The European Local Democracy Week officially started

"This week (13-19 October) we celebrate European Local Democracy Week for the eighth time in the Council of Europe Member States. I am impressed by the creativity of the ELDW participants – the neighbourhood meetings, public debates, actions for involving disadvantaged groups, school competitions, exhibitions, film festivals, sport and dance events organised by our partners show the many ways of better involving citizens into community life and democratic procedures at the grassroots level" stated Herwig van Staa, President of the Congress. In 2014, Participatory democracy: sharing, proposing, deciding has been chosen as the main theme of the ELDW. This topic is at the heart of the ELDW’s mission as considered at its launch in 2007 – to create a relevant tool for boosting and measuring citizen participation at local level.