Advanced seminar DLG 2012_ Session 1.2.1 Introduction

 The purpose of the advanced seminar is threefold:

• to critically take stock of the new policy agendas and opportunities at field level for promoting decentralisation and local governance;
• to exchange knowledge, lessons of experience and good practices on how to engage strategically in the political arena of decentralisation with a view to achieve better development and governance outcomes;
•  to contribute to developing a critical mass among EC staff holding the necessary skills to support decentralisation processes efficiently and professionally.

The seminar will provide participants with an opportunity to:

• Update their knowledge on recent EU policy developments (including the recent thematic evaluation of EC support to decentralisation) and their implications for strategies and approaches to decentralisation and local governance
• Improve the capacity to better manage the ‘politics’ of the reform process in different country contexts, including fragile states
• Upgrade their skills to facilitate multi-actor dialogue processes, address political issues in policy dialogue and design relevant response strategies
• Upgrade their skills to design and implement adequate support programmes (from identification to monitoring and evaluation), including through combining national and local support
• Discuss ways and means to better advocate for progresses on decentralisation in the context of the various EC cooperation tools
• Become an active member of an EC learning network, connecting practitioners in HQ and Delegation.staff from various units.