The Max van der Stoel Institute Co-Organizes the 4th CEE-Loc Conference on Local Government Studies

Organized under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Veli Kreci, Director of the Max van der Stoel Institute, the international conference brought together leading European scholars, public administration experts, and researchers to discuss critical developments in local democracy, administrative capacity, and territorial governance across Central and Eastern Europe.

The conference commenced with welcoming remarks by Prof. Dr. Merita Zulfiu-Alili, Dean of the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences.

A central highlight of the event was the keynote address delivered by Prof. Filipe Teles from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, titled "The Voice of Silenced Places: Territory and Power", which provided profound insights into spatial disparities, local government resilience, and subnational leadership models. Special recognition and appreciation were extended to Prof. Pawel Swianiewicz for his foundational role in establishing and advancing the CEE-Loc network.

Throughout the two-day conference, thematic sessions and research panels addressed decentralization, local public service delivery, fiscal autonomy, and inter-municipal cooperation. The event reaffirmed MVDSI’s dedicated mission to promoting high-quality comparative research and strengthening international academic partnerships in public policy and governance.