectives have been defined.
         * First drafts of the strategic municipal plans of Ozurgeti and Chokhatauri are thus ready for public hearings to be organised in
            the course of the first semester of 2011.
         * The project has received regular national and regional coverage.
         * a network of info-points has been opened across Guria Region, in particular nearby Lanckhuti
         * further projects will be supported through the programme in 2011.
   - Follow-up        
         * The overall action plan of the programme was consequently revised
         * a next joint field visit of KS, NALAG and Council of Europe experts, March 2011 to validate and mark officially the
            completion of the first phase of the project with the completion of the municipal plans for Ozurgeti and Chokhatauri.
         * to launch the second stage (2011-2012) of the Strategic Municipal Planning Programme with the support to the development
            of a regional plan for Guria.
         * The plan should be situated at a more strategic level, taking into account projects of regional significance (e.g. relocation of
            refining capacity, potential new railway infrastructure, business and employment development, environment) to provide an
            outward facing perspective of Guria’s role in relation to Georgia and its economic and social development.

Previous activities

NTS, Councillors’ Training and Strategic Municipal Planning Programmes

Development of a National Training Strategy (NTS)

Description
Development of a National Training Strategy (NTS), which included the setting up of a National Training Coordination Agency (TCA), and a project on human resources management at municipal level.

Date
2004-2008

In co-operation:
former Directorate of Cooperation for Local and Regional Democracy (DCDLR) (2004-200?) Council of Europe, later the Centre of Expertise for Local Government for the Council of Europe (200?-2008)
National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG),
Norwegian Association of Cities and Regions,

Programme of Training of Municipal Councillors and Local Government Officials

Date
2008

Location
In three Georgian pilot municipalities (Rustavi and Lanchkhuti for SMP and Senaki for EMP):

Programmes of assistance on strategic municipal planning (SMP) and emergency municipal planning (EMP)

Date
2008

In co-operation:
former Directorate of Cooperation for Local and Regional Democracy (DCDLR) (2004-200?) Council of Europe, later the Centre of Expertise for Local Government for the Council of Europe (200?-2008)
National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG),
Norwegian Association of Cities and Regions,

Funding:
Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs


Emergency planning programme ends

Date
2009

Outcomes
responsibility transferred to national authorities
no more direct involvement of local authorities

Councillors Training and Strategic Municipal Planning Programmes continued

Date
2009

Key topics
National Georgian legislation in the field of local self-government;
Budgetary and financial planning procedure at local level and effectiveness of municipal councils and
General management of municipal administration (including communication with citizens)

Outcome
Tools finalised following their testing in 10 Georgian pilot local authorities.

Strategic municipal planning programme

In cooperation
Implemented in cooperation with: Georgian and Norwegian Associations of Local Authorities (NALAG and KS)

Supported by
Supported by the municipality of Lanchkhuti for the period 2010-2014, the responsibility for the support to the Rustavi plan being taken over by UNDP.

2nd Round of the Strategic Municipal Planning Programme, October 2009

Aim:
developing municipal but also regional strategic municipal plans.

Funding:
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS

Pilot municipalities
Ozurgeti and Chokhatauri, Guria Region, South West Georgia,