Findings of a series of roundtables held in March and April, 2003 can be found in a publication entitled Local Self-Governance and Civic Engagement in Rural Russia that helped inform the design of the pilot project. The publication has six sections. The first three sections provide a brief overview of the context and legal, fiscal, and financial developments in self-governance. To give a better overview of government priorities and sources of financing in this area, the volume concludes with a list and description of federal programs currently implemented in rural areas.

Sections four to six highlight some case studies in rural development in Russia and in similar post-socialist countries. There are discussions about different methods of rural financing (such as rural credit cooperative systems) and the importance of fostering an active public dialogue between society and the State. International examples are taken from the World Bank’s work on community driven development and rural development in other post-socialist countries including Armenia, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine between 1996 and 2001.

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 Download in Russian [pdf, 1.0MB]

This publication contains the results of the 3-year project «Local Governance and Civic Engagement in Rural Russia» sponsored by the World Bank between 2004-2007 and implemented by the Russian branch of the charity Charities Aid Foundation (UK) in 3 regions of Russia: Perm, Penza, and the Republic of Adygeya.

Above all, the project contributed to the development of civil society in villages and better cooperation between local government and rural residents, furthered the creation of the institutional environment needed for the vigorous implementation of the federal law No.131 On the General Principles of Local Self-Governance in the Russian Federation, and ultimately contributed to improving the quality of life in rural Russia.

The publication contains a framework model of participatory local governance and practical recommendations for policy makers to effectively engage the population in local governance processes and expand the legal field in rural areas. It also includes case studies in providing public services based on community priorities and the results of research to quantitatively measure the effects and the effectiveness of decentralization in Russia.

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 Download in Russian [pdf, 4.0MB]

Training slides used in the project seminars on participatory budgeting and identifying local priorities can be downloaded in Russian. The materials were created by an international team of experts and consultants from the Urban Institute (Washington, DC, USA), the Institute for Urban Economics (Moscow, Russia) and Urban Research Institute (Tirana, Albania).

  Download in Russian [pdf, 3.95MB]