"Academy of Municipal policy"

"Academy for Municipal Policy" (AMP) is a joint project of the Institute for Social Integration and "Friedrich Ebert" Foundation, started in 2012. With the realization of this project, the two organizations aim at working for the improvement of the management capacity of the local government representatives from the left. In 2013, representatives of the Greens joined the training too.

Each group of the Academy includes 25 mayors and/or councilors from different municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria.

 The following topics are included as part of the training, and are further developed through feedback from the trainees after each training:

- The European social democracy - values ​​and role in the local government programs

- Strategies for municipal development. Public interests and policies

- Municipal property and local finance

- Sustainable municipal development

- Spatial planning and public works

- Social activities of the municipality

- Transparency and openness in the work of the local government

- The role of media. NGO participation in local government

- Conflicts in local government and local authorities. Ways of solving and decision making. Negotiations as a way to resolve conflicts

- Interaction between municipalities

- European funds and municipalities

- Preparation of projects.

 Part of the Academy training is a visit to the EU institutions in Brussels, with specially organized program on topics related to local authorities. The visit is for the trainees, who have shown best results at the final test.

As part of the Academy, there are also discussion forums on various current topics of local government and local autonomy. The aim is to develop a network of graduates as well as to use the long-term experience of local government representatives.

The Academy has its own Facebook page, with closed stuatus just for the trainees, where they discuss current issues of local government.