Workshop Bogotá (Colombia), 1-3 June - Territorial Approaches to Local Development

This seminar builds on previous (regional) exchanges organised between EU staff engaged in decentralization reforms or local development in partner countries. These various meetings provided an opportunity to take stock of (i) local development and decentralisation dynamics in different regions; (ii) evolving EU policy and operational responses as well as (iii) key implementation challenges encountered. On this basis, a common knowledge base was gradually constructed ‘from the bottom up’ and shared with an expanding community of practitioners.

In April 2015, more than 40 EUD gathered in Brussels to further explore (i) the implications of the emerging new vision on decentralisation as an instrument for local development; and (ii) what this means for the developmental role of Local Authorities (LAs) and for external assistance provided. In this context, the concept of a “territorial approach to local development” (TALD) was discussed in depth during the seminar at both strategic and operational level.

The added value of this regional seminar for EU Delegations in Central and Latin America is to translate these new insights to the specific context of the region.

The event with links to the different presentations can be found here: Enfoque Territorial para el Desarrollo Local, Bogotá, 1-3 Junio 2015