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Bashkitë për në Evropë/ Municipalities for Europe

Short Project Overview 

Overall objective

The overall objective of "Bashkite per ne Evrope" ("Municipalities for Europe") is to strenghten the municipal's EU related governance capacities and reach out to Albanian citizens and Albanian local administrations with information about the EU, its policies, programs and funds.  

Purpose

The purposes of this contract are as follows:

• To continue assisting all the municipalities of Albania to strengthen their knowledge and governance capacity on EU related matters, in the context of the implementation of the National Cross Cutting Strategy on Decentralisation and Local Governance 2015-2020;; 
• To continue assisting the newly established Agency for Support to Local Government (ASLG) and Albanian School of Public Administration (ASPA) in their functions vis-a-vis the local government units on EU related matters;  
• To further increase the awareness on the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) and other relevant EU funds available to Albanian municipalities and citizens, and their capacity to benefit through trainings on how to conceptualise, design projects and file applications; 
• To further increase municipal capacity to receive, absorb, and spread EU related information, relevant both for the public as well as for its administration, in synergy with multipliers and other interested parties, in particular the Europe House and the EU Member States;
• To further increase municipal capacity to gather, both from the public and its administration, process, and feedback information that can improve its performance on EU related matters and inform Albanian Government, EU and international partners' programming and future actions;      
• Member States, for the provision of the information on the EU and the EU integration process.

Expected Results 

• Contribute to the effective functioning of the newly established Unit for Coordination of European Integration and Foreign Assistance ('EU unit' thereafter) in all municipalities, in particular via the provision of relevant training, hands on support, best practises exchange, info materials and networking opportunities; the institutional responsibility rests with the ASLG,, under the Ministry of Interior, and ASPA.
• Empowerment of ASPA trainers to deliver, in perspective, the EU related training curriculum for local level  
• Increased awareness and capacity of the EU units and of other relevant municipal staff, including awareness of newly elected officials (mayors and city councils after June 2019), on what are and how to benefit from IPA and other relevant EU funds, programs and policies;  
• Increased awareness of the EU units and of other relevant municipal staff, including of newly elected officials (mayors and city councils after June 2019), on future topics related to specific elements of the negotiation process; 
• Improved reporting system by LGUs on issues related to their performance on EU related matters; increased awareness and support to this exercise by the newly elected officials (mayors and city councils after June 2019), including stimulating a discussion on measures to be taken to improve the performance itself; empowerement of ASLG on this exercise through the project's coaching and support to develop a database for data collection and analysis; increased awareness by the local population of the municipal performance in light of building up demand for improvement 
• Increased level of information on the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) and other relevant EU funds and programs, as well as on EU policies, by Albanian citizens directly, through targeted sessions especially for civil society organisations and youth groups; 
• Increased capacity of the EU units to produce info events to communicate and educate on EU policies and values via the provision of friendly written and audio-visual products in Albanian language; 
• Increased flow of information relevant to the municipal level, best practises sharing, and interaction among the municipalities and with higher levels of governance through the intranet platform hosted at the ASLG; empowerment of ASLG to manage the platform through the project's coaching and support; 
• Increased and better communication of events produced by the EU units, including through the project website;    
• Continued support to the EU Delegation and Europe House in the implementation of information and communication activities, including events and campaigns;
• Continued synergies with multipliers and other interested parties, in particular Europe House, other EU funded projects in the field of local governance and EU MS Embassies, in the provision of EU related information;

Component 1: EU Units institutional building and training

• Accessible and functioning EU Units in all municipalities of Albania established;
• Proper management and operation of the EU Units ensured, in particular via the provision of relevant trainings; 
• Trainings organised on how to benefit from IPA and other relevant EU funds and programs available to Albanian municipalities and citizens (how to conceptualise, design projects and file applications). E-learning modules will be produced in parallel to enable EU desks to pass the training on to colleagues and other interested parties that may as well benefit from.
• Trainings organised on EU policies, objectives, priorities, institutions, programmes and perspectives, as well as to dispel the myths and misconceptions on the EU accession process; there will be particular attention on policies the municipal level, and the municipal councils in particular, is competent for. E-learning modules will be produced in parallel to enable EU desks to pass the training on to colleagues and other interested parties that may as well benefit from.
• Workshops organised with all EU desks/Units  during the project's implementation period in order to take stock of project's

Component 2: Networking and online communication

• Networking and know how transfer ensured through a web platform. Information relevant to the municipal level, best practises sharing, interaction among the municipalities and with higher levels will be facilitated through the platform. 
• A mapping exercise throughout Albania, to inform central and local authorities about governance issues and levels of implementation, as well as EU and other international partners' programming and future actions will be supported

Component 3: Visibility and events

• Tailor made information disseminated on the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) and other relevant EU funds and programs available for Albanian municipalities and citizens;
• EU information products (print, audio-visual and electronic ones) delivered to target groups;
• Support ensured to the EU Delegation and EU Information Network in the implementation of information and communication activities, including events and campaigns;

Cross cutting activities

• Synergies with multipliers and other interested parties, in particular EU Information Network, TACSO and EU MS Embassies, on provision of EU information established and maintained;