In these turbulent times where democratic foundations are challenged, the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) is offering Italian local authorities an opportunity to engage with citizens and restore their faith in democratic institutions. At the 3rd national ELoGE award ceremony in the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome, 22 Italian local authorities were awarded the label and a further 14 received commendations for having completed the full self-assessment process.
ELoGE is awarded to municipalities which can demonstrate that they have achieved a high level of good democratic governance, based on a self-assessment tool composed of 12 Principles; 36 Targets; and 72 Indicators.
Congress Director Claudia Luciani congratulated all the participating local authorities and informed them of Council of Europe efforts towards a New Democratic Pact for Europe. “Democratic innovation also requires extending participation into domains where democratic governance is being reshaped,” she noted, “and this is where ELoGE is important in helping take the pulse of good democratic governance at the local level.”
Over the course of 3 cycles of ELoGE in Italy, more than 23 000 thousand citizens, 4000 staff, and over 1300 local elected officials have shared their reflections on how local government affairs are managed as part of the 3600 self-assessment process.
At the ceremony in Rome, a further 22 local authorities received certificates for having completed the European Academy Programme, a training programme delivered by Istituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia in cooperation with AICCRE (Italian Association of local and regional authorities) based on the Leadership Academy Programme of the Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Goverance at the Council of Europe Congress.
