October 2, 2025 • 32 mins
🎙️ In this episode of ALDA Podcast “Shades of Democracy”, we explore how cooperation between institutions and civil society strengthens democratic resilience across Europe.
Our guests Lotta Valtonen from the Council of Europe and Katica Janeva, Director of ALDA’s Skopje Office, share insights on the tools and programmes that make democracy work in practice — from the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) to the BRIDGE to the Council of Europe project.
From experiences in the Western Balkans to the challenges faced in Ukraine and Moldova, this episode uncovers how frameworks of good governance translate into real change for communities and citizens.
🤝 Tune in to hear why strengthening democracy is a shared responsibility — and how ALDA and the Council of Europe are working together to make it happen.
Useful links:
BRIDGE to the Council of Europe ➡️ https://www.alda-europe.eu/the-bridge-to-the-coe/
ELoGE Programme ➡️ https://www.alda-europe.eu/fr/resources/eloge-in-croatia-north-macedonia-and-kosovo/
Listen on ALDA’s website ➡️ https://www.alda-europe.eu/alda-podcast/
➡️ Reykjavik Principles for Democracy ➡️ https://www.coe.int/en/web/steering-committee-on-democracy/10-principles-for-democracy
Our guests Lotta Valtonen from the Council of Europe and Katica Janeva, Director of ALDA’s Skopje Office, share insights on the tools and programmes that make democracy work in practice — from the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) to the BRIDGE to the Council of Europe project.
From experiences in the Western Balkans to the challenges faced in Ukraine and Moldova, this episode uncovers how frameworks of good governance translate into real change for communities and citizens.
🤝 Tune in to hear why strengthening democracy is a shared responsibility — and how ALDA and the Council of Europe are working together to make it happen.
Useful links:
BRIDGE to the Council of Europe ➡️ https://www.alda-europe.eu/the-bridge-to-the-coe/
ELoGE Programme ➡️ https://www.alda-europe.eu/fr/resources/eloge-in-croatia-north-macedonia-and-kosovo/
Listen on ALDA’s website ➡️ https://www.alda-europe.eu/alda-podcast/
➡️ Reykjavik Principles for Democracy ➡️ https://www.coe.int/en/web/steering-committee-on-democracy/10-principles-for-democracy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hello everyone, and welcome to Shades of Democracy, the podcast
by ALBA where we explore democracy in its many forms,
from institutions to everyday life. I Manal and today's episode
takes us into a special partnership, one that has shaped
democratic resilience across Europe for many years, the corporation between
(00:40):
ALDA and the Council of Europe. This episode is produced
within the framework of Bridge to the Council of Europe,
a project designed to bring civil society and local actors
closer to the Council of Europe and its values. Together,
we will look at how this corporation translates into practice
(01:00):
with concrete tools, programs and real life impact. With me
today are two wonderful guests from the Council of Europe.
We welcome Lotavaltonen, who will help us understand the institutional
perspective and the tools the Council of Europe has developed
to strengthen democracy. And joining me from ALDA we have
(01:21):
Katitza Yaneva, director of our Scopy Office and coordinator for
the Western Balkans, who has led many initiatives on the ground,
including the ELOGE program, the European Label of Governance Excellence.
Thank you for being with me today and welcome Lota.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Welcome to our podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Shades of Democracy, and it's a pleasure to have you
with us, and I will ask you to start please
by introducing the role of the Council of Europe in
supporting democracy and civil society engagement.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Well, thank you very much. So, as you know, I
work as policy Advisor in the Council of Europe Division
of Democratic Institutions and Civil Society, and I also coordinate
the Angiogrant of which the Bridge Project of Alda is part.
So I'm very happy to be here with you. And
(02:17):
before going to the Council of Europe's role in supporting democracy,
I just wanted briefly to introduce the context where we
are at the moment. So if we look at twenty
twenty five, it was the first year in over twenty
years that the world had fewer democracies than autocracies. And
(02:40):
this is a trend which is also not foreign to Europe.
So in many European countries, both in the Eastern Europe
and also Western Europe, we can see what is called
democratic backsliding. And this backsliding also includes a shrinking civic
space and civic space is where people can come together,
(03:07):
express opinions, act on issues that matter to them, and
fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression, the freedom of
assembly and association, which are included in the European Conventional
Human Rights. They are all part of an enabling civic space.
(03:33):
But at the moment we are seeing shrinking civic space
in several parts of Europe. And this can include restrictive
policies for example, such as so called foreign agent laws.
We can see organized smear campaigns against organizations, demonstrators are
(03:55):
arbitrarily arrested or detained and so on. And in this environment,
the Council of Europe has stepped up its work on
democratic renewal and with our yearly report this year twenty
twenty five, it's called towards a new Democratic Pact for Europe.
(04:19):
So with this report we kind of published a diagnosis
of the democratic backsliding how it looks like at the moment,
and the new Democratic Pact that's about bringing the Council
of Europe and its partner partners to boost solutions that
work for democracy and find new responses. And we hope
(04:45):
that this will create new dynamics that we can capture
in the fact. But already in twenty twenty three there
was the milestone Reikiavik Summit, and there in the Reki
Week summit in the Icelandic capital of Reykiavik, the heads
of state of our member states they recognized that the
(05:08):
democratic backsliding is affecting the continent and they adopted the
so called Reykiavik Principles for Democracy. And I think these
are really key tools at the moment because these principles
they represent the first Council of Europe instrument to set
(05:29):
out the essential foundations of democracy. So it kind of
for the first time, it gives us a frame for
what is good democracy. So it complements, for example, the
European Convention on Human Rights in a sense and as
a concrete initiative within the new democratic fact. The Council
(05:52):
of Europe is developing a set of parameters to support
the implementation of these Reykiavik Principles for Democracy. And these
parameters will enable member states, together with civil society, to
assess the state of their democracies and so the assessment
will identify, of course strengths but also gaps and vulnerabilities.
(06:16):
And the aim is that this assessment can then be
used to undertake policy reforms to strengthen the quality of
democracy across Europe. So I think this is also will
be a good tool for ALDA to use and advocate
for in its work. But in addition to the Reykevik
(06:36):
Principles for Democracy and these parameters which are developed, the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted
several recommendations. Recommendations are kind of soft law, so it's
not legally binding, but they are used to develop national laws,
(06:59):
so they are imported and from this perspective, so there
are many recommendations that help member states and civil society
to strengthen democracy and encourage active participation of civil society.
So one, for example, concerns the participation of citizens in
local public life, and I think this is a standard
(07:19):
that ALDA often refers to in its work. But there
are also other important recommendations. For example, there is one
recommendation on the legal status of non governmental NGOs in Europe.
There is a recommendations on measures to strengthen the protection
and promotion of civil society space in Europe, and there
(07:45):
is a specific recommendation on empowering young people and their
organizations and ensuring that they have a voice in shaping
decisions that affect their lives. And maybe just as the
last example, the last year the Committee of Ministers adopted
a recommendation against slaps, the strategic lawsuits, which are aimed
(08:11):
at silencing public participation, so kind of recognizing that these
slabs pose a threat to open dialogue and democratic engagement.
So these are some of the things I think are
useful also for civil society in their work to strengthen democracy.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Thank you very much. And also reconnecting to these many
recommendations and principles that you mentioned, I would like to
ask you how does the Council of Europe then make
sure that its tools really responded in its of communities.
It's not just left as institutions on paper.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So civil society is involved in various ways in development
of these standards. Civil society can participate in the drafting
bodies of the organization through the involvement of the Conference
of INGOs in all the standard setting work, and you
(09:16):
can also participate in targeted or public consultation processes for example.
And this is done to gather opinions of different stakeholders
and ensure that the standards address real life needs. So,
for example, the recommendation on the legal Status of non
(09:37):
governmental Organizations that I mentioned earlier that is currently being updated,
and the public consultation process for this recommendation update just ended.
So on we received a lot of good feedback from
civil society organizations, and actually this week on Monday and Tuesday,
(09:58):
the working group that is doing the update, they were
revising the suggestions that had come from civil society and
amending the draft based on this. And many Council of
Europe tools are also often developed with civil society through
cooperation projects, and they can of course be updated when
(10:21):
needed based on feedback from users. And I don't know,
but maybe Katika will tell us about some experiences of
this kind of development of tools. But I also wanted
to mention just one thing that, in addition to supporting
member states, the Council of Europe itself aims to strengthen
the engagement with civil society, and I think this is
(10:42):
also important to ensure that the tools respond to the
real needs. So for example, at the moment, we are
developing guidelines for the Secretariat's stuff on engaging with civil
society and of course with the aim of strengthening this engagement.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
And again here reconnecting with what you mentioned about, like
many projects of cooperation between the Council and the civil
society organizations, you're also part of the Bridge Project, which
connects the Council of Europe more closely with organizations like ALDA. Indeed,
(11:20):
and from your perspective, what added value does this project
bring and how do you see all the helping to
translate the Council's frameworks into practical action on the ground.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
So with this grant that was launched last year, we
wanted to or we want to achieve two things. So
on the one hand, we want to spread awareness of
the standards and tools that the Council of Europe has,
including the Raykavik Principles for Democracy, that civil society can
(11:54):
use in their work to strengthen democracy at local and
national level. So this awareness raising is one and then
on the other hand we want the three winning projects
such as alda's Bridge Project, they will also increase existing
and identify new ways hopefully for civil society to engage
(12:18):
with the Council of Europe. So we also want to
strengthen the interaction between civil society and the Council of Europe,
and I just want to note that, of course, civil
society is a cornerstone for democratic resilience and renewal, and
it's a key partner for advancing the Council of Europe's
(12:38):
core values like democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
And without civil society, it would be very difficult for
the Council of Europe to be able to reach everyone.
And civil society organizations like ALDA, so they help us
protect rights of people. You hold institutions accountable, you monitor
(13:04):
progress and identify weaknesses in member states, and at local level,
you shape policies, promote inclusion. Sometimes organizations also deliver essential
social and community services. All these contributions, which can be
in the form of experts on early warnings, cities and engagement.
(13:31):
All this enhanced the legitimacy and the quality and also
the impact of the work of the Council of Europe.
So you have a very important role, and I'm glad
that ALDA is with us. Thank you, Thanks to you.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It's our honor and pleasure, and thank you for these
very clear answers. I would say, now let's turn to
Katitza and to alda's experience on the ground. Kaditza Alda
has implemented the ELOGE program in several Balkan countries. Could
explain how it works and what impact it has had
(14:08):
so far.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Thank you man.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Now, yes, indeed, that was one of the accreditated associations
to implement the European Label of Governance Excellence program or
the famously known ELOGE, and we were accreditated to implement
it in three Balkan countries.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So we have Croatian word, Macedonia and Possible.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
It was between the period of twenty twenty one twenty
twenty three, and in the same time we were part
of the larger consortium implementing the ELOGE program in Bosnia
and Hezegoyness, So we can say that we had this
experience from four countries, coming from the Baltians. So the
(14:50):
idea behind this program is that to evaluate municipalities against
twelve principles of good governance, good democratic governance, of awarding
those municipalities that will meet these high standards. So with
the Crystal, the Chadrona and this LSURE label which was
like valid for two years. So just explaining the details
(15:13):
of how all the implemented this program. So Our implementation
followed systematic for our phase approach that we refined across
the three countries. First, we adapted all materials to local contexts.
This meant more than just translating into Croatian, Macedonia and Albania.
(15:35):
So we had to ensure that governors indicators matched local
legislation and administrative realities. Second, we engaged municipalities through launch
ceremonies and we build partnership with them with national and
local institutions, especially with the ministries of Local government.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
In each of the three countries.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Third, municipalities underwent the comprehensive self assessment process. They completed
detailed bench marks while in the same time they were
conducting surveys of citizens, service of employees and services of
municipal councilors. And finally, we did an independent evaluation process.
(16:20):
So we engaged evaluation committees and this committee assessed the
submissions of each municipality before formal aboard ceremonies. So the
participation scale was also significant and tells, like I said,
that tells an important story about institutional readiness. So in
(16:41):
Croatia at the beginning, we had like eight municipalities that
were very interested and they initially joined the assessment process,
but by the end only four municipalities completed the full
process and then only three received the label. In North
Macedonia much better results with having thirteen municipalities participating and nine.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Completing the assessment.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
All of those nine municipalities they have earned the award.
In Costa alone, we had a shorter time to implement
the process, like we had one year and the other
countries it was like two years. But we saw like
thirteen municipalities joining this process and at the end only
(17:29):
six ultimately actually succeeded or they were aboarded with.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
This with this label.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
So just not to say that this activity or the
program was not done independently by ALDA. We were the
whole time followed or accompanied by the Council, the Council
of Europe with training, with preparations, with experience coming from
a from other countries in in terms of how actually
(18:01):
to motivate first of all municipalities and that local administration
to participate, how.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
To do this evaluation and assessment process which.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Was kind of a complicated and the mending the mending process,
and in the end of course it was also a
challenge how to find this crystal to the control which
was which is the request from the Council of Europe
like to drop up this project and to organize an
(18:32):
is ceremony where municipalities can celebrate actually their their achievements.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
And could you maybe share also a concrete story, maybe
one example where a lawge really helped a local authority
or community to improve governance and citizens participation.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Well, there is examples where I can probably share examples
of transformation, like, for instance, municipalities when once when they
identified businesses through this assessment process against the twelth principles,
they begin considering, for instance, organizing capacity building projects for
(19:15):
employees or developing comprehensive risk management strategies to directly address
those bigger indicators. Donian municipalities provide a very good example
of collologe foster better collaboration. They actually maintained a regular
contact between them between the municipalities that were included.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
In the assessment process.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
They have shared their own experience, they have offered a
mutual assistance and most significantly, at the end, some of
them develop like joint contracts for internal or external audits
or a different kind of governance assessment that are done
on a local level. So this can be seen as
a very good and practical example of how local administration
(20:01):
can actually work jointly to foster their their work in postable.
While the program created actually a very highly competition between
the municipalities like who is the best among them, some
municipal coordinators are reported that participation UH enhanced in some
(20:23):
way their project management capacities and that improved there like
standing with the public, because it was.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Very well promoted this initiative.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
So this sustained engagement and practical improvements actually can I
think that they demonstrate that when UH our projects are
properly implemented, Governor's assessment tools can actually catalyze build democratic
reforms at local level.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Even when we talk about in the.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Three countries, we actually worked in a very complex political,
political and environments. But at the end I can say
that results we are very very positive, and especially in
terms of municipal promotion. Honestly that the municipalities in this region,
(21:15):
they don't really have a lot of possibility to promote
themselves publicly with what they do, and because usually we
don't see it that much and everything is transparent, it's
on the website. But when they don't do a self
assessment of what they do, and this was like a
possibility for them to.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Okay, but we do this. We do this.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
We have a participatory budgeting in our municipality.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
We have established.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
System of focus groups or consultations with the citizens. All
the documentation regarding our financial board is transparent and public
and it's on the web.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It's on the website.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
And all the documents regarding the councilors meetings etc. They're
also public and they are shared the video and the
public and participate etc. So in some terms it was
also for them to learn what they do.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
So this is like the probably that a good example
of their work.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Thank you very much. And apart from concrete successful stories,
of course, introducing standards of good governance is never easy.
And you already mentioned a couple of challenges. What are
the main ones that you've encountered at the local level.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Well, there were challenges, to be honest, especially at the beginning,
there were challenges also for us all that to understand
first of all the process. But for that we were
also supported by trainers from the Council of Europe. And well,
I think I think I can identify three major challenges that.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
We faced during the implementation.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
So the first one was this translation and cultural adaptation
of the benchmarks and the metrics.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
So beyond this.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Linguistic complexity of the language, as Operation Macedonia Albania, we
needed actually to ensure these governance indicators online with local
administrative structures and with the legal frameworks in each country.
So this required actually an extensive consultation with local experts
and dialogue with municipalities about the content, relevance, about the
(23:27):
use of the right words and etc. So what we
learned is that the governance concepts don't translate directly, so
I mean the documentation could not be translated directly because
in each context, in each country, there is a specific worthing,
specific concept and we were challenged to adapta on that.
(23:50):
Then the second significant challenge was again the administrative coordination
and emitting dimplementation time wise. As you know, the administration
not to be hard on them, but they can usually
they have delays. So half of the municipality mid initial deadlines,
(24:11):
but the other half they didn't, so they were constantly
asking for requiring extensions for the implementation of the assessment.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
So when we.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Ask municipal coordinators about the delays, they constantly cited the
challenges in coordinating inputs from different municipal departments or navigating
multiple breioucractics layers and etc. So this was also a
very technical challenge, but for the municipal coordinators it was
also a challenge in the municipality.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
And the third and this was probably the most.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
Difficult challenge or most diufical obstacle I would say, was
the citizens engagement because particularly achieving that the targets survey responsory,
because the citizens were engaged in this process through a
survey and they needed to we needed to achieve a
response response rate.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
And this was not an easy, an an in easy
thing to do. And some depends of the municipalities. Some
of them example, those who are in the rural municipalities,
they I would say, they found creative solutions, so they
use paper surveys or our manual data entry to overcome
digital barriers they have in their communities. However, urban municipalities
(25:30):
faced much bigger difficulties due to the public uh dis
interest I mean that the citizens were not interested to
take part in some kind of for them self assessment
of the of the municipality. So here it was that
citizens citizens engagement challenge. And here all the actually stepped
(25:52):
out with our stepped in with our role, our network,
and we used all our communication tools to for the municipalities,
especially in dissemination and to reach a bigger number of
of citizens for this for this survey. So those were
the challenges I would say, there were there were more technical,
(26:15):
uh technical challenges. They were not that much link with
the political will or municipal will. They were technical, but
they were also important for us as implemented organization to
improve some standards and for the municipality also to find
a way creative ways how to implement the activity.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And I would like now quickly to bring both of
you together for a broader reflection. I will start with you, Katitza.
At a time when democratic values are under pressure, what
role do initiatives like bridge to the Council of Europe
play in reinforce and trust in democratic institutions? Uh?
Speaker 4 (26:58):
As you said, I mean, this is ation that goes
to the heart of the European democracy today. And when
I look at initiatives like a Bridge to Council of Europe,
I see them like playing for an essential role at
this moment of democratic fragility. Like last year we have
(27:20):
witness elections across Europe that reinforced serious concerns about democratic
fragility and civil society organizations are also facing like political
pressure in a lot of the new countries or even
the new neighborhood countries. And we're seeing this everything from
for instance, the Slovakia's mass protests againstl to retire and rift,
(27:46):
which was actually strinking the civic space or because also
the same scenario, but the civic space also in some
established democracy such as Italy is I would say under
under threat a bit, and I consider that the project
as Briach, they address this kind of crisis if we
(28:10):
can stay by technically actually the crucial problem, the root
of the problem, so like the breakdown of trust between
citizens and their democratic institutions, because here is the problem.
Actually that's that breakdown of trust. So the first role
I would say in this kind of initiative is creating
(28:31):
a pathway for participations. And then when people feel like
they're disconnect from their institutions, they also I think they
become more vulnerable and that they are more influenced to
this kind of anti establishment rhetorics that are now circulating
(28:51):
and breach, I mean the project Breach. In my opinion,
it's not just talk about participation, but it's also about
how to create for create opportunities for citizens to engage.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
In these cases with the Council of your process, there
is this.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Creation of connectivity between citizens and the institutions, and in
some way that can be translated into bringing back the
trust in the democratic institutions.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Thank you very much. And finally, Lota, if you had
to send one message to citizens about why their participation matters,
what would it be.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
I think that participation in decision making is what brings
democracy to life, and because it means that the voices
ideas concerns of citizens, they are not only heard, but
they are also valued in shaping the laws and policies
of the countries and laws and policies that affect every
(30:00):
one of us. And when people are involved and participate,
then decisions gain legitimacy and they are also more effective
and they can foster a sense of shared responsibility. And
for the Council of Europe democracy it's not just elections,
(30:21):
so it's not just the moment at the ballot box,
but it's a continued dialogue that strengthens the trust. I
think the trust is but also Categica mentioned several times,
and it's important to build that. And this dialogue also
protects citizens and builds communities where everyone can belong. And
(30:41):
by taking part, citizens and civil society help ensure that
democracy remains a living promise, so one that reflects our
common values and guides the shared future. So please participate,
that's my plea.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Thank you very much, and yes, indeed, please participate. Thank
you both Lot and Catitza for this inspiring conversation with
a very much full of hope and in message. What
we've heard shows the real strength of corporation, so how
institutions like the Council of Europe provide frameworks and tools
(31:24):
and how organizations like ALDA bring them to life in
communities from the Balkans to within the European Union and beyond.
This was Shades of Democracy. To learn more about the
Bridge to the Council of Europe project and in general
about alda's initiatives. I invite you listeners to check out
(31:48):
the links in the description of this episode and feel
free to follow us on our social media to stay updated.
If you enjoy this episode, don't forget to subscribe and share.
Until next time, stay engaged and keep shaping democracy together.
You can find our podcasts on Spotify, Sprecker, Apple Podcasts,
Amazon Music, are Heart Radio, Dezzer, and of course on
(32:11):
Ada's website. Thank you both and see you next time.
Bye bye,
Hello everyone, and welcome to Shades of Democracy, the podcast
by ALBA where we explore democracy in its many forms,
from institutions to everyday life. I Manal and today's episode
takes us into a special partnership, one that has shaped
democratic resilience across Europe for many years, the corporation between
(00:40):
ALDA and the Council of Europe. This episode is produced
within the framework of Bridge to the Council of Europe,
a project designed to bring civil society and local actors
closer to the Council of Europe and its values. Together,
we will look at how this corporation translates into practice
(01:00):
with concrete tools, programs and real life impact. With me
today are two wonderful guests from the Council of Europe.
We welcome Lotavaltonen, who will help us understand the institutional
perspective and the tools the Council of Europe has developed
to strengthen democracy. And joining me from ALDA we have
(01:21):
Katitza Yaneva, director of our Scopy Office and coordinator for
the Western Balkans, who has led many initiatives on the ground,
including the ELOGE program, the European Label of Governance Excellence.
Thank you for being with me today and welcome Lota.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Welcome to our podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Shades of Democracy, and it's a pleasure to have you
with us, and I will ask you to start please
by introducing the role of the Council of Europe in
supporting democracy and civil society engagement.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Well, thank you very much. So, as you know, I
work as policy Advisor in the Council of Europe Division
of Democratic Institutions and Civil Society, and I also coordinate
the Angiogrant of which the Bridge Project of Alda is part.
So I'm very happy to be here with you. And
(02:17):
before going to the Council of Europe's role in supporting democracy,
I just wanted briefly to introduce the context where we
are at the moment. So if we look at twenty
twenty five, it was the first year in over twenty
years that the world had fewer democracies than autocracies. And
(02:40):
this is a trend which is also not foreign to Europe.
So in many European countries, both in the Eastern Europe
and also Western Europe, we can see what is called
democratic backsliding. And this backsliding also includes a shrinking civic
space and civic space is where people can come together,
(03:07):
express opinions, act on issues that matter to them, and
fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression, the freedom of
assembly and association, which are included in the European Conventional
Human Rights. They are all part of an enabling civic space.
(03:33):
But at the moment we are seeing shrinking civic space
in several parts of Europe. And this can include restrictive
policies for example, such as so called foreign agent laws.
We can see organized smear campaigns against organizations, demonstrators are
(03:55):
arbitrarily arrested or detained and so on. And in this environment,
the Council of Europe has stepped up its work on
democratic renewal and with our yearly report this year twenty
twenty five, it's called towards a new Democratic Pact for Europe.
(04:19):
So with this report we kind of published a diagnosis
of the democratic backsliding how it looks like at the moment,
and the new Democratic Pact that's about bringing the Council
of Europe and its partner partners to boost solutions that
work for democracy and find new responses. And we hope
(04:45):
that this will create new dynamics that we can capture
in the fact. But already in twenty twenty three there
was the milestone Reikiavik Summit, and there in the Reki
Week summit in the Icelandic capital of Reykiavik, the heads
of state of our member states they recognized that the
(05:08):
democratic backsliding is affecting the continent and they adopted the
so called Reykiavik Principles for Democracy. And I think these
are really key tools at the moment because these principles
they represent the first Council of Europe instrument to set
(05:29):
out the essential foundations of democracy. So it kind of
for the first time, it gives us a frame for
what is good democracy. So it complements, for example, the
European Convention on Human Rights in a sense and as
a concrete initiative within the new democratic fact. The Council
(05:52):
of Europe is developing a set of parameters to support
the implementation of these Reykiavik Principles for Democracy. And these
parameters will enable member states, together with civil society, to
assess the state of their democracies and so the assessment
will identify, of course strengths but also gaps and vulnerabilities.
(06:16):
And the aim is that this assessment can then be
used to undertake policy reforms to strengthen the quality of
democracy across Europe. So I think this is also will
be a good tool for ALDA to use and advocate
for in its work. But in addition to the Reykevik
(06:36):
Principles for Democracy and these parameters which are developed, the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted
several recommendations. Recommendations are kind of soft law, so it's
not legally binding, but they are used to develop national laws,
(06:59):
so they are imported and from this perspective, so there
are many recommendations that help member states and civil society
to strengthen democracy and encourage active participation of civil society.
So one, for example, concerns the participation of citizens in
local public life, and I think this is a standard
(07:19):
that ALDA often refers to in its work. But there
are also other important recommendations. For example, there is one
recommendation on the legal status of non governmental NGOs in Europe.
There is a recommendations on measures to strengthen the protection
and promotion of civil society space in Europe, and there
(07:45):
is a specific recommendation on empowering young people and their
organizations and ensuring that they have a voice in shaping
decisions that affect their lives. And maybe just as the
last example, the last year the Committee of Ministers adopted
a recommendation against slaps, the strategic lawsuits, which are aimed
(08:11):
at silencing public participation, so kind of recognizing that these
slabs pose a threat to open dialogue and democratic engagement.
So these are some of the things I think are
useful also for civil society in their work to strengthen democracy.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Thank you very much. And also reconnecting to these many
recommendations and principles that you mentioned, I would like to
ask you how does the Council of Europe then make
sure that its tools really responded in its of communities.
It's not just left as institutions on paper.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So civil society is involved in various ways in development
of these standards. Civil society can participate in the drafting
bodies of the organization through the involvement of the Conference
of INGOs in all the standard setting work, and you
(09:16):
can also participate in targeted or public consultation processes for example.
And this is done to gather opinions of different stakeholders
and ensure that the standards address real life needs. So,
for example, the recommendation on the legal Status of non
(09:37):
governmental Organizations that I mentioned earlier that is currently being updated,
and the public consultation process for this recommendation update just ended.
So on we received a lot of good feedback from
civil society organizations, and actually this week on Monday and Tuesday,
(09:58):
the working group that is doing the update, they were
revising the suggestions that had come from civil society and
amending the draft based on this. And many Council of
Europe tools are also often developed with civil society through
cooperation projects, and they can of course be updated when
(10:21):
needed based on feedback from users. And I don't know,
but maybe Katika will tell us about some experiences of
this kind of development of tools. But I also wanted
to mention just one thing that, in addition to supporting
member states, the Council of Europe itself aims to strengthen
the engagement with civil society, and I think this is
(10:42):
also important to ensure that the tools respond to the
real needs. So for example, at the moment, we are
developing guidelines for the Secretariat's stuff on engaging with civil
society and of course with the aim of strengthening this engagement.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
And again here reconnecting with what you mentioned about, like
many projects of cooperation between the Council and the civil
society organizations, you're also part of the Bridge Project, which
connects the Council of Europe more closely with organizations like ALDA. Indeed,
(11:20):
and from your perspective, what added value does this project
bring and how do you see all the helping to
translate the Council's frameworks into practical action on the ground.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
So with this grant that was launched last year, we
wanted to or we want to achieve two things. So
on the one hand, we want to spread awareness of
the standards and tools that the Council of Europe has,
including the Raykavik Principles for Democracy, that civil society can
(11:54):
use in their work to strengthen democracy at local and
national level. So this awareness raising is one and then
on the other hand we want the three winning projects
such as alda's Bridge Project, they will also increase existing
and identify new ways hopefully for civil society to engage
(12:18):
with the Council of Europe. So we also want to
strengthen the interaction between civil society and the Council of Europe,
and I just want to note that, of course, civil
society is a cornerstone for democratic resilience and renewal, and
it's a key partner for advancing the Council of Europe's
(12:38):
core values like democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
And without civil society, it would be very difficult for
the Council of Europe to be able to reach everyone.
And civil society organizations like ALDA, so they help us
protect rights of people. You hold institutions accountable, you monitor
(13:04):
progress and identify weaknesses in member states, and at local level,
you shape policies, promote inclusion. Sometimes organizations also deliver essential
social and community services. All these contributions, which can be
in the form of experts on early warnings, cities and engagement.
(13:31):
All this enhanced the legitimacy and the quality and also
the impact of the work of the Council of Europe.
So you have a very important role, and I'm glad
that ALDA is with us. Thank you, Thanks to you.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It's our honor and pleasure, and thank you for these
very clear answers. I would say, now let's turn to
Katitza and to alda's experience on the ground. Kaditza Alda
has implemented the ELOGE program in several Balkan countries. Could
explain how it works and what impact it has had
(14:08):
so far.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Thank you man.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Now, yes, indeed, that was one of the accreditated associations
to implement the European Label of Governance Excellence program or
the famously known ELOGE, and we were accreditated to implement
it in three Balkan countries.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So we have Croatian word, Macedonia and Possible.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
It was between the period of twenty twenty one twenty
twenty three, and in the same time we were part
of the larger consortium implementing the ELOGE program in Bosnia
and Hezegoyness, So we can say that we had this
experience from four countries, coming from the Baltians. So the
(14:50):
idea behind this program is that to evaluate municipalities against
twelve principles of good governance, good democratic governance, of awarding
those municipalities that will meet these high standards. So with
the Crystal, the Chadrona and this LSURE label which was
like valid for two years. So just explaining the details
(15:13):
of how all the implemented this program. So Our implementation
followed systematic for our phase approach that we refined across
the three countries. First, we adapted all materials to local contexts.
This meant more than just translating into Croatian, Macedonia and Albania.
(15:35):
So we had to ensure that governors indicators matched local
legislation and administrative realities. Second, we engaged municipalities through launch
ceremonies and we build partnership with them with national and
local institutions, especially with the ministries of Local government.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
In each of the three countries.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Third, municipalities underwent the comprehensive self assessment process. They completed
detailed bench marks while in the same time they were
conducting surveys of citizens, service of employees and services of
municipal councilors. And finally, we did an independent evaluation process.
(16:20):
So we engaged evaluation committees and this committee assessed the
submissions of each municipality before formal aboard ceremonies. So the
participation scale was also significant and tells, like I said,
that tells an important story about institutional readiness. So in
(16:41):
Croatia at the beginning, we had like eight municipalities that
were very interested and they initially joined the assessment process,
but by the end only four municipalities completed the full
process and then only three received the label. In North
Macedonia much better results with having thirteen municipalities participating and nine.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Completing the assessment.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
All of those nine municipalities they have earned the award.
In Costa alone, we had a shorter time to implement
the process, like we had one year and the other
countries it was like two years. But we saw like
thirteen municipalities joining this process and at the end only
(17:29):
six ultimately actually succeeded or they were aboarded with.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
This with this label.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
So just not to say that this activity or the
program was not done independently by ALDA. We were the
whole time followed or accompanied by the Council, the Council
of Europe with training, with preparations, with experience coming from
a from other countries in in terms of how actually
(18:01):
to motivate first of all municipalities and that local administration
to participate, how.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
To do this evaluation and assessment process which.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Was kind of a complicated and the mending the mending process,
and in the end of course it was also a
challenge how to find this crystal to the control which
was which is the request from the Council of Europe
like to drop up this project and to organize an
(18:32):
is ceremony where municipalities can celebrate actually their their achievements.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
And could you maybe share also a concrete story, maybe
one example where a lawge really helped a local authority
or community to improve governance and citizens participation.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Well, there is examples where I can probably share examples
of transformation, like, for instance, municipalities when once when they
identified businesses through this assessment process against the twelth principles,
they begin considering, for instance, organizing capacity building projects for
(19:15):
employees or developing comprehensive risk management strategies to directly address
those bigger indicators. Donian municipalities provide a very good example
of collologe foster better collaboration. They actually maintained a regular
contact between them between the municipalities that were included.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
In the assessment process.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
They have shared their own experience, they have offered a
mutual assistance and most significantly, at the end, some of
them develop like joint contracts for internal or external audits
or a different kind of governance assessment that are done
on a local level. So this can be seen as
a very good and practical example of how local administration
(20:01):
can actually work jointly to foster their their work in postable.
While the program created actually a very highly competition between
the municipalities like who is the best among them, some
municipal coordinators are reported that participation UH enhanced in some
(20:23):
way their project management capacities and that improved there like
standing with the public, because it was.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Very well promoted this initiative.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
So this sustained engagement and practical improvements actually can I
think that they demonstrate that when UH our projects are
properly implemented, Governor's assessment tools can actually catalyze build democratic
reforms at local level.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Even when we talk about in the.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Three countries, we actually worked in a very complex political,
political and environments. But at the end I can say
that results we are very very positive, and especially in
terms of municipal promotion. Honestly that the municipalities in this region,
(21:15):
they don't really have a lot of possibility to promote
themselves publicly with what they do, and because usually we
don't see it that much and everything is transparent, it's
on the website. But when they don't do a self
assessment of what they do, and this was like a
possibility for them to.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Okay, but we do this. We do this.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
We have a participatory budgeting in our municipality.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
We have established.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
System of focus groups or consultations with the citizens. All
the documentation regarding our financial board is transparent and public
and it's on the web.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It's on the website.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
And all the documents regarding the councilors meetings etc. They're
also public and they are shared the video and the
public and participate etc. So in some terms it was
also for them to learn what they do.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
So this is like the probably that a good example
of their work.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Thank you very much. And apart from concrete successful stories,
of course, introducing standards of good governance is never easy.
And you already mentioned a couple of challenges. What are
the main ones that you've encountered at the local level.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Well, there were challenges, to be honest, especially at the beginning,
there were challenges also for us all that to understand
first of all the process. But for that we were
also supported by trainers from the Council of Europe. And well,
I think I think I can identify three major challenges that.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
We faced during the implementation.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
So the first one was this translation and cultural adaptation
of the benchmarks and the metrics.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
So beyond this.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Linguistic complexity of the language, as Operation Macedonia Albania, we
needed actually to ensure these governance indicators online with local
administrative structures and with the legal frameworks in each country.
So this required actually an extensive consultation with local experts
and dialogue with municipalities about the content, relevance, about the
(23:27):
use of the right words and etc. So what we
learned is that the governance concepts don't translate directly, so
I mean the documentation could not be translated directly because
in each context, in each country, there is a specific worthing,
specific concept and we were challenged to adapta on that.
(23:50):
Then the second significant challenge was again the administrative coordination
and emitting dimplementation time wise. As you know, the administration
not to be hard on them, but they can usually
they have delays. So half of the municipality mid initial deadlines,
(24:11):
but the other half they didn't, so they were constantly
asking for requiring extensions for the implementation of the assessment.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
So when we.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Ask municipal coordinators about the delays, they constantly cited the
challenges in coordinating inputs from different municipal departments or navigating
multiple breioucractics layers and etc. So this was also a
very technical challenge, but for the municipal coordinators it was
also a challenge in the municipality.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
And the third and this was probably the most.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
Difficult challenge or most diufical obstacle I would say, was
the citizens engagement because particularly achieving that the targets survey responsory,
because the citizens were engaged in this process through a
survey and they needed to we needed to achieve a
response response rate.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
And this was not an easy, an an in easy
thing to do. And some depends of the municipalities. Some
of them example, those who are in the rural municipalities,
they I would say, they found creative solutions, so they
use paper surveys or our manual data entry to overcome
digital barriers they have in their communities. However, urban municipalities
(25:30):
faced much bigger difficulties due to the public uh dis
interest I mean that the citizens were not interested to
take part in some kind of for them self assessment
of the of the municipality. So here it was that
citizens citizens engagement challenge. And here all the actually stepped
(25:52):
out with our stepped in with our role, our network,
and we used all our communication tools to for the municipalities,
especially in dissemination and to reach a bigger number of
of citizens for this for this survey. So those were
the challenges I would say, there were there were more technical,
(26:15):
uh technical challenges. They were not that much link with
the political will or municipal will. They were technical, but
they were also important for us as implemented organization to
improve some standards and for the municipality also to find
a way creative ways how to implement the activity.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And I would like now quickly to bring both of
you together for a broader reflection. I will start with you, Katitza.
At a time when democratic values are under pressure, what
role do initiatives like bridge to the Council of Europe
play in reinforce and trust in democratic institutions? Uh?
Speaker 4 (26:58):
As you said, I mean, this is ation that goes
to the heart of the European democracy today. And when
I look at initiatives like a Bridge to Council of Europe,
I see them like playing for an essential role at
this moment of democratic fragility. Like last year we have
(27:20):
witness elections across Europe that reinforced serious concerns about democratic
fragility and civil society organizations are also facing like political
pressure in a lot of the new countries or even
the new neighborhood countries. And we're seeing this everything from
for instance, the Slovakia's mass protests againstl to retire and rift,
(27:46):
which was actually strinking the civic space or because also
the same scenario, but the civic space also in some
established democracy such as Italy is I would say under
under threat a bit, and I consider that the project
as Briach, they address this kind of crisis if we
(28:10):
can stay by technically actually the crucial problem, the root
of the problem, so like the breakdown of trust between
citizens and their democratic institutions, because here is the problem.
Actually that's that breakdown of trust. So the first role
I would say in this kind of initiative is creating
(28:31):
a pathway for participations. And then when people feel like
they're disconnect from their institutions, they also I think they
become more vulnerable and that they are more influenced to
this kind of anti establishment rhetorics that are now circulating
(28:51):
and breach, I mean the project Breach. In my opinion,
it's not just talk about participation, but it's also about
how to create for create opportunities for citizens to engage.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
In these cases with the Council of your process, there
is this.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Creation of connectivity between citizens and the institutions, and in
some way that can be translated into bringing back the
trust in the democratic institutions.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Thank you very much. And finally, Lota, if you had
to send one message to citizens about why their participation matters,
what would it be.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
I think that participation in decision making is what brings
democracy to life, and because it means that the voices
ideas concerns of citizens, they are not only heard, but
they are also valued in shaping the laws and policies
of the countries and laws and policies that affect every
(30:00):
one of us. And when people are involved and participate,
then decisions gain legitimacy and they are also more effective
and they can foster a sense of shared responsibility. And
for the Council of Europe democracy it's not just elections,
(30:21):
so it's not just the moment at the ballot box,
but it's a continued dialogue that strengthens the trust. I
think the trust is but also Categica mentioned several times,
and it's important to build that. And this dialogue also
protects citizens and builds communities where everyone can belong. And
(30:41):
by taking part, citizens and civil society help ensure that
democracy remains a living promise, so one that reflects our
common values and guides the shared future. So please participate,
that's my plea.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Thank you very much, and yes, indeed, please participate. Thank
you both Lot and Catitza for this inspiring conversation with
a very much full of hope and in message. What
we've heard shows the real strength of corporation, so how
institutions like the Council of Europe provide frameworks and tools
(31:24):
and how organizations like ALDA bring them to life in
communities from the Balkans to within the European Union and beyond.
This was Shades of Democracy. To learn more about the
Bridge to the Council of Europe project and in general
about alda's initiatives. I invite you listeners to check out
(31:48):
the links in the description of this episode and feel
free to follow us on our social media to stay updated.
If you enjoy this episode, don't forget to subscribe and share.
Until next time, stay engaged and keep shaping democracy together.
You can find our podcasts on Spotify, Sprecker, Apple Podcasts,
Amazon Music, are Heart Radio, Dezzer, and of course on
(32:11):
Ada's website. Thank you both and see you next time.
Bye bye,
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