Does your local authority deliver good democratic governance? Can it be celebrated as an example of best practice? How can you improve governance?

The Centre of Expertise for Good Governance helps identify municipalities which can showcase examples of best practice and demonstrate adherence to the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance.

As this challenging year comes to an end, and in spite of pandemic-related restrictions, municipalities from several Council of Europe member states are receiving due recognition for their efforts:

In October, the 9th Best Practice award ceremony took place in Ukraine, where 39 beacon initiatives were hailed as examples of practice to be emulated and shared among all local authorities.

On 25 November, the 10th Best Practice award ceremony in Hungary will acknowledge the efforts of municipalities in combatting the pandemic by awarding and disseminating examples of best practice identified in relation to these issues.

The European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) has recently been launched in Lithuania where, on 30 November, municipalities who demonstrated adherence to the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance will be the first recipients of the Label in the country.

An ELoGE ceremony will also take place in Malta on 2 December, combined with a workshop for municipalities who will participate in the next round of the ELoGE evaluations.

On 16 December, the 3rd ELoGE ceremony will be organised to award the best performing municipalities of the Basque Region in Spain.

Back in February 2020, a Best Practice ceremony in Yerevan, Armenia, awarded small grants to municipalities for the best projects developed in respect of good governance principles.