On 4-5 November, the XI International Conference “Self-organization as the way to the development of reformed local communities” was held in Odessa, Ukraine. The conference discussed the strengthening of the capacity of local communities, the participation of civil society in the reforming of local government and the development of the amalgamated communities.

Rauno Vinni, the Director of the Governance and Civil Society Programme at Praxis, attended the conference as a foreign expert and gave an overview of the organisation and challenges of Estonia’s administrative reform.

The conference was organised by the umbrella organisation of Ukraine’s self-organised communities – the Association for Community Self-organization Assistance – in conjunction with the Odessa Institute of Social Technologies, the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.

Rauno Vinni is a council member of the Association for Community Self-organization Assistance and will also attend their council meeting on 20 November.