11th December 2009.

On behalf of local government introductory presentation was made by Ms. Jarmila Cendic, Head of municipal administration, project main objectives were presented by Mr. Milan Bosnjak, LDA team member. The training sessions were conducted by Mrs. Nadia Cuk Skenderovic, expert.

This seminar gathered more than 40 participants, representatives of local government, neighborhood community centers, municipal institutions and NGO-s.

Apart from expert presentation, Ms. Cuk paid much attention to decentralization of government as a long term process of democratization – not only in terms of respect of the principle of subsidiarity, but also in terms of embracing the values of democratic governance and creating a new mindset and political culture at local level. Citizens’ oriented local government is therefore the ultimate goal of transition which is in our country, considering the heavy legacy of autocratic rule, a cumbersome and  long-term process. Therefore, apart from necessary legislative changes and law implementation, the process requires educated citizens and their associations on one side and local policy/decision makers on the other, capable of creating effective interest based partnerships.

Funding opportunities within the existing EU regional policy measures require well established municipal structures and responsive local governments, and as soon as Serbia acquires the status of the Candidate country, an increased number of support programs will be available for our local governments.

During the interactive workshop, questions were raised about the possibility to establish adequate grounds for regionalization of Serbia considering that it has become a highly politicized issue. Further interest by some participants was expressed in regard with practice of lobbying for EU funding programs and opening the local government’s representative office in Brussels. Experience and some good local practice of co-operation established by municipal authorities (with Slovakia, Romania, Italy) were presented during the discussion.

Representative of municipal tourist organization spoke about still slow and sporadic networking within this cluster, not only at local but at regional Vojvodina level too. Local economic development strategy relies much on utilization of tourist potentials, but practical steps leading to networking and creating regional structures capable of absorbing more funding are still insufficient.

During the concluding session, Ms. Jarmila Cendic stressed the importance of this project’s activities seen as an additional tool at the disposal of local government to improve its capacity for meeting the requirements of different EU calls for proposals already opened for municipalities in Serbia.