From 13th to 14th December 2011, TRIALOG in cooperation with the Slovenian platform of NGDOs SLOGA (Slovenian Global Action) held a training seminar on “EuropeAid Standard Contract Management” in Ljubljana. This seminar was a follow-up to the training on “Quality Criteria for Development Cooperation“ which TRIALOG and SLOGA organised in June 2011. The training on Standard Contract (SC) Management looked at the basics of project management related to the EuropeAid SC and introduced and discussed the various components of the SC. A considerable part of the training was dedicated to exploring the potential for change within the SC system and learning more about the financial regulations of the SC. Hands-on exercises regarding the EC requirements on visibility provided a larger frame to contextualise the SC’s set of laws within participants’ own projects and activities. An additional emphasis on monitoring and evaluation concepts, approaches and methods concluded the training seminar.

In light of the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4), which will be held in Busan, South Korea, between 29th of November and 1st of December, Ekvilib Institute in cooperation with SLOGA, Slovenian NGDOs Platform for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, organized on 20th October a workshop "The effectiveness of civil society in development cooperation - the 8 principles of effective development cooperation", part of a project financed by European Social Fund and Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration. At the workshop, participants learned about the eight principles (the Istanbul Principles) of the effectiveness of civil society in development cooperation, which were adopted in the context of a global process of consultation between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations, Open Forum, and so they represent a global consensus on the key elements that determine the effectiveness of civil society in development cooperation.

SLOGA held a conference »National identity in the context of global citizenship« on 17th and 18th October 2011. The conference focused on how to address issues of national identity in the context of global citizenship and to question whether the concept of citizenship remains rooted in a nation-state or whether its understanding has been changed through the process of globalization. Most of the participants were from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Romania and Slovenia, but also from the countries of the Western Balkans. They were from different institutions, like governmental, educational and non-governmental. In 2 days of the conference there has been panel discussions and workshops which were held by various experts and practitioners from different parts of the world, mostly Europeans.