The territorial approach, towards the development of peoples

The third World Forum on Local Economic Development, held in the beautiful city of Turin, offered an excellent opportunity to address all dimensions of territorial development, bearing the hallmark of proximity of the Subnational Governments and under the umbrella of ORU Fogar.

This wide and generous approach allows moving towards the development of peoples, requiring necessarily commitment and multilevel action. Global policies, implemented by representatives of the States and by the Multilateral Bodies, must open a space for this territorial approach, while the National policies must implement the much-heralded Decentralisation actions, shifting from deconcentration to legitimate recognition of the territorial policies. Intermediate Governments have an essential role in the multi-level, interinstitutional and public-private articulation, with a strategic view, while municipalities, as proximity governments, are responsible for meeting the day-to-day needs of the community.  

The International Organisations, from the UN to ORU, were present at the Forum and they stressed from their different perspectives the need to find solutions that provide opportunities for the communities. This inevitably involves the closest level of governance to the citizen, since this proximity allows for a greater and deeper understanding of the reality in which we are attempting to intervene, but also of the potentialities emanating from that community and territory. 

Representatives from the National Governments expressed the need to align the national public policies with regional and local policies, as a way to guarantee that public resources will reach the target group. 

Representatives from Regional Governments presented their experiences, most of them, if not all, with a strong component of articulation and confluence of actions of multiple institutions, different in their hierarchy and their powers, which reveals the territorial approach driven by the Regional Government.  

The municipal perspective was also present, making it clear that they wish to have greater presence in the definition of national public policies, so that their powers are not limited exclusively to the execution of basic operational tasks. 

As far as the city of Turin’s responsiveness, I can only express feelings of gratitude, because in addition to the city’s beauty, we could feel its people kindness and deferential attention and the Government’s support to the event. To conclude, I would like to thank ORU for giving me the opportunity of presenting our country, and in particular our department, in such an important event, as well as to explain our experiences and share our aspirations.   

Marne Osorio

Intendant of the Rivera Departmenr, Uruguay