Presentation

The forum is organised by the Fund of Local Entities for Descentralised Cooperation and Sustainable Human Development (FELCOS Umbria) and the United Nations Development Programme’s ART Initiative (UNDP). Sponsored by the Umbria Region, it will be held in Foligno, Italy, from 15 to 17 June 2011, and it is conceived for the actors and the protagonists of the Italian, European and International cooperation.

Development Cooperation is going through a crucial phase of transformation, with new perspectives and challenges ahead. Among these are the need to combine the implementation of innovative practices and principles related to the management and effectiveness of official development assistance (in the direction defined in the road map from Paris to Busan), even despite the constraints imposed by the global economic crisis. Mindful of the increasing interdependence and complementarity between the local and global realms, one of the new elements in this scenario is the continued and dynamic growth of the role played by the territories as protagonists of local development processes. In the last decade, the decentralised cooperation has gradually increased its role and it is steadily acquiring the profile of "territorial cooperation”, which from the political and institutional role played by local governments, it involves different territorial actors as active and leading players in the context of the territorial approach to development.

The Forum´s main objective of the Forum is to provide an opportunity to analyze, discuss and debate on the situation and prospects for Territorial Cooperation and its articulation with the regions, national governments, the European Union and international agencies.

In particular, the Forum will address the issue of Territorial Cooperation in relation to the application of the principles on aid effectiveness – taken from the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action. It will also deal with the organisational and operational tools Local Authorities possess and can best enhance the impact of the cooperation and development actions.

Taking into account the interdependence between the territorial and global dimensions, the Forum will provide opportunities for thematic discussions around:

• Aid Effectiveness from the local level and at the local level
• The organizational forms of the Territories of the North
• Actor complementarity and the coordination within the multilateral framework

Special emphasis will be placed on the Mediterranean and in analysing the current role and potential the cooperation poses as an instrument for dialogue and co-development between institutional, social and economic actors of bordering territories.

Finally, the Forum aims to contribute to the broad international consultation process on aid effectiveness that has generated during the three previous forums (Barcelona, ??Dakar and Medellin). Co-organised by the ART / UNDP, these events have sought to ensure that the voice of the territories will be represented at the next High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to be held in November in Busan, South Korea.