European Commission staff are already participating in online discussion forums and recently, a discussion group was launched on decentralisation and local governance, feeding into a workshop in Brussels in July.
"I am a task manager for local governance and civil society in A. I only arrived a month ago and I am therefore still trying to get my head around this very complex issue. I greatly welcome this initiative both in terms of support but also in terms of having a good channel of communication with other delegations."
This is how an EC staff member introduces herself to the newly started virtual discussion group on decentralisation. It is a response to a call from EuropeAid on field experiences on decentralisation and local governance in order to help deepen and update its previous work on it.
Past work included the publication of an EC Reference Document, ‘Supporting Decentralisation and Local Governance in Third Countries'. This tool already benefitted from inputs from the field obtained through a very active web-based discussion group in 2006.
This time around, EuropeAid has already launched a new discussion group and in the future, the www.Capacity4Dev.eu platform will also host or co-host such discussions.
Through these discussions real life experiences will feed into the preparation of a workshop on decentralisation in Brussels from 6 - 10 July 2009 for EC delegations and headquarters.
This workshop will mainly focus on operational questions and is part of the EC delegations' Learning Network on Support to Decentralisation and Local Governance. It aims at a better understanding of the complexities of local governance and at enhancing capacities to formulate and implement effective support strategies.
If you want to participate in the D-group discussion or upcoming workshop, please contact: ECdecentralisation@dgroups.org
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