ALTER – Active Local Territories for Economic development of Rural Areas
Project Partners
ALTER is implemented by a consortium of rural networks in Western Balkan countries and Turkey, encouraged and supported by Prepare – Partnership for Rural Europe (www.preparenetwork.org):
- Network for Rural Development of Serbia – Lead partner
- Institute for Democracy and Mediation, on behalf of the Albanian Network for Rural Development (ANRD),
- Network for rural development BiH – Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Network of Organizations for Rural Development of Kosovo,
- Rural Development Network of the Republic of Macedonia,
- Network of Rural Development in Montenegro,
- Development Foundation of Turkey,
- Croatian Rural Development Network,
- Latvian Rural Forum
Duration: 2016 – 2019
The goal of ALTER is to stimulate an enabling legal and financial environment for civil society, as well as to empower civil society to be effective and accountable independent actors, and to improve their capacity to dialogue with Governments influencing policy and decision making processes in sustainable development of rural communities and holding them accountable for their performance towards citizens and society at large.
The specific objectives are as follows:
- To strengthen the capacity of CSOs and CSO networks which contribute to sustainable socio-economic development of rural areas in the Western Balkans and Turkey for active participation in policy planning and implementation, and building strong civil society in rural areas; and to enhance regional development through networking and cooperation.
- To build partnership of CSOs and CSO networks with public institutions and their involvement in decision making and governance processes, for the well-being of rural communities in those countries.
The action has a primary focus on networking, capacity building and advocacy. Particular attention will be devoted to cross-cutting issues (support to vulnerable categories and marginalized groups, social entrepreneurship, encouraging innovation in rural areas, environmental conservation).