A peer review “Engaging citizens in local policy making” was organised in Artik and Urtsadzor communities by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.  

Twenty three community leaders – Mayors, council members, municipal staff, young local leaders, NGO and Condominium representatives – participated in the peer review. There were representatives from different regions of Armenia, from newly amalgamated communities out of whom thirteen were women.  Congress members from Serbia and Northern Irelands as well as local and international experts joint the peer review.

The aim of the peer review was to assess the results of the local initiatives in Artik, Urtsadzor, Vardenik and Akhtala through open and critical discussions on the successes, challenges and lessons learned with the communities’ stakeholders, exchange experience and disseminate best practices of citizens' participation, and strengthen network(s) of “leaders for change” at the local level in Armenia.

The event was organised within the framework of the Project “Support Consolidating Local Democracy in Armenia,” funded by the Government of Denmark and implemented by the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan in co-operation with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of the Republic of Armenia.