A delegation of representatives of central and local public authorities from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus participated in a study visit in Bilbao (Spain) on 26-28 June 2017.

The participants were acquainted with the Spanish experience in developing inter-municipal co-operation (IMC), management of policies for public services among municipalities and relevant practices.  Specifically, they learnt about services and competencies of municipalities within La Cuadrilla de Rioja Alavesa (a consortium of municipalities), urban transformation of Bilbao, about how Basque Association of Municipalities works and other. The delegation also visited several public services such as that of water management delivered by Bizkaia Water Consortium, collection of tyre waste managed by Galdakao municipality and social services provided by Donostia-San Sebastian municipality. The group had the opportunity to compare this experience to that from their own countries, especially given the ongoing implementation of IMC initiatives started with the support of the Council of Europe.

The event was carried out within the Thematic Programme “Strengthening institutional frameworks for local governance” implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform,  under the European Union/Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance in the Eastern Partnership countries.