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Summary
The purpose of this technical assistance program was to facilitate the involvement of Canadian organizations in the implementation of political, economic and social reforms in Hungary. The program, designed to focus on the enhancement of the quality of municipal and environmental management in Hungary, was composed of two major components: the initial component consisting of a one-week conference of workshops, information exchanges and in-house training sessions in Budapest; and the second component being an exchange program that provided extensive in-depth training to Hungarian professionals from over 20 public and private sector organizations. During the 14 months of the exchange program, Canadian experts in urban affairs helped a number of Hungarian projects develop from the planning to the implementation stage. These exchanges built a unique cooperation between many non-profit and private organizations as well as all levels of government within Hungary and Canada.
Funding Agency:
The Department of External Affairs and International Trade Canada (Task Force on Central and Eastern Europe)
Timeframe:
1993-1994
Geographic Focus:
This exchange program had a country-wide focus in Hungary.
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Want more information?
For more information, contact the CUI’s International Programs Office at cui@canurb.com |
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Project Partners
Training activities were undertaken in co-operation with the Hungarian Association for Human Settlements (MUT). MUT has a Hungary-wide network across all levels of government, non-profit organizations, universities and colleges and the private sector and was therefore the ideal local partner to help deliver project activities. The National Planning Institute of Hungary (VATI) contributed its urban planning expertise to all of the Budapest-based projects and greatly enhanced the quality of information and experience exchanges within Hungary. Among the many Canadian partners contributing to the ground-breaking initiative were: the City of Toronto, the Greater Vancouver Regional District, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, Carleton University, the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique – Urbanisation and the City of Victoria.
Background
As Hungary moved towards a more open and democratic form of government, debates developed relating to the social, political and economic problems of the country. The Hungarian government realized that the restructuring of the political institutions at the local level could not happen successfully without a systematic and decisive reorganization of municipal management systems. At the local level, Hungarians were demanding improved quality of, and access to, urban services.
Project Description
The objectives of this project included the enhancement of the quality of municipal and environmental management in Hungary, the promotion of mutually beneficial linkages between Hungarian decision-making and Canadian private and public sector organizations and the promotion of opportunities for Canadian organizations to participate in the development of Hungary. The exchange program provided a number of opportunities for Canadian and Hungarian organizations to establish cooperative relationships for the development and implementation of joint projects. The exchange program provided extensive training and information and experience exchanges in both Canada and Hungary, in the fields of urban and environmental management and established a variety of professional linkages between Canadian and Hungarian organizations. Over 65 municipal and regional governments in Hungary, together with a variety of public and private sector organizations, benefited from the capacity building activities delivered and the professional linkages fostered by this exchange program.
Approach
In the first phase of this program, a six-day training workshop on municipal management and land use planning, was presented by a six-member Canadian delegation to 130 municipal government officials in Budapest. With focus areas including environmental protection, municipal taxation, conflict resolution and public consultation mechanisms, these sessions not only succeeded in providing much-needed capacity building, but also laid the foundation for continued cooperative and mutually beneficial relationships between Canada and Hungary.
The second component of this initiative was the professional exchange program. Fifteen Canadian professionals, with expertise in urban affairs, were placed with Hungarian institutions and municipalities for four-week periods to provide first-hand training to their counterparts in Hungarian institutions. Subsequently, 15 Hungarian officials were placed with Canadian municipalities for four weeks, to provide these Hungarian decision-makers with the opportunity to consider Canadian solutions to their problems.
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