Saturday, March 03, 2018

The first "Leadership Academy Programme" training was held from 28 February – 2 March 2018 at hotel “Bleart”, in Durres, with the participation of 23 mayors, locally elected representatives and senior civil servants. The opening ceremony was addressed by Mr.Claus Neukirch, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana. The program of the Center of Expertise of the Council of Europe, is implemented in the context of the Swiss-funded project:  Strengthening of Local Government Structures in Albania (Phase III).

The main focus of this training was the “leadership capacity building”, addressing such topics as:
 
•    Good Local Governance;
•    Understanding Leadership;
•    Leadership Benchkmark;
•    Self Awareness and Group Empowerment;
•    Leadership Mind-sets for Team Working;
•    Identifying Personal Leadership Styles;
•    Group Communication Skills;
•    Effective Staff Management;
•    Expectation Management;
•    Building Ethics and integrity;

The courses combined theoretical approaches with practical policies and solutions to daily life problems of LGUs. The core methodology was the peer-to-peer approach where LGU representatives were assisted to design specific solutions and policies and thus strengthening good governance practices at local level. The group working and role play exercise created the right interest during the three days of the training.
 
The participants were also involved in social activities and a visit in the Archeological Museum in Durres, aiming to strengthening their communication and networking between courses and also after the conclusion of the programme. The participants showed a great interest on the programme and highly evaluated the professionalism of the training experts (7 Albanian + 1 international). The forthcoming training of the same group of local authorities will be held in May 2018.