Decentralised cooperation as a policy for local change and international partnership: the experience of Trentino in the Balkans and in Mozambique

Local Authorities have assumed an innovative role in international relations and in particular in development cooperation. The literature available identifies among the main features of decentralised cooperation the leading role of LAs, the involvement of different types of actors in both territories and the establishment of relationships between actors of distant communities/territories based on mutual exchange/learning and ultimately on reciprocity. The study focuses on the decentralised cooperation policy implemented since the late nineties by Trentino in three municipalities in the Balkans and in a rural district in Mozambique, which is currently still on-going. Aim of the research is to assess whether the ambitious assumptions of decentralised cooperation policies have been put into practise and to what extent. The paper draws attention on how local authorities and non-state-actors interact in defining decentralised cooperation policies, setting priorities and implementing programmes. In particular the paper analyses the evolution of the ambitious objectives set within the four case studies, the extent to which priorities were set in a spontaneous way, often not explicit, and how they changed over time, influenced by the ideals motivating each organisation involved. The research shows also that while most of the criteria commonly adopted for defining decentralised cooperation were put into practice, the concept of mutual exchange remained less operational within programmes and projects. The research identifies exceptions in those cases when the actors developed professional interest in establishing a partnership with local counterparts.