The workshop "Lessons learned through the process of implementation of ROMACTED small grants" was held in Podgorica on 14 June, as part of the second phase of the European Union and the Council of Europe programme ROMACTED II - Promoting good governance and empowerment of Roma at the local level.
The Programme provided support to partner municipalities for implementing projects within the small grants scheme for two actions: small actions/initiatives according to the community's needs and post-COVID recovery plans and measures.
Although the municipalities are in different stages of implementation of the activities, and some have finished with them, they have all gained the necessary experience regarding this process. Thus, the workshop aimed to analyse the lessons learned interactively so that the municipalities would be better prepared for similar initiatives in the coming period.
The workshop was attended by members of municipal teams involved in the projects' implementation - ROMACTED municipal contact points, representatives of the secretariat/department for projects and ROMACTED facilitators. It was led by a consultant who supported municipalities from the preparation phase to reporting.
In the beginning, the representatives of the municipal teams introduced the other participants to their projects. During this presentation, they had the task of presenting the positive aspects of the project. Through this exercise, they received recommendations on what to focus on - which segments of work to highlight and which work results to present in particular. In further work, all participants listed the main challenges they faced during implementation. Through the analysis of the challenges, the consultant gave recommendations on how to solve them in similar situations and future projects.
These are the main conclusions of the workshop, which will help the representatives of municipalities to implement similar initiatives as successfully as possible in the following period: projects should be based on the needs of the community, and the community should get involved in all phases of the project cycle; there should be better cooperation between different municipal services; projects should ensure sustainability and the like.
The work was highly interactive, with active engagement from all participants. The workshop was an opportunity to resolve any doubts related to the successful implementation of projects.
