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Description
The project will help to increase the vitality of rural communities by empowering Kodukant member organisations and village leaders, raise their advocacy capacity as well as create stronger ties between communities and rural municipalities. The project is aimed at village leaders, heads and officials of local governments and member organisations of Kodukant. The activities of the project include mapping the status of the target groups and advocacy capacity of the village movement, organising seminars that bring together communities and municipalities, and piloting a community service conference. Also, an inspiration seminar for the members of Kodukant will be held. The project will provide a better understanding of the situation of rural communities, build bridges between local authorities and village activists and raise public awareness of the importance of community empowerment; the internal coherence of the village movement and the number of municipalities in partnership with the village movement will also increase. Final beneficiaries of the project are people living in rural areas whose voice is better heard and ssiues better dealt.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to increase the willingness and knowledge of local governments to systematically engage with village communities and to involve them in local government decision-making processes. In the course of the project the state of the village movement target groups was mapped, including existing forms of co-operation with the local government and best practices of cooperation. Rapid surveys of rural residents were conducted on two topics - the impact of the epidemic and the adaptation of new residents to rural areas. 3 co-operation seminars were held for community activists and municipal officials that allowed activists and municipality leaders to compare their state of affairs with other communities and deliberate of their advantages and bottlenecks in striving for better cooperation. It is estimated that as a result of project activities the number of local governments who practice working cooperation model to activate and engage local communities will increase. At the end of the project, out of the 27 participating municipalities, 3 had taken up the review of existing cooperation practices in order to amend and improve existing models.