The municipality and local grassroots organisations in the long run share the same goal – to improve the life quality and satisfaction of the residents and create new opportunities in various fields of activity. Therefore, it seems only natural to be open to cooperation and work together to achieve the same goal creating synergies and value for both sides. It is even more essential when social issues are becoming more complex and need to be solved in a systematic way. The lack of cooperation with non-governmental organisations and social enterprises implies difficulties in addressing existing social issues. It is particularly difficult to reach the target audiences best placed to explain the existing difficulties and suggest the most effective ways of resolving them.

Five pilot municipalities from different European countries were selected to explore the challenges, needs and opportunities for successful cooperation between municipalities and community-based organisations, youth organisations and social enterprises. The project partners chose Talsi Municipality in Latvia, SE-FORUM in Sweden works with Dalarna Region, Portuguese youth organisation CXJV Conexão Jovem Associação works with Braga Municipality, Centre for Research & Education ‘Synthesis’ in Cyprus tests the project approach in Aglandia Municipality, while the Lithuanian partners Geri Norai have chosen the Municipality of Trakai.

The work with pilot municipalities resulted in the creation of:

• database of active organisations in five European municipalities,
• report “What are the needs and challenges to develop successful partnerships between municipalities and community-based organisations?”
• examples of cooperation, and
• main conclusions on the mapping process.

DATABASE OF ACTIVE ORGANISATIONS

The database that gathers various profiles of community-based organisations and social enterprises in five European municipalities, provides an opportunity to get to know active organisations and to develop joint collaborations and initiatives not only between the municipalities in which they operate, but also internationally.

Click on the database from each country to get to know local organisations.

WHAT ARE THE NEEDS AND CHALLENGES OF BUILDING A COOPERATION?

This report tackles the needs and challenges of building a cooperation between the municipalities and community based organisations that work with youth or with the aim to improve the lives of youngsters.

Even though the countries represent different regions, cultures, backgrounds and regulations, the main needs identified are quite similar. The needs and challenges were identified by individual communication with both sides – through surveys and interviews with the local organisation representatives and municipality workers, as well as locally held events.

Analysing the main problem which is that cooperation between municipalities and community based organisations is ineffective, four main causes have been identified, therefore, this report seeks to combine the needs and challenges in certain categories:

COOPERATION EXAMPLES

See different best practice examples of successful cooperation in five pilot municipalities!

Click on each country to read all the examples. 

MAIN CONCLUSIONS

The collection and analysis of information is the cornerstone of every activity the organisation is planning to undertake. It gives the data and information to create meaningful events that respond to the needs of the stakeholders. Mapping of needs analyses the actual collaboration models, defines cooperation gaps and identifies challenges. The overview of diverse partner countries shows a great variety of cooperation models, different approaches allowing partners to learn from each other.

Follow the main steps to organise the process of mapping of needs successfully:

The above mentioned outputs were created in the context of the project “Enhancing youth capacity in municipalities and encouraging mutual cooperation using social entrepreneurship as a tool, LOCAL-Y-MPACT” The objective of the project “LOCAL-Y-MPACT” is to strengthen the cooperation between community based youth organisations and social enterprises and local municipalities, and promoting social entrepreneurship as an effective tool for reducing economic inequality, promoting social inclusion and integration, creating resilient society and fostering active participation within local communities.