In the lead-up to and during the 2025 local elections (September–October) the Forum for Civic Dialogue (FCD), a network of civil society organizations coordinated by the NGO Info-center, conducted a consultative process to determine civic priorities for the priod 2026-2029. The consultative civic process covered six municipalities: Kriva Palanka, Shtip, Sveti Nikole, Krushevo, Demir Hisar, and Struga, involving over 600 citizens. The process included a series of informal meetings with various citizen groups, six public consultative meetings (one in each municipality), and six public forums (also one in each municipality) where citizens directly engaged with mayoral candidates and candidates leading council lists.
Active member organizations include: NGO Info-centre, Glasen Tekstilеc – Shtip, the Youth Cultural Center – Bitola, RCS Spektar – Kriva Palanka, the Women’s Civic Initiative – Sveti Nikole, and the Community Center of the Municipality of Struga.
All activities within the process were oriented toward three key objectives:
- Identifying the most important local priorities according to citizens;
- Encouraging direct and transparent dialogue between citizens and local candidates;
- Increasing the likelihood that these priorities will be integrated into the programs and work of newly elected authorities.
The meetings brought together diverse groups – women from rural communities, youth, older persons, local businesses, members of vulnerable groups, and local civic activists. This approach enabled citizens to articulate the issues of their everyday lives: infrastructure challenges, public services and transportation, local development concerns, quality of life, and support for youth, women, and vulnerable groups.
In parallel, the public consultative meetings strengthened the process of joint review and prioritization of proposals. Across all municipalities, similar needs consistently emerged: access to clean drinking water; sewage and wastewater treatment; sustainable waste management; reconstruction of local roads; traffic and parking regulation; improvement or establishment of public transportation; enhancement of educational and sports infrastructure; and opening functional youth centers. Differences between municipalities reflected local specifics—such as tourism in Kruševo.
The main phase of the process concluded with six public forums where mayoral candidates heard the priorities identified by citizens and provided their positions, proposals, and commitments. Most candidates in each municipality participated actively, while citizens used the forums to obtain concrete answers and clarifications regarding the feasibility of the proposed priorities. Most candidates expressed readiness to support the citizens’ priorities, noting that some would depend on the financial and administrative capacities of the municipalities.
This report presents the identified priorities, the dynamics of local discussions, and the candidates’ positions, while also documenting the importance of continuous, structured, and inclusive dialogue between citizens and local authorities as a precondition for transparent, accountable, efficient, and participatory local governance.
Read the full Report Forum for Civic Dialogue and the 2025 Local Elections: Citizens’ Priorities – Results of the Consultative Process.
The consultative process of the Forum for Civic Dialogue was carried out within the project “Active Citizens and Participatory Democracy at Local Level,” supported by the international center Olof Palme from Sweden.
