European and Syrian Cities Networking

SALAR President, Anders Knape, and SKL International Project Manager, Ryan Knox, participated in the first Euro-Syrian Cities Congress in Damascus from 9 – 10 May 2009. The Congress was organised by the newly-established Regional Centre for Sustainable Local Development (RCSLD), under the European Commission’s Municipal Administration Modernisation (MAM) programme. The Congress aimed to lay the foundations for knowledge-sharing and networking between Syrian and European local authorities.

The Congress included technical workshops on housing and infrastructure demand, urban heritage, urban services and environmental issues and municipal financing, as well as a session on local authority networking. More than 200 participants from a range of countries (including France, Italy, Spain, Austria, UK, Netherlands and Syria) were present.

Mr. Knape delivered a presentation on SALAR’s experience of local authority networking in Sweden/internationally, as part of a session on ‘Knowledge Sharing and Cooperation between Local Governments’. The presentation was well-received, with follow-up questions on: (i) the importance of national associations vis-à-vis decentralisation in Mediterranean countries; and (ii) the legal status’ accorded to national associations. The Mediterranean Commission of UCLG also spoke about networking in the region.

Aside from participating in the Congress, Mr. Knape and Mr. Knox also held meetings with the new Minister of Local Administration and the Swedish Ambassador, Niklas Kebbon.