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Description
governance to improve quality and effectiveness of public services.
Total eligible costs: 1 250 000 EUR.
The primary target group of the project – elected council members and staff of local governments, the secondary target group – state institutions and inhabitants.
The project will be implemented primarily in the local governments of Latvia and will include study visits to Norway, Poland and Finland.
Results:
- Research on efficiency and effectiveness of inter-municipal cooperation in Latvia
- Five regional networks of local governments established and in-depth analysis of current inter-municipal cooperation practice in Latvia and its enhancement possibilities performed within the framework of the networks.
- Five pilot actions implemented enhancing inter-municipal and intra-municipal cooperation.
- Recommendations for further development of inter-municipal and intra-municipal cooperation in Latvia developed.
- Good governance guidelines and a self-assessment tool of ethical conduct for local governments elaborated.
- Training seminars organized in five regions on implementation of good governance principles in local governments.
- Study visits performed to Norway, Poland and Finland providing experience exchange on proven solutions in different countries of the Baltic Sea region on inter-municipal cooperation and good governance in local governments.
- The operational strategy of state cities until 2027 including recommendations for attracting investment for state cities and proactive representation of their interests.
- Discussion platform established for positioning city views on the national long-term and mid-term development planning documents and legal regulations.
- Strengthened network of experts of the AMCL and enhanced capacity of Latvian cities to deal with new dimensions of urban development challenges.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was optimization of local government cooperation and facilitation of good governance principles in order to improve public services quality and efficiency. ‘Cooperation’ was in the centre of the project, thinking about sustainable development in order to combine available resources, take more effective decisions and find optimal solutions. An important challenge to solve was necessity to provide equal living and working conditions for all inhabitants regardless of their place of living by facilitating regional entrepreneurship and developing public services. Service efficiency improvement in regions was discussed in the context of finding solutions how to provide services taking into account demographic challenges and territorial specifics. Different cooperation forms were studied which correspond to nationally defined development lines: mutual cooperation and interaction between cities and rural territories in order to provide working places and services; networking among development centres making agreement on more effective usage of resources; common spatial and development planning between cities and their functional territories.
Another challenge to be solved was improvement of potential and competitiveness (taking into account their available resources and development priorities) of cities which are driving force for regional development.
Moreover, strengthening of good governance measures contributed to facilitation of more innovative administration, public participation, more advanced management on different levels in order to achieve sustainability and moving towards reaching UN sustainable development goals.
The main project activities were as follows:
- Existing local government cooperation models and opportunities for their improvement in the future were analysed. This was done by elaborating research on local government productivity and efficiency in Latvia. Furthermore, five regional cooperation networks were established, within the framework of which local governments in a series of meetings and workshops shared their experience on different cooperation forms that help to provide services for local citizens.
- Five pilot actions on local government cooperation were implemented which serve as an example to learn from. These pilot activities were as follows: 1) new cooperation model created among local governments within one of the historical regions in Latvia (Zemgale) based on common history and values, with an aim to find joint identity that helps to attract tourism and entrepreneurship to the region; 2) Local Government ICT Association established that serves as a platform for representation of ICT issues in negotiations with public administration institutions, and experience exchange on national and international level; 3) practical guide on creation and operation of citizen councils in local governments; 4) experience example on how to manage and operate local government capital companies after amalgamation as a result of administrative territorial reform; 5) analyses of educational data in local government in order to evaluate current situation and design future scenarios. Finally, after evaluating activities in cooperation networks, pilot actions and international experience, recommendations on future local government cooperation were elaborated.
- Good governance improvement measures for local governments in Latvia were implemented, including elaboration of good governance guidelines and self-assessment tool on ethics, and training seminars for local politicians and employees on implementation of good governance principles.
- Experience exchange visits to Norway, Poland and Finland were organized. During these visits, participants had an opportunity to learn foreign experience on inter-municipal cooperation practices and implementation of good governance principles in everyday work and operations in local governments.
- The Operational Strategy for State Cities of Latvia 2027 was elaborated. This Strategy includes recommendations and suggestions how to attract investments and represent interests of cities, in order to promote sustainable, integrated development and international competitiveness, as well as strengthen cooperation among cities for solving new development challenges by using development potential and economic advantages that cities feature.
- Discussion platform for specialists in city administrations of Latvia was established. This platform will be used for discussing important development issues and formulating qualitative opinion of cities for legislative initiatives and amendments.
- Expert network was strengthened in order to improve capacity of cities to meet new urban development challenges.
The primary target group of the project was local government politicians and employees, however, the secondary target group – public administration institutions and local government inhabitants in general.
Results achieved during the project:
- Study on local government cooperation productivity and efficiency in Latvia.
- Five regional networks on different local government cooperation forms.
- Five pilot actions that contribute to local government cooperation and serves as examples of best practice.
- Recommendations for further local government cooperation in Latvia.
- Guidelines on good governance and self-assessment tool on ethics.
- Completed series of regional seminars on implementation of good governance measures in local governments.
- Performed experience exchange visits to Norway, Poland, and Finland on inter-municipal cooperation and good governance.
- Operational Strategy for State Cities of Latvia 2027.
- Discussion platform for specialists from administrations of cities.
- Strengthened expert network and improved capacity of cities to solve new development challenges.
Summary of bilateral results
a.How the project benefited from having a donor project partner?The Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LALRG) and the donor project partner Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) have been partnering already for a long period before. Project idea, layout and application form was formed in close cooperation with the KS. Moreover, project partner’s representatives directly participated in project activities and project management meetings. b.Describe the main results from a bilateral level.The main results from cooperation between project partners are as follows:-studied Norwegian experience on implementation of good governance measures in local governments;-studied Norwegian experience on various forms of inter-municipal cooperation; -clarified ideas and topics on which cooperation and joint activities would be important to continue after implementation of the current project. c.Plans to continue the bilateral cooperation.LALRG and KS have joint plans to develop a new potential project / activities on topics that emerged during the current project and were regarded as important for local governments in both donor and recipient countries.