Flagship events of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) 2020 edition, coordinated by the Congress, are being organised in the week of 12 - 18 October. This year, the theme of the ELDW is “Local democracy: building trust”, focused on co-designing local democracy together with citizens and practicing open government. Its objective is to foster dialogue between local authorities and citizens aimed at strengthening people’s confidence in local elected representatives and institutions of governance, which is especaiily important in the current situation of the pandemic.
The pandemic has indeed had a serious impact on local and regional councils and administrations but has not stopped them from adapting activities to continue the pursuit of their objectives. More than 150 activities have already been organisied by 56 participating municipalities and associations from from Council of Europe member states across Europe. The examples of these activities are shared among communuties through the ELDW website in order to exchange good practices in sustaining citizen participation and local democracy during these difficult times.