The XVIII NALAS General Assembly took place from 13 to 15 March in Istanbul, Turkey, which included the Interregional Exchange on Multi-level Governance in Energy and Climate Planning as a side-event. Solidarity support, prevention and policies related to natural disasters and earthquakes were central themes during the assembly. Furthermore, in line with the rotation presidency system of NALAS, Mr. M. Ergün Turan was inaugurated as the President of NALAS for 2023-2024 on behalf of the Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU).
Foreshadowing the general assembly, the Interregional Exchange on Multi-Level Governance in Energy and Climate Planning took place on the 14th of March, which was hosted by the GIZ Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe – Energy, Transport and Climate Protection. The event was organized as part of the EU4 Energy Transition: Covenant of Mayors in the Western Balkans and Turkey project. The project’s work on the promotion and setting up of the multi-level governance platform for energy and climate planning was presented. The participants from South-East Europe exchanged ideas and experiences on multi-level governance approach during the ensuing working group discussions. The second session, co-organized by GIZ and NALAS, focused on advancing human capacities in the water and sanitation sector for greener South-East Europe.
The audience was greeted by NALAS Vice President and Mayor of Rijeka, Mr. Filipovic, who highlighted that: “In the past five years, the Regional Capacity Development Network for Water and Sanitation Services project has developed a number of capacity development products that reached thousands of employees in municipalities and public utility companies in the Western Balkans, and what has been done in the Western Balkans has a huge potential to be scaled up beyond the region. This is what NALAS is all about – developing, testing, piloting, collecting best practices, enabling peer exchanges and scaling up, so that knowledge reaches everyone who needs it.”