Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS has become the accredited organisation for the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in Latvia!

The protocol can be found here.

The ELoGE in Latvia is represented by the Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS.

Contact person for the ELoGE Latvia:

• Project’s coordinator & PROVIDUS’ Policy Analyst Sintija Tarasova-Dubkeviča (sintija.tarasova@providus.lv);

Project’s experts in Latvia:

• PROVIDUS’ Senior Policy Analyst Agnese Frīdenberga;
• PROVIDUS’ Senior Policy Analyst Līga Stafecka;
• Diāna Rasuma — Deputy Director of Territory development evaluation department at Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development

The European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE)

“The European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) is awarded to municipalities which have achieved a high level of good governance measured against a Council of Europe benchmark. The award is a crystal dodecahedron engraved with the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance.

ELoGE relies on a partnership between the Council of Europe and an existing reputable regional, national or transnational entity or an ad hoc platform with a substantive know-how, expertise or experience in the field of good governance, especially at the local level.

Such entities or platforms can request accreditation to implement ELoGE. If the Council of Europe agrees that they meet accreditation criteria, the entities concerned are given the responsibility to implement ELoGE with municipalities of a given region or country.

The ELoGE Accreditation Platform of the Strategy for Innovation and Governance at Local Level is the Council of Europe body in charge of examining accreditation requests.

Accreditation

The accredited entity commits to implementing ELoGE in a meaningful number of municipalities by a given deadline. This means translating the benchmark, making necessary adaptations, identifying the municipalities who wish to implement ELoGE and helping them undertake the different steps of ELoGE. These steps include: a self-evaluation, a citizens’ survey and a questionnaire addressed to elected officials, all aimed at assessing where municipalities stand as regards compliance with the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance.

The Centre of Expertise for Good Governance can support the implementation of ELoGE by providing guidance, advice and training. In some circumstances, it can also provide financial support.

Award

The accredited entity awards ELoGE to deserving municipalities that have successfully completed ELoGE. This label, which is valid for one year, is a recognition that a municipality has achieved a high level of good governance according to Council of Europe standards. Far from being the end of a process, ELoGE is also an instrument for municipalities to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to initiate action with a view to addressing the latter.

The Centre of Expertise for Good Governance stands ready to follow up the results of ELoGE, making available its tools aimed at strengthening governance and proposing targeted cooperation activities.” ^[1]

^{[1] https://www.coe.int/en/web/good-governance/eloge}