Strong institutional local leadership is vital for a well-performing municipality with a strong potential for growth. In this context, the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance supports the Finnish authorities in strengthening institutional leadership skills, by implementing the Leadership Academy Programme (LAP).

Following the implementation of the first LAP stage in May 2023, the second stage successfully commenced on 13 September in Helsinki, marking another milestone in the local authorities’ commitment to fostering leadership for good governance. This second LAP training workshop witnessed active participation of twenty officials from the local authorities and the newly established Wellbeing services counties. During the first day of the event facilitated by Council of Europe experts, participants shared their insights and experience on the value added from implementing the skills they acquired during the first stage of LAP. Their testimonials provided tangible evidence of the Programme's impact on their daily work, emphasising the relevance and effectiveness of the Academy’s curriculum. The enthusiasm and commitment of the local leaders to the Programme highlights the importance of such initiatives for enhancing good democratic governance and improving public service delivery.

The training workshop also represented an opportunity for presenting the newly adopted Recommendation CM/Rec(2023)5 on the principles of good democratic governance and explaining the key criteria and standards for ensuring good democratic governance, established by this first international legal instrument in the field.

The Leadership Academy Programme in Finland is part of an EU – CoE Joint Project aimed at contributing to the ongoing reform on establishing regional governance for provision of health, social welfare and rescue services in the country, by reinforcing local authorities’ capacities and providing different policy advice on governance issues, at the request of the Finnish authorities.