This workshop looked at local development assets and capacities in Northern Albania with a focus on the traditional handicraft sector, including skills development and the role of partnerships in the design, implementation and evaluation of local development strategies.
Local partnerships contribute to improving governance and helping to strengthen participatory approaches to the design and implementation of local development strategies. Increased transparency and consultation in relation to policy design and implementation, together with the modernisation of public administration, are supportive factors in the integration of local development resources and activities from the government, the business community and civil society. Local partnerships find themselves with a steadily growing number of tasks. To accomplish such tasks effectively, a number of different contextual factors are important: a supportive local community and enabling institutional framework, dedicated partners aware of the costs and benefits of partnership working; and an effective core partnership structure.
The event was jointly organised by the OECD LEED Centre for Local Development and the International Labour Office (ILO) and its Subregional Office for Central and Eastern Europe. The ILO officially launched a new project targeting the social and economic revitalisation of Shkoder region by fostering entrepreneurship.

For further information please contact: Ms Andrea-Rosalinde Hofer at the Trento Centre (andrea-rosalinde.hofer@oecd.org) and Mr Andrea Salvini at the ILO (salvini@ilo.org)
Download the draft agenda