NETWORKING FOR DEVELOPMENT:

FROM TOWN TWINING TO A MORE EFFICIENT COOPERATION

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DECENTRALIZED COOPERATION: THE BENEFITS OF NETWORKING

Development policy is each day more complex and multifaceted.

Multi-actor partnerships are arising and have proven to be a key element for

interventions’ success. However, this uprising demands new approaches and

strategies, both at national and international level.

Local Authorities’ (LA) role as actors in development processes has broadly

increased especially after the 90’s with United Nations and European Union (EU)

recognition of the added-value LA bring to development initiatives, which

identifies them as key actors in poverty reduction and Millennium Development

Goals achievement, in partner countries.

Moreover, LA enrolment in development cooperation projects strengthens local

communities, mainstreams democratic governance at local level and assembles

all local agents, such as citizens, civil society associations, private sector entities

and municipality services.

As a result, European Commission has recently extended its Budget Lines to LA

as a way of encouraging LA enrolment in cooperation initiatives as well as the

arising of new partnerships in the framework of Decentralized Cooperation

projects.

Nevertheless, there are still several constraints regarding LA

active participation in cooperation initiatives, especially

regarding the lack of information on communitarian budget

lines as well as the weak technical experience on applying

procedures and projects’ implementation.

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NETWORKING FOR DEVELOPMENT

OVERALL OBJECTIVES:

(i) To promote synergies between International Cooperation Projects as

an effective strategy for reducing and achieving the Millennium

Development Goals;

(ii) To promote new communication channels between local national and

international authorities, contributing to good governance at local

level.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE:

To strengthen Portuguese and German Local Authorities’ role as active

development cooperation actors.

TARGET GROUPS:

IN PORTUGAL

. 10 Local Authorities

. 10 Mayors

. 10 Deputy Mayors

. 20 Officers in charge of Town Twinning or Decentralized Cooperation (DC) initiatives . Municipality services . 20 Non-State Actors . 40 NGDO

OTHER STAKEHOLDERS:

. 40 Spanish Local Authorities

. 40 Spanish Non-State Actors

. EC representations in the 3 countries

. Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the EC

. Development Agencies of the three countries

. Local Authorities and Non-State Actors from Southern Countries

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IN GERMANY

. 5 Local Authorities . 5 Mayor . 5 Deputy Mayors . 10 Officers in charge of Town Twinning or DC initiatives

. 40 Non-State Actors

Best Practices Exchange at national and international

level between LA and NSA

Training and technical guidance

LA and civil society

Awareness Raising

FROM TOWN TWINNING TO A MORE EFFICIENT COOPERATION

ÃO Considering Portuguese and German Local Authorities constraints, the project

comprises an integrated approach, divided in three main intervention axes:

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RESULTS TO BE ACHIEVED

1. LOCAL AUTHORITIES NETWORK PROMOTED AND STRENGTHENED

In order to promote networking between Portuguese local authorities, a

National Municipality Net will be created. This Net will join together

municipalities with the common objective of actively participate in efficient

Cooperation initiatives. With the same goal, a Virtual Platform will be

gathering useful information on the topic so that Portuguese and German

municipalities may improve their interventions and meet new Cooperation

partners. Namely, national and international NGO, private sector and other

local authorities. On the other hand, a Diagnosis on German Local Authorities

will be produced which, will certainly, trigger new twinning opportunities

namely between Portugal and Germany.

2. MULTI-ACTOR PARTNERSHIPS (BOTH AT NATIONAL AND TRANS-

NATIONAL LEVEL) PROMOTED AND STRENGTHENED

Interventions’ success demands a good partnership. In order to trigger new

partnerships between different development actors, there will be held several

meetings which will gather national and international entities and local actors,

promoting new synergies and dynamics within the municipality.

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3. BEST PRACTICES IN THE AREA OF DEVELOPMENT (BOTH AT

NATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL LEVEL) DISSEMINATED

Best Practice exchange will be transversal to the project. There will be

promoted dialogue and reflexion key-moments within Portuguese Local

Authorities and national and international non-state actors and funders. Best

Practice exchange will also be promoted within North and South LA, especially

those from Portuguese Speaking Countries.

4. TARGETED LOCAL AUTHORITIES’ ABILITY TO DEVELOP AND

IMPLEMENT COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IMPROVED,

ASSURING, THEREFORE, A MORE EFFICIENT COOPERATION

Together with awareness raising activities and Best Practice sharing it is

essential to promote the training of Local Authorities officers on the elaboration

of Cooperation projects. So that LA can answer directly to Cooperation funding

grants, the project entails several training sessions on Project Cycle

Management and Monitoring and Evaluation, allowing then, LA officers to

reflect, design and implement more effective Development Cooperation

projects.

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Contacts: IMVF Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr [Portuguese NGDO]

Rua de São Nicolau, 10 1100-548 Lisboa Portugal Tel: +351 213 256 300 Fax: +351 213 471 904 E-mail: info@imvf.org www.imvf.org

Câmara Municipal de Loures [Portuguese Local Authority]

Praça da Liberdade, 4 2674-501 Loures Portugal Tel: +351 211 150 100 Fax: +351 211 151 709 E-mail: geral@cm-loures.pt www.cm-loures.pt

FGCS Fondo Galego de Cooperación e Solidariedade [Association of Galician Local Authorities]

Secretaría Técnica Fondo Galego Avda. Joselín, 7 Portal 3, 4ºB 36300 – Baiona Pontevedra, Galicia España Tel: +34 986 35 72 38 Fax: +34 986 35 72 38

E-mail: info@igadi.org www.fondogalego.org

FINEP Forum für internationale entwicklung + planung [German NGDO]

Hindenburgstr. 2 D-73728 Esslingen Tel: +49711/91242690 Fax: +49711/91242688 E-mail: info@finep.org www.finep.org

Câmara Municipal da Marinha Grande [Portuguese Local Authority]

Praça Guilherme Stephens 2430-960 Marinha Grande Portugal Tel: +351 244 573 300 Fax: +351 244 561 710 E-mail: geral@cm-grande.pt ww2.cm-grande.pt

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole

responsibility of Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.