The AOC participated in a meeting with a delegation of mayors and institutional representatives from North Macedonia to share experiences in matters of good governance, transparency and citizen participation.
The work session, coordinated by the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM), is part of the "Empowerment of Municipal Councils" project promoted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The project aims to strengthen local governments in North Macedonia especially in small and rural municipalities facing challenges arising from decentralization starting in 2022.
During the Conference, the head of the AOC's open government service, Ferran Farriol, presented the common services model than the AOC offers the local bodies of Catalonia in the matter of open government and good government.
Regarding open government services, transparency portal and open data, reference was made to their genesis and philosophy, their activity and uses, explaining that they are services that have become a standard of use in the territory , also giving the message that one of the main reasons that makes it possible is the existence of the Network of Open Governments of Catalonia (XGOC). The XGOC is a key element to promote collaboration with municipalities and to promote transparency and open government in public policies in the local world of Catalonia.
During the session, different services associated with good governance were also discussed, such as the Decidim.cat citizen participation portal and the Alerts Channel, both services also offered by the AOC through the collaboration of the XGOC. Both were of great interest to the attendees.
We hope that the exhibition of solutions and services offered by the AOC in terms of open government and good governance, as well as the knowledge of the institutional model that helps to deploy them in the territory (XGOC), can serve the Macedonian delegation of Nord as an example of good practice, taking into account the challenges in administrative decentralization, improvement of transparency and promotion of good governance in which they are currently immersed.
