About us > About the project
The European coordination
Following the creation, in 2007, of the European Commission programme “Non-State Actors – Local Authorities”, financing development cooperation projects implemented by local and regional authorities (LRAs), associations of cities and regions gathered around a European platform of local and regional authorities for development.
Named PLATFORMA, the platform was officially launched on the occasion of the 2008 European Development Days in Strasbourg. The platform is co-financed by the Commission since 2009.
Coordinating the voice of European local and regional authorities with the European institutions, PLATFORMA has three major objectives:
- increased political recognition of the activities of LRAs in development cooperation;
- in-depth dialogue between LRAs and the European institutions in charge of development policies;
- promotion of effective decentralised cooperation for the development of partner territories, especially in partnership with civil society.
Thirty-four partners gathered around this ambitious project. Since its creation, the PLATFORMA Secretariat is hosted by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).
Contributing to the dialogue between the Commission and LRAs in partner countries
Starting April 2012, PLATFORMA has a new grant from the European Commission and opened an office in Brussels, also hosted by the CEMR. This grant finances the organisation of seminars in developing countries, with the purpose of gathering the recommendations of LRAs in partner countries on the EU development cooperation policy.
Through the organisation of such events and through the active commitment of its partners, the platform hopes to render more dynamic the already existing links between LRAs of the same continent. Moreover, the creation of an experts’ network from the North and from the South should allow to better match the needs of LRAs in partner countries and the available expertise.
The institutionalisation, at regional level, of a dialogue between LRAs in partner countries and the European institutions is one of the results of the Structured Dialogue. The fact that PLATFORMA was entrusted with such a task shows the recognition of the work done by the network since 2009.
The website
The PLATFORMA website aims to present the activities of the network, but also the European development policy and other cooperation-related issues. We hope the website will be a useful source of information for LRAs, as well as for all development actors, and that it will allow better awareness of decentralised cooperation.
Please do not hesitate to contact the PLATFORMA Secretariat (platforma@ccre-cemr.org) should you need any further information.
