Starting from the fact that strengthening human resource capacities in local self-governments is not only an obligation in the EU integration process, but also a real need, the Union of Municipalities has planned a Training Calendar for this year, which envisages a minimum of 45 individual trainings in over 30 different areas.
Since February, when this year’s training programme started, 16 trainings have been held, with around 500 employees from local self-governments and companies participating. The trainings covered various areas and related to familiarization with legal and technical rules for drafting regulations, the application of the new Law on Companies, introduction to open calls of the Eco-Fund, the exercise of powers of municipal inspectors, supervision of companies and institutions founded by municipalities, etc.
Great interest was generated by the trainings related to the procedure for legalization of illegally constructed buildings, the provision of material and technical conditions and investment maintenance in the field of regulated municipal services, as well as the application of the Law on Administrative Procedure in the area of determining and collecting local public revenues, where—along with the training—solutions that the Union will propose for amendments to the Law on Property Tax are also being tested, with the aim of stopping the practice of filing a large number of appeals against tax decisions that are draining local budgets.
By the end of the year, councillors in local parliaments and employees in local self-governments, companies and institutions will have the opportunity to undergo trainings in areas such as office operations, protocol, practical application of the Law on Administrative Procedure, inspection supervision procedures, recruitment and employment procedures in local administration, the manner of performing the councillor function, preparation of EU projects, prohibition of workplace harassment, human rights, and other areas of importance for the functioning of municipalities.
In addition to these trainings organized independently by the Union of Municipalities, additional trainings are held within the projects “Municipalities for the EU” and “Regional Capacity Development Network (RCDN+) for water supply and wastewater services.”
The topics of the trainings implemented within the project “Municipalities for the EU” mainly relate to project cycle management skills in various areas, familiarization with the EU integration process, as well as the fields of digitalization and ecology.
Within the RCDN+ project, the trainings address issues of administrative supervision over companies and institutions founded by municipalities, management of non-revenue water, ensuring material and technical conditions for performing regulated municipal services, and investment maintenance of municipal infrastructure, equipment, and assets.
The Union of Municipalities remains open throughout the year to initiatives from municipalities for the organization of additional trainings on topics not predicted by the Calendar, and will also initiate new trainings in accordance with needs.
We recall that in 2025 a total of 49 trainings were held with 848 participants.
Public call opened for lecturers and trainers
The Union of Municipalities continuously works on strengthening the pool of training providers, and the public call for applications from lecturers, trainers, and practitioners from various fields is permanently open and available on the official website of the Union (uom.me).
