Four Norwegian municipalities receive the Council of Europe award for good governance[29/05/12] Stavanger, Time, Lillesand and Bærum Municipalities have been awarded the Council of Europe European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE). "The four municipalities do a good job and deserve the accolade" said the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Liv Signe Navarsete. The Minister herself participated in the presentation of the awards at the mayor conference in Oslo on 23 May. (more...)

European Best Practice Award for Coastal Towns: Winners announced [26/04/2012] – President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Jean-Claude Mignon and President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Keith Whitmore announced today the results of the Best Practice Award Programme for European Coastal Towns, at a ceremony during the Parliamentary Assembly session in Strasbourg.

The initiative to reward best local practices for the regeneration of coastal towns was launched by the Council of Europe in January 2012, in the framework of the Chairmanship by the United Kingdom of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. (more...)

Turkey: Women local politicians at the Leadership Academy Programme [24/04/12] The first stage of Leadership Academy Programme was held in Ankara on 18-20 April, as a part of the cooperation between the Center of Expertise for Local Government Reform and the Union of Municipalities of Turkey. 23 women local politicians from all over Turkey participated in the first 3 day session on which modern ideas of leadership were presented. Participants were engaged to examine the challenges faced by local authorities, and focused on using the Leadership Benchmark. (more...)

Challenges of Modern and Effective Human Resources Management at Local Level, Belgrade, 24 April 2012[23/04/12] As part of the Joint Programme with the European Commission on “Strengthening local self-government in Serbia” (Phase II) and more particularly its component on “increased media awareness of the importance of local democracy”, the Council of Europe will organise in Belgrade on Tuesday 24 April 2012, an awareness raising workshop for Serbian national and regional media focusing on the challenges of modern and effective human resources management at local level. The Key speakers are Council of Europe’s local and international experts. Presenting an assessment of existing HRM practices of Serbian local authorities, they will identify areas for improvement, as well as look at the lessons to be learnt from other European countries’ experiences in this field, particularly in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. (more...)

Final Conference of the programme to strengthen local capacity in  Albania, Tirana, 26 March [26/03/12] The final conference of the programme to strengthen local capacity in Albania will be held in Tirana on 26 March. The programme has been funded by the Swiss Cooperation Agency. Alfonso Zardi, Head of Democracy, Institution-building and Governance Department at the Council of Europe said that the experience gained through the programme would be an important aid in strengthening local authority capacity in Albania. He emphasised that local authorities were at the forefront of service delivery to citizens, and needed funds, human resources and management capacity. The programme has enabled local authorities in Albania to experiment with intermunicipal cooperation, to think and act beyond their administrative borders, to develop synergies and rationalise their resources. Discussion will focus on the lessons learned. These will enable all stakeholders including the government to prepare draft legislation aimed at facilitating and sustaining intermunicipal cooperation. (more...)

Booklaunch "Local Government in Critical Times: Policies for Crisis, Recovery and a Sustainable Future" [16/03/12] The European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR), the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the Open Society Foundations are organising the Book Launch of “Local Government in critical times: Policies for Crisis, Recovery and a Sustainable Future” on Wednesday 21 March 2012, at 14.15, in the hemicycle lobby in the presence of CDLR President Paul Rowsell, Congress President Keith Whitmore and Professor Kenneth Davey. Copies of the book will be available in English and French. (more...)

Download your copy here:Local Government in Critical Times: Policies for Crisis, Recovery and a Sustainable Future

Serbia: National Conference on Human Resources Management at Local Level, Belgrade, Tuesday, 13 March 2012 [12/03/12] As part of the Joint Programme with the European Commission on “Strengthening local self-government in Serbia” (Phase II), the Council of Europe (DG-II Democracy) will organise on Tuesday 13 March 2013 in Belgrade, a National Conference dealing with the management of human resources at municipal level (HRM), in cooperation with the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM). (more...)

Best Practice Award for Coastal Towns: Call for applications, deadline 1 April [24/02/12] European local communities are invited to take part in a competition for best practices in the regeneration of coastal towns – the Best Practice Award Programme of the Council of Europe. The competition is organised by the Council of Europe Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform, in the framework of the UK Chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers and in partnership with the Congress and the UK Local Government Association. Interested towns are now invited to send the full application form by 1 April 2012 at the latest.

Full application form
Application form - expression of interest

Toolkit on Strategic Municipal Planning and Performance Management at local level now available [17/02/12] The Toolkit IV of the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform on Strategic Municipal Planning and Performance Management at local level outlines the steps and actions involved in developing a municipal vision and strategic plan (setting ambitions and medium-term aims and objectives of the local (more...)

Toolkit on Strategic Municipal Planning and Performance Management
 

Meeting of the Steering Committee for the programmes to strengthen local democracy in Ukraine, 14 February, Kyiv, Ukraine [15/02/12] The steering committee for the two Council of Europe programmes to strengthen local democracy in Ukraine met in Kyiv, 14 February, and adopted programme reports and agreed on action plans for 2012. The programmes are being implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform and are financed by the governments of Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark. Head of the Democracy, Institution-Building and Governance Department, Mr Alfonso Zardi and Ukraine Minister for Regional Development, Mr Anatoliy Blyzniuk signed a joint declaration on cooperation between the Council of Europe programmes and the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine on the design and implementation of local self-government reform in Ukraine.

The Centre of Expertise proudly presents its cartoon for raising awareness of the importance of local democracy, produced as part of the programme to strengthen local government in Ukraine, and funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency - Sida. [13/02/12]

 

Toolkit on Intermunicipal Cooperation now available [07/02/12] The IMC Toolkit was jointly prepared by the Council of Europe (CoE), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Local Government Initiative (LGI) of the Open Society. It was developed with a view to finding solutions to the challenges currently facing many European local authorities. (more...)

Toolkit on Intermunicipal cooperation

Best Practice Award 2012 – Regenerating Coastal Towns, deadline for applications: 29 February [01/02/2012]  The Best Practice Programme is a scheme developed to recognise, award and disseminate best practices in improvement and development at the local and regional level that bring real benefits to citizens. The scheme works to raise standards through peer learning and knowledge transfer. This scheme has been designed using methodologies developed by the UK Local Government Association (IDeA’s Beacon Scheme) and the Centre of Expertise of the Council of Europe. This year’s theme is the regeneration of coastal towns.

Between 1 and 29 February, coastal local authorities may make an initial expression of interest in participating by completing and submitting the application form below, in English or in French, to the following email address: dgII_coastal_bp@coe.int.

At this first stage of the award procedure, applicant authorities are required to give a short description of the best practice they would like considered. This initial application will be screened by a selection panel and successful applicant authorities will be invited to submit a full application by 1 April. The programme’s award ceremony will be held in May in the UK. For further information please see the prospectus below.

Best Practice Award Prospectus
Application form - expression of interest
Full application form

Teatime debate on the effects of the financial crisis at local level; Strasbourg, 30 January 2012 [26/01/2012]  A new initiative – Teatime- will be held in Strasbourg on 30 January. Intended as a time for reflection, exchange and looking ahead, its first topic will focus on the effects of the financial crisis on local authority budgets. Teatime is the idea of the Institut national des études territoriales - INET (national institute for territorial studies), organised within the framework of the Pôle européen d'Administration publique - PEAP (a network of centres of excellence in Strasbourg), in collaboration with the Directorate of European Affairs at the Ecole nationale d’administration (ENA). (more...)

Regeneration of European coastal towns through the Council of Europe Best Practice Programme [16/01/2012]  At the initiative of the Local Government Association (UK), the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Keith Whitmore, invited the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform to support the launch of a Best Practice Programme for European coastal towns. The programme is one of the activities being implemented under the UK chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (November 2011-May 2012). (more...)

Ukraine Officials visit Strasbourg to exchange experience and analyse the Local Government programme's results to date [13/01/2012]  Ukrainian officials, including members of parliament, mayors, local representatives and senior officials, participated in a study visit to the Council of Europe from 13 to 18 December. The visit was one of a number of activities organised as part of the Council of Europe programme to strengthen local democracy in Ukraine. The aim was to provide the officials with an opportunity for sharing their experience of fiscal decentralisation, regional development policy, local government reform and intermunicipal co-operaton, as well as for learning from the experience of other Council of Europe member States in these matters, notably France, Poland, Germany and Sweden.The officials heard indepth presentations by Council of Europe experts currently working for the programme. The presentations focused in particular on local government reform, fiscal decentralisation and intermunicipal co-operation. (more...)

Focus

Useful Lnks

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
 

Treaty Office site (information on signatures and ratifications of CoE Treaties)
 

Council of Europe programme for strengthening local democracy in Ukraine