SHARING

People in small communities have the same needs and rights for accessible and quality public services as people living in large ones, but fewer opportunities. And it is quite challenging for local governments of smaller communities to ensure this. Why? Not because they don't want to, but because they often don't have the necessary resources - people, money, expertise, know-how, infrastructure, or technologies. This is a big problem because the lack of quality public services and the lack of development prospects leads to migration to larger cities and increased poverty or isolation of vulnerable people in these communities.

And this is where the SHARING project aims to act, by promoting cooperation and improving policies on cooperation so local governments, partners, or their target group, become stronger by sharing experiences, resources, and tools, by joining efforts to provide good practices, inspiration, and trust to others facing the same challenges.

In short, how SHARING plans to help local governments keep their citizens and make them happy:

• we've already started with a partnership rooted in diversity - our project brings together partners from national, regional, and local levels, each contributing valuable expertise and experience in governance and cooperation: administrative amalgamation (merger), inter-communalities, various associations of local governments, partnership mechanisms between local governments and national or deconcentrated structures, associations of associations, informal or very little formalized cooperation within counties or regions and more.

This diversity allows for a rich exchange of knowledge and policy approaches, tailored to different territorial realities.

• we will exchange good practices, learn from each other, and grow together - through mutual learning, policy dialogues, and practical examples, the project fosters a better understanding of how cooperation can be translated into concrete tools, improved public policies, and more effective local planning and implementation.

Our expected result is an integrated approach to cooperation, from a ​​​​​​more flexible regulatory framework to a basic tool to increase the added value of any policy instrument. And, of course, to promote various forms of cooperation between local governments among national and EU funders as an opportunity for economies of scale and wider spreading effects.