Completed

Facilitation of inter-municipal cooperation and enhancement of good governance principles in Latvian local governments

Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments ·Latvia

€1.2m

Grant awarded

Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Cultural Cooperation

Programme

26 July 2021

Signed

About this project

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: <ol> <li style="text-align: justify">Research on efficiency and effectiveness of inter-municipal cooperation in Latvia</li> <li style="text-align: justify">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.</li> <li style="text-align: justify">Five pilot actions implemented enhancing inter-municipal and intra-municipal cooperation. </li> <li style="text-align: justify">Recommendations for further development of inter-municipal and intra-municipal cooperation in Latvia developed.</li> <li style="text-align: justify">Good governance guidelines and a self-assessment tool of ethical conduct for local governments elaborated.</li> <li style="text-align: justify">Training seminars organized in five regions on implementation of good governance principles in local governments.</li> <li style="text-align: justify">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.</li> <li style="text-align: justify">The operational strategy of state cities until 2027 including recommendations for attracting investment for state cities and proactive representation of their interests. </li> <li style="text-align: justify">Discussion platform established for positioning city views on the national long-term and mid-term development planning documents and legal regulations.</li> <li style="text-align: justify">Strengthened network of experts of the AMCL and enhanced capacity of Latvian cities to deal with new dimensions of urban development challenges.</li> </ol>

Bilateral cooperation 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.

Project partners

Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities Donor project partner· Norway
Association of Major Cities of Latvia Project partner· Latvia

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