CIM ON SITE. ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Becoming good neighbours

Daniel Stojanovic sees his work as director of the Local Democracy Agency with the Nis city administration as being quite literally “inter-national”. He calls his car his “office on wheels”, because he spends a major part of his working time visiting the 70 member communities of the Euroregion South Serbia, Bulgaria and Macedonia. “Person-to-person contact is more fruitful than email,” Stojanovic is convinced. The area where the three countries meet is to grow together into a prospering economic unit with a democratic culture. With this in mind, the Euroregion secretariat has set up workgroups for environmental protection and for the major branches of industry. Some initial successes are well worth mentioning: nine conferences, three of them international, have already been held on regional development. Stojanovic instigates partnerships with other European cities and advises municipalities within the Euroregion on numerous small-scale projects that would contribute to good relations among the neighbouring countries in the area along their common border. In the meantime, Stojanovic has trained several local colleagues to the extent that three of them have already, on a rotating basis, taken over his assignments and duties as Executive Director. In his next project, Stojanovic wishes to support the municipalities in building up a modern form of administrative and project management that is geared to European standards. This time his ambition is to be trainer and advisor instead of director!