LPSA’s Expert Working Group on Europe and Central Asia (ECA) brings together government officials, policy practitioners, scholars, civil society organizations, and citizens who share an interest and expertise on decentralization, multilevel governance, intergovernmental relations, local governance and local development in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Working group leadership and coordination
The LPSA Expert Working Group on Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is jointly co-chaired a number of leading decentralization and local governance experts in the region, including Adrian Ionescu, Gábor Péteri, and Glendal Wright.
Working group purpose and activities
The LPSA Expert Working Group on Europe and Central Asia (ECA) seeks to assess, advance, and share the state of global knowledge on decentralization, multilevel governance, intergovernmental relations, local governance and local development in Europe and Central Asia.
The working group’s activities include:
- Quarterly working group meetings, in order for working group members to update each other on decentralization reforms and relevant public sectors reform projects across the region; and to identify topics of mutual interest to the Working Group’s members;
- Advance the general state of knowledge on decentralization and localization in Europe and Central Asia, including through the application of the LoGICA Framework, the Intergovernmental Fiscal and Expenditure Review (InFER) Framework, and the preparation of reports on the State of Local Governance Institutions in Europe and Central Asia;
- Explore topics of mutual interest and advance the state of knowledge further through research and other knowledge development efforts, by mobilizing the Working Group’s collective resources and/or by linking to other LPSA resources and Working Groups as relevant. Topics of mutual interest may include areas such as inclusive governance and local democracy; community-led development; localizing SDGs; community-led development; fiscal decentralization and subnational revenue mobilization; cities and urbanization; and subnational climate action.
- Knowledge sharing. The Expert Working Group aims to keep its members as well as the larger (global) Community of Practice informed on relevant reforms, trends, and policy research in Europe and Central Asia, by sharing relevant news and information through Decentralization.Net and by organizing webinars and other knowledge sharing events where relevant and possible.
ECA Region Expert Working Group Meetings
The LPSA Expert Working Group on Europe and Central Asia (ECA Region) aims to meet at least on a quarterly basis. A record of all ECA working group meetings can be found here.
Working group membership
The LPSA Expert Working Group on Europe and Central Asia and its meetings are open to LPSA’s membership and to the general public. Working group meetings are announced on LPSA’s Events Calendar. You can join any LPSA Expert Working Group free of cost and receive reminders and updates by opting-in to one or more working groups as part of your membership.
Other LPSA Expert Working Groups
LPSA’s Regional and Thematic Expert Working Groups are an integral part of the Local Public Sector Alliance and operate under Terms of References issued by the Alliance. LPSA Expert Working Groups are coordinated by the LPSA Advisory Board.