Acta Universitatis Danubius. Administratio, Vol 6, No 1 (2014)

Abstract

This paper aims to present to the wide public a success story concerning the efficient cooperation between the civil society as a whole (citizens, NGOs, stake holders) and public administration authorities. The success consists in using and strengthening dialogue measures within the collaboration of the two actors.The research is based on a study case. This was run through an EU funded project - "Efficient mechanisms of cooperation with public authorities". The goal of the project was to increase the capacity of non-governmental organizations to cooperate with the public administration institutions. In order to reach the proposed aim there have been organized a series of theoretical and practical training courses, roundtable discussions and study-visits. Through this manner it has been encouraged and practiced the structured dialog on public agenda issues between the representatives of the local and national authorities and the active citizens. The outputs of the project consist in one Public Consultation Guide elaborated on the basis of good practices acknowledged through the project and two local citizens` initiatives on local public administration matters that have been brought into the public attention of the decision-making actors. Active citizenship, structured dialogue between civil society and state actors, developed tools for effective advocacy and lobby that are part of the success story that we intend to present through this study case.