Project: “Building the Capacity of Civil Society Initiatives for Regional and Micro-regional Networking for Rural Development in the Eastern and Southeastern Planning Regions.”

Project: “Strengthening the Capacity of Civic Initiatives for Regional and Micro-regional Networking for Rural Development in the Eastern and Southeastern Planning Regions,” financed by the European Union through the IPA II Civil Society Facility – IPA2CSO / EuropeAid/136-992/DD/ACT/MK.
The project is implemented by the Association CELOR – Center for Local Development, Radoviš, in partnership with the Foundation for Local Development and IT Development – Gevgelija, the Association Center for Medicinal Herbs Ambrozija – Pehčevo, and the Association Ecological Society JAVOR, Zrnovci.

Duration: 6 months.

Overall objective: Networking to improve living conditions in rural areas and to contribute to rural development in the Eastern and Southeastern planning regions.

Planned activities:

• Organizing four (4) coordination meetings—one hosted by each partner—for coordination with local CSOs, municipalities, state institutions at the local level, companies, etc.
• Organizing eight (8) one-day workshops to develop rural development strategies for Local Action Groups (LAGs)—two workshops within each LAG territory.
• Drafting and editing the LAG strategies; preparing and organizing documentation for the LAGs’ founding assemblies.
• Holding founding assemblies to officially establish the four LAGs; signing memoranda of cooperation and founding documents.
• Preparing documentation and registering the LAGs with the Central Registry.
• Promoting the LAGs via social media and the media.
• Signing memoranda of cooperation between LAGs from the Eastern and Southeastern planning regions and formalizing a network of civil society organizations for rural development across these two regions.

Expected results:

• Four consultative–coordination meetings held among the partner organizations and other stakeholders involved in the project.
• Eight workshops held to produce four local and rural development strategies for four LAGs.
• Four LAG strategies for local and rural development completed.
• Four memoranda of cooperation signed for establishing the LAGs.
• Four founding assemblies held for the LAGs.
• Four legal entities formed and registered in the Central Registry to represent the LAGs.
• A network of civil society organizations for local and rural development established at the level of the Eastern and Southeastern planning regions.