News articles

South-Sudan: many challenges for local leaders: In South Sudan, the implementation of the 2009 Local Government Act seems largely stalled, real empowerment of the people over their government remains a challenge and a threat to peace, recovery and development of the new state.; Read more ...
Collaboration with The Hague Institute for Global Justice: The Hague Academy for Local Governance is developing a research and training programme for fragile and post-conflict countries, together with the Van Vollenhoven Institute of the University of Leiden. The programme aims to develop knowledge and build capacity to promote state building from the bottom up.; Read more ...
Peacebuilding training course in the heart of Catalonia: “The programme offered us a lot of valuable new insights, thinking and understanding of other country contexts”. “The lessons from this course will help to set up the governance programme in my organization. The training’s timing could not have been better!”, according to enthusiastic participants of the two-week joint course on Peacebuilding, Decentralisation and Local Governance in Barcelona.; Read more ...
The importance of sound fiscal decentralisation and…: “Keep it simple”!: “Keep it simple” is one of Roy Bahl’s rules for fiscal decentralisation that Jamie Boex, public finance expert, kept repeating during the training course “Fiscal Decentralisation and Local Finances”. This course, organised in cooperation with the Urban Institute in Washington, took place from 7 up to 11 November 2011.; Read more ...
On the frontline of climate change: “As a manager in local development planning, I have acquired new skills on how I can include mitigation and adaptation measures in city development interventions. I have also been enlightened with new concepts of climate change”, stated Louis Kondwani Mjumira from Malawi, after attending the training course Climate Change and Sustainable Local Development in October.; Read more ...
NFP fellowships available for Local Economic Development course: From the 1st of July 2011, it's possible again to apply for a NFP Fellowship of Nuffic for our training courses Decentralisation, Democratisation and Development and for Citizen Participation and Accountability. Deadline for application is 1 October 2011!; Read more ...
Tremendous amount of subscribers for NFP fellowships: We received a tremendous amount of subscribers who wanted to apply for a NFP fellowship for our two training courses Decentralistaion, Democratisation & Development and Citizen Participation & Accountability. Let's hope that we can welcome many of them in of these courses; Read more ...
New inspiration for better participation and accountability worldwide: “We can do it, despite the challenges and the problems we face every day”. This said Mustafa Yasa, from Municipality of Kabul in Afghanistan regarding the implementation of new ideas and projects he discovered during the last Citizen Participation & Accountability course.; Read more ...
Political and economic empowerment in Burundi, South Sudan and Palestinian Territories: A new four-year programme that focusses on the strengthening of good governance and democratic practice, fact-based advocacy and the organisation of multi-party / stakeholder dialogues, will start in Burundi, South Sudan and Palestine this January. This programme has been developped by The Hague Academy and SPARK.; Read more ...
"Even experienced decentralisation practitioners are provided with relevant new insights": “This was said by Carsten Sandhop of KFW Bankengruppe Germany, one of the participants of our one-week summercourse Decentralisation and Local Governance held last July. "The facilitators are specialists who have extensive experience in the field and delivered high quality training sessions”.; Read more ...
Decentralisation and leadership in South Sudan: How can you inspire, motivate and stimulate constructive engagement that leads to successful reform in South Sudan? An active and visible role of the leaders throughout the process, is often cited as one of the main success factors of decentralisation reforms.; Read more ...
Talent Siti Patimah on pro poor sustainable local development strategies: Getting in touch with international knowledge and experiences and the networking opportunities, all to become better equipped to enhance the living conditions for their communities. This is the goal of the six young civil servants that have been selected to participate in the Talentprogramme that starts on 15 October.; Read more ...
Apply now for NFP fellowships 2012: From the 1st of July 2011, it's possible again to apply for a NFP Fellowship of Nuffic for our training courses Decentralisation, Democratisation and Development and for Citizen Participation and Accountability. Deadline for application is 1 October 2011!; Read more ...
Intermunicipal cooperation based on practical benefits: What are the benefits of intermunicipal cooperation? How can we increase involvement and commitment of member municipalities? Which services should be organised by municipalities and which by a cooperation of municipalities? How can we recruit good staff and ensure they stay with us? These were some of the burning questions of the Romanian delegation of 20 Romanian civil servants when they arrived to the Netherlands on 6 June.; Read more ...
"I would love... world peace!": This was what participants to the ‘Peacebuilding & Reconstruction’-course tried to achieve. The course focused on decentralisation as means to strengthen a fragile or (post-) conflict state. Participants came from organisations such as GIZ, USAID and UN World Food Programme, working in countries varying from Ecuador to Kosovo and Afghanistan to Burma. This diversity led to an interesting exchange of perspectives and lively discussions.; Read more ...
“Dreams come true with simple cooperation”: The five young civil servants who were selected to attend the first talent programme of 2011 on ‘Leadership and Management’, left the Netherlands on the 9th of April full of inspiration and eager to get back to their jobs to put their newly found knowledge and experiences into practice.; Read more ...
The Hague Academy at NEXPO 2011: On 10 and 11 March NALAS organised the International Municipal Fair in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. More than 200 mayors, elected officials, civil servants and (international) organisations from South Eastern Europe and beyond came together to present and discuss innovative approaches and common challenges. The two days accumulated in the decision of the NALAS members to adopt the NEXPO Declaration on Local Governments Facing the Future: Good governance, social inclusion and European integration.; Read more ...
‘Various backgrounds serve as eye-opener and result in new ideas´: From 27 March until 1 April the training programme Leadership and Municipality took place in The Hague. Ten participants from Trinidad and Tobago, South-Africa, Palestine, Ukraine, Zambia and Cameroon successfully completed the course. Sessions, exercises and field visits were organised around topics like leadership and management skills, HRM, service delivery, communication, information and citizen participation.; Read more ...
"Who needs Democracy?": This question was discussed during the training course ‘Decentralisation, Democratisation & Development’, which took place from 14 – 25 March 2011 at The Hague Academy. The course focused on how decentralisation can help to strengthen democracies and spur development. Participants came from a wide range of backgrounds: they originated from Georgia to Tanzania, and from Haiti to Indonesia, some were working for (local) governments, some for CSOs and others for international organisations such as UNDPKO, USAID, and GIZ. This diversity led to an interesting exchange of perspectives and resulted in real eye-openers.; Read more ...
European development partners want to work in a more harmonised manner: From 24-28 January, the informal Development Partners Working Group on Local Governance and Decentralisation (DPWG-LGD) organised a pilot training course on Harmonisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance in Brussels. The course was attended by a total of 38 staff members from headquarters and country delegations of EC DEVCO, Germany (GIZ, BMZ, KfW), Denmark and Switzerland. During the course state-of-the-art knowledge from various development partners was shared, which helped participants to better understand each others’ approaches and led them to reinstate the necessity to work in a more harmonised manner.; Read more ...
Training course brochure 2011 now available: Do you want to improve your knowledge about local government issues or want to learn more about leadership and municipal management, citizen participation or peacebuilding? Then participate coming year in one of our practice-oriented training courses. Download now our new training course brochure 2011 and see what kind of open enrollment and tailor made programmes we can offer you.; Read more ...
South-Sudan: Moving towards people centred governance: From 8 through 12 November 2010, the South Sudan Local Governance Board (LGB), in cooperation with The Hague Academy for Local Governance, and funded by VNG international, organised a tailor-made training course on Peacebuilding, Decentralisation and Local Governance. The course took place at the premises of the LGB and brought together a group of representatives from Local Governments, various Ministries, iNGOs and the LGB itself.; Read more ...
Partnerships with UNCDF and The Urban Institute: As part of The Hague Academy’s efforts to strengthen its ties to leading research and implementing organisations in the field of local governance and decentralisation, The Hague Academy for Local Governance has recently formalised its ties with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the Urban Institute Centre of International Development and Governance through a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).; Read more ...
Albanian mayors prepare for EU-accession: In December The Hague Academy will organise a tailor-made training for Albanian governmental officials working on the local and regional level in the Diber region. The main objective of the programme is to train participants in preparing and coordinating decentralisation processes in the prospect of EU accession.; Read more ...
Successful joint course with the Barcelona Peace Centre: In the castle of Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain, the training course “Peacebuilding, Decentralisation and Local Governments” took place from 29 November – 10 December 2010. This ancient castle provided a symbolic venue for the course, as it was formerly used by the government as a strategic base to keep the citizens of Barcelona under control during the popular uprisings at the end of the 19th century, and as a place to imprison and execute dissidents during the civil war that tore the country apart in the first half of the 20th Century.; Read more ...
How to deal with local governance in fragile states?: In December The Hague Academy will organise a tailor-made training for Albanian governmental officials working on the local and regional level in the Diber region. The main objective of the programme is to train participants in preparing and coordinating decentralisation processes in the prospect of EU accession.; Read more ...
NFP fellowships available for Citizen Participation course: Key questions to be discussed in this two-week innovative training course include: How can municipalities increase accountability towards their citizens? And how can they benefit from involving citizens and organisations in a smart way? You will discuss the accountability chain, the participation ladder, do´s and don´ts and you will visit participation projects in urban planning, social cohesion and safety.; Read more ...
Preparing Albania for EU accession: In December The Hague Academy will organise a tailor-made training for Albanian governmental officials working on the local and regional level in the Diber region. The main objective of the programme is to train participants in preparing and coordinating decentralisation processes in the prospect of EU accession.; Read more ...
‘An enlighting journey’ through the world of Citizen Participation and Accountability....: ...., ‘change of philosophy for starting new projects’ and ‘interesting for long term career’ are just some of the comments from the participants of the training programme “Citizen Participation & Accountability” that took place at The Hague Academy for Local Governance in the last week of September. This training elaborated on the essence of trust and accountability aspects between governments and citizens, bringing together a diverse group of participants working for local governments, non-governmental organisations, as well as international organisations as the UN, GTZ, DFID and USAID. The participants came from the Palestinian Authorities, Syria, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Armenia, Croatia and Nicaragua.; Read more ...
From colleagues to friends for life: Five young municipal talents from Uganda, Turkey, the Philippines, Indonesia and Ghana attended the training course ‘Local Service Delivery & the MDG’s’, as part of the Talent for Governance September programme. After this two-week programme, they participated in the Young Civil Servants Network Event and spent one week in a Dutch municipality.; Read more ...
How to plan your career in the civil service?: The first Young Civil Servants Network Event was centered around this universal theme. Young talents from The Netherlands and abroad shared their experiences with networking, social media, work ethics and realising your ambitions in a government organisation.; Read more ...
Four sessions of the Peacebuilding course coming up: For The Hague Academy, the lasts months of 2010 will be entirely dedicated to Peacebuilding. We will be organising four sessions of our successful course on “Peacebuilding, Decentralisation and Local Governments”, highlighting the important role local governments can play in reconstructing the social contract with the state and delivering basic services after a period of violent conflict.; Read more ...
Local Service Delivery coursse:“timely and comprehensive”: In September, fifteen professionals representing countries from all around the globe, took part in the first training course on Local Service Delivery and MDGs, in The Hague. Among the participants were employees from both central and local governments, donor organisations and young civil servants sponsored by the Talent for Governance programme. With only five years to go until the deadline for the MDGs, this course, as one participant put it: ‘comes at the right time, when most developing countries have woken up to address such critical issues as are stipulated in the MDG’s.’; Read more ...
17 September: Talent for Governance Network Event: In the Hague, on the 17th of September, this year’s Talent for Governance event "How to get ahead... as a young local civil servant" will be held. So when you are ambitious, motivated and anxious to get to the top, you don't want to miss this event where you can meet with civil servants from 6 different nationalities.; Read more ...
Now NFP fellowships available for Decentralisation course: It's now possible to apply for a NFP fellowship for the training course Decentralisation, Democratisation and Development. This fellowship is offered by The Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education (NUFFIC).The training course will be held in The Hague and takes place from the 14th until the 25th of March, 2011.; Read more ...
“Invaluable experience” in The Hague for LED participants: Participants from Albania, Ukraine, Jamaica, Indonesia and Serbia gathered in The Hague in June to take part in the first ever Local Economic Development training course of The Hague Academy for Local Governance.; Read more ...
First session of Peacebuilding course "a great learning experience": In the first two weeks of June, the training course “Peacebuilding and Local Governance” took place at The Hague Academy. This was the first session of this course and it brought together a diverse mix of participants working for bilateral donors, UN and governments in countries such as Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, East-Timor and South-Sudan.; Read more ...
The Hague Academy welcomes new employee: From June 1, 2010 Dyana Kettenis has joined our team in the position of communication officer. She will be responsible for all communication of our courses to the target groups, donors and other relevant organisations. Furthermore she will help to get the The Hague Academy to be more known in The Netherlands as well as in the rest of the world; Read more ...
Talents start in course Local Economic Development: Four young municipal talents, coming from Ukraine, Indonesia and Albania have joined the Local Economic Development course as part of their Talent for Governance-scholarship this Sunday. After finishing this one-week programme, they will spend one week in a Dutch municipality to follow an internship.; Read more ...
Training course Local Service Delivery & MDGs open for application!: 6-17 September 2010; The Hague Academy is happy to inform you that the open training course Local Service Delivery & MDGs is now open for application.; Read more ...
New donor course on decentralisation and harmonisation: The Hague Academy for Local Governance and Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation have been contracted by InWEnt and the joint donor group on decentralisation to develop a training module on decentralisation and donor harmonisation.; Read more ...
Africa Day 2010: listen to local needs: “Aid initiatives should focus more on the real needs of African people. The Hague Academy courses fit very well in this idea”, says Paul Mbikayi at Africa Day 2010. Paul Mbikayi was one of the speakers at the workshop ‘Localising the MDGs’ about the role of local governments in improving services such as water supply, health care, infrastructure and education.; Read more ...
DEADLINE training courses extended to May 5: The Hague Academy is delighted to announce that the deadline for two of its upcoming training courses has now been extended to May 5. This allows everyone to express his/her interest.; Read more ...
Pricewinners at the UNHABITAT World Urban Forum: How will our world look in just two generations to come when it is projected that 70 percent of humanity will be living in towns and cities? What percentage will continue to live in abject poverty? How much dirtier will cities make our planet? These were central questions discussed at the World Urban Forum 5 in Rio de Janeiro from 22 until 26 March. The Hague Academy for Local Governance contributed to the successful Forum by organising a masterclass on “Conflict Management and Social Cohesion in Cities” and by being present with an information stand. At the stand people were invited to participate in a lottery for a free training course.; Read more ...
Apply for the Summercourse Decentralisation and Local Governance: The summercourse Decentralisation and Local Governance (5-9 July) is open for application.; Read more ...
Newsletter 5: February 2010 now available: The newsletter of The Hague Academy is now available. This newsletter is designed for all people that work in one way or another on strengthening local governance. It will keep you up to date of our activities, training courses and other local government news.; Read more ...
The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Local Governments: The international economic slowdown has a deep impact on local governance and challenges local governments to improve its role in economic policies and promoting local economic development. This is the conclusion of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) report ‘The Impact of the Global Crisis on Local Governments’.; Read more ...
Masterclass social cohesion in Rio de Janeiro: During the fifth edition of the UN Habitat World Urban Forum, which will be held from 22 until 26 March in Rio de Janeiro, The Hague Academy will organise a masterclass on how to strengthen social cohesion and manage conflict in cities.; Read more ...
The WRR-report: A new approach to strengthening local governance?: On 18 January 2010 the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) presented its report ‘Less pretension, more ambition: development aid that makes a difference’ to the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation. By questioning some long-established development mantras this report has ignited a lively debate within the Dutch development community. The Hague Academy for Local Governance takes the recommendations of the WRR seriously. In an internal staff meeting we have discussed how we can integrate these recommendations in our approach.; Read more ...
Dutch election debates question municipal international cooperation: On Wednesday March 3, permanent residents of the Netherlands will vote in local elections for new city councils. Elections are simultaneously held in about 400 municipalities. Municipal international cooperation plays an important role in the election campaign as conservative and right-wing parties propose drastic cuts to compensate shrinking local budgets.; Read more ...
Deadline Talent for Governance Scholarship programme approaching: The ‘Call for applications - Talent for Government scholarships 2010’ has resulted in a great number of applications. Talent for Governance’ programme manager Marlies de Jong: “This overwhelming response clearly shows that young talented civil servants, from all around world, are devoted to make a difference at the local level.”; Read more ...
Local Peacebuilding course open for application: The course Peacebuilding and Local Governance is open for application. More information can be found on the website.; Read more ...
Municipalities donate for reconstruction of local governance in Haiti: At a conference of foreign ministers from the group Friends of Haiti, held in Montreal on 25 January, the Mayor of Montréal and Vice-President of UCLG made clear the readiness of local governments to work alongside all mobilized partners in the reconstruction of Haiti. In The Netherlands, Dutch municipalities collected 2,5 million euro for the reconstruction of public services and municipal governance capacity, following the earthquake which has devastated the capital city and many other cities and towns.; Read more ...
Mayors meet in Copenhagen for their own summit: Eighty mayors meet Tuesday and Wednesday in the Danish capital, including Dutch mayors Ahmed Aboutaleb (Rotterdam), Jozias van Aartsen (Den Haag) en Job Cohen (Amsterdam) from the Netherlands.; Read more ...
Newsletter 4 - December 2009 out now!: Read more ...
The Hague Academy invited to the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum 2010 in Rio de Janeiro: UN-HABITAT and the Government of Brazil are hosting the World Urban Forum 2010. The Hague Academy is invited to deliver a training event on social cohesion from a local perspective.; Read more ...
Exchanging experiences in decentralisation and EU accession: On 27 November 48 civil servants from ten countries in Southeastern Europe successfully completed the two-week training programme ‘Decentralisation & EU Accession’, organised by The Hague Academy for Local Governance in cooperation with ROI, Dutch Institute for Public Administration. The programme was financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and executed by the EVD. ´It was a very good opportunity to catch contemporary developments in decentralisation, to refresh professionally, to share experiences in a multicultural atmosphere, to make comparative analyses and evaluations of how local administrations work and can be promoted in varying contexts´, comments one of the participants during the evaluation round.; Read more ...
It’s all about leadership: training for African female mayors and councillors: At the request of VNG International, as part of the exchange activity “African women in local government: Changing the face of local leadership”, The Hague Academy organised a leadership course for 20 female local leaders from 11 different African countries.; Read more ...
The Hague Academy at the European Development Days: Last week The Hague Academy for Local Governance presented itself at the European Development Days in Stockholm. Some 5000 participants and 1500 organisations from the development community were present to discuss issues of democracy, climate change and global economy matters in relation with development.; Read more ...
First scholarship programme Talent for Governance completed succesfully: From 20 September until 2 October the Talent for Governance ran its first scholarship programme . Emilia Gjeroska, Thulani Twala and Sylvia Solis Lopez attended the training course ‘How to use the power of your citizens’ the first week and followed a short internship in the second week.; Read more ...
Newsletter 3 - September 2009 out now!: Read more ...
Decentralised Cooperation at the centre of attention in Europe: On 2 December 2009 the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in partnership with the European Commission, organised the first Assises of Decentralised Cooperation for Development. The aim of the Assises was to ensure that local and regional authorities are fully integrated into EU development cooperation policies and to promote exchange between different levels of government. Participants from various countries in Europe and developing countries gathered and exchanged experiences and ideas with each other and representatives from the European institutions. According to Mr. Luc Van den Brande, president of the CoR, it was “one of the most exiting meetings the CoR has organised lately”.; Read more ...
Opportunity to follow decentralisation programme 16-27 November 2009 for South Eastern Europe!: We would like to inform you on the possibility to apply for the MTEC Decentralisation and EU Accession programme that will be held in The Hague and Brussels from 16 until 27 November 2009.; Read more ...
Summercourse 2009: “Empowering people through decentralisation”: From Monday 6 – Friday 10 July, a group of 14 participants from various countries followed the intensive summercourse on Decentralisation and Local Governance in The Hague.; Read more ...
Newsletter 2 - June 2009 out now!: Read more ...
"Accountability the engine of development": More than 4 billion poor people live without access to justice and without any rights, simply because they do not ‘exist’. Since they are not registered as citizens they cannot vote, own a house or start a business. Morever, since they lack protection from the state, they are vulnerable to violence and exploitation.; Read more ...
Apply for the City Diplomacy course now!: From 8 to 11 September 2009, the training course City Diplomacy will be held. This training provides you with a clear understanding of the daily practice of local governance in instable and conflict prone areas and trains you in applying conflict analysis in your projects.; Read more ...
Municipalities work on improving international cooperation: In April and May two masterclasses Municipal International Cooperation (MIC) have successfully taken place. The masterclasses were designed to further develop the skills and knowledge of Dutch municipal officers working in a project with a southern partner through the LOGO South programme.; Read more ...
Afghanistan conference: good local governance essential for reconstruction: At the Afghanistan conference of March 31 in The Hague, the international community reiterated the need to promote good governance in Afghanistan through strengthening Afghanistan’s national, provincial and local government institutions. By strengthening their capacity, government authorities at all levels should perform better in providing security and services to the citizens.; Read more ...
Talent for Governance launched!: 'Talent for Governance provides a good opportunity to learn how municipalities in other countries deal with challenges similar to ours,' says Thulani Twala, who feels fortunate to receive a scholarship for training at The Hague Academy for Local Governance.; Read more ...
Filmpje: 7 January; Local leadership film; Read more ...
Training programmes on Good Governance and Decentralisation in Europe: 25 February 2009; The Hague Academy for Local Governance has just finished two new training programmes for professionals working in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. In ‘Supporting decentralised governments in (future) EU membership’ participants will learn about, experience and eventually be able to work on the four most important issues for decentralised governments in the European Union.; Read more ...
Newsletter 1 - February 2009 out now!: Read more ...
New courses on Local Services and Municipal Management: Two new training programmes will be offered for open training as well as for training on demand. The two-week training course Local Service Delivery discusses how municipalities can perform better in delivering basic services and how access to the poor can be improved. The course Municipal Management focusses on improving internal management, efficiency and effectiveness of a municipality.; Read more ...
Training courses 2009 online: 1 November 2008; The new courses are now available for online registration.; Read more ...
Vision, trust and respect make a true local leader: 26 November 2008; "Vision, trust, giving respect and crossing borders. This is what makes a mayor a true leader of the local community", said former mayor Nico Schoof in the Leadership Masterclass of The Hague Academy for Local Governance.; Read more ...
"Decentralisation, yes we must!": 24 November 2008; Koos Richelle, Director General of EuropeAid, during the European Development Days in Strasbourg last week.; Read more ...
Learning from 'the Dutch way': 6 November 2008; A Nigerian delegation of 25 Financial Officers from various (semi-) governmental organisations and large companies visited The Hague Academy for Local Governance.; Read more ...
Participants comment on summercourse Decentralisation and Local Governance: 15 July 2008; From 7 - 9th of July the summercourse Decentralisation and Local Governance took place in the old city centre of The Hague. It was an interesting and inspiring meeting of people from different types of organisations working in different parts of the world: Tanzania, The Netherlands, Rwanda, Armenia, Yemen and Uganda. Read some feedback from the participants:; Read more ...
Masterclass Local Leadership at European Development Days: 15 October 2008; The Hague Academy for Local Governance organises the Masterclass Developing Leadership at a Local Level during the next European Development Days in Strasbourg. This masterclass discusses the role of local government leaders in developing a vision, improving services and involving their communities.; Read more ...
Academy receives high score for innovation from Minister of Economic Affairs: 2 April 2008; The Hague Academy for Local Governance ranks second on the list of most innovative organisations in the South Holland region. This has been announced today by the Minister of Economic Affairs, Mrs. Maria van der Hoeven, during a special event in Amersfoort.; Read more ...
Partnership City-to-City Centre Seville: 4 February 2008; In cooperation with the Best Practises Seville Centre for City-to-City cooperation we plan to develop masterclasses for municipalities and public service organisations involved in international cooperation.; Read more ...
Training for Municipal international cooperation practitioners: On 26 and 27 November 2009 The Hague Academy for Local Governance organises the training ‘Municipal International cooperation’ for Dutch municipal officers that work on international cooperation with the South.; Read more ...
Iraqi governors see local government at work: 15 May 2007; Although you will not see it on the tv-news, there certainly are some positive developments going on in Iraq. Democracy is being developed on a local level in the 18 provinces of Iraq.; Read more ...

“Invaluable experience” in The Hague for LED participants

Participants from Albania, Ukraine, Jamaica, Indonesia and Serbia gathered in The Hague in June to take part in the first ever Local Economic Development training course of The Hague Academy for Local Governance. During six inspiring days, participants learnt not only about each other’s background and work experience, but also about stakeholder analysis, pivotal project management and innovation at the local level. Combining in-depth interactive lectures with field visits and study cases, participants acclaimed the course as an “invaluable experience” and applauded the “unique approach of theory and practice” for which the Academy is now recognized across the world.

Among the participants were the first four Talent for Governance scholars of 2010. They received a scholarship from the Talent for Governance fund after they successfully passed the application and selection procedure this Spring. Ivan Dmytrasevych and Khrystyna Kovtalo from Lviv in Ukraine, Ina Xhakoni from Durres in Albania and Zulkifli Hamid from Lhokseumawe in Aceh, Indonesia, did not only take part in the training course, but also enjoyed the privilege of a one-week practice-oriented internship in Delft, Drechterland or Meppel. Looking back upon his first ever visit to Europe, Mr. Hamid concurred to the motto of The Hague Academy by saying that “it has been a true local governance experience. I am very thankful”.

The Hague Academy is determined to organize future courses about local development and economic management in the upcoming years. According to programme manager Suzanne Jansen, “we are developing brand new courses on local financial management, resource allocation and sustainable growth. Be first to learn about these courses by subscribing today to our newsletter or visiting our website regularly.” Later this year also the Talent for Governance programme will be continued with six new scholars arriving and the launch of the application procedure for 2011.