Belgrade, 23rd March 2006

UN-HABITAT and the Faculties of Architecture, Economics and Geography of the University of Belgrade have organized a National Seminar on “Integrated Local Development – planning and instruments”.

The seminar was opened by the Ministry for Capital Investments and SIRP representatives and saw the active participation of representatives from municipalities which are beneficiaries of SIRP Programme, from the University, as well as from a wide range of Local development Agencies and/or Centers in Serbia. Two Development Agencies from Italy, ERVET and CONSVIPO, and two serbian LDAs, ALMAMONS and RDASP, were invited to present their own activities and experiences.

Aim of the seminar was to provide some elements and concepts for discussion on instruments and tools for the planning and for the implementation of the Integrated Local Development exercise. The whole within the EU framework (policies and methodologies), in which, local governments not only contribute with the economic and social development of their territory, but due to their closer position to citizens, they are often appointed to implement the EU legislation. In transition countries, it is well known that local authorities more and more become first protagonists in the decentralization process and their role becomes crucial for promoting central reforms (bottom up approach).
The subject of Local Development has been a key issue on last decades of EU projects and programmes, both, for member states and for neighbouring countries during the pre-adhesion period.
Programmes were implemented and improved along the time. Methodology was also improved and sophisticated. Local authorities became more and more protagonist in the identification of projects and of investments.
Institutional instruments for promoting and managing Local Development were tuned and tailored to each country’s needs.
One important instrument is the Local Development Agency (LDA) that is now spread all along Europe. Other not less important tool, tailored to the Italian context, is the “planning in partnership” or “negotiated programming” models for Local Development Projects. 
This Seminar has introduced the concepts behind each one of these two instruments and presented some experiences both form the Italian side and from the Serbian side. The Italian LDAs ERVET and CONSVIPO with consolidated experience and practice, one having a Region as territorial domain and the other leading the development of a Province, a smaller but more homogenous territory. The Serbian LDAs facing the not easy equilibrium between decentralization versus local empowerment.   
Local Development Agencies are thus key issue of this exercise. The seminar has represented a first step towards the common understanding what model of LDAs should SIRP support in beneficiary municipalities, as well as a first basic platform for brainstorming on what model of LDA is appropriate for Serbia. Further steps will call for debates with other implementing Agencies, with other Serbian institutions and then, with higher central Government representatives. UN-HABITAT will support further discussions and Forums on this important and actual issue in Serbia.
All participants highlighted the interest, from both national and local level actors in development, to further advance the discussions undertaken during the seminar.
SIRP support in the promotion of a Local Development Network in Serbia has been envisaged through several instruments the Programme has already set as networking tools for dissemination of best practices and exchange of experiences (i.e. SIRP web site, SIRP newsletter with a special issue dedicated to local development, publication of texts and papers on relevant topics), foreseeing the active participation and contributions by development actors from national, regional and local level.