The Dutch municipality of Leerdam, through its ‘Team 2015’, was awarded the title of ‘Most Inspirational Millennium Municipality’ last year. This year they donated the cash prize of this award to the Talent for Governance programme of The Hague Academy for Local Governance.
With this donation, the young and talented civil servant Aldrin Sinkala from Chillilabomwe, Zambia was able to participate in the three-week talent programme on ‘Citizen Participation & Inclusive Governance’. As a selected Talent, Aldrin attended first a two-week training course in The Hague followed by an internship programme in the municipality of Leerdam.
Talent Aldrin Sinkala with Cor Gersen of “Team 2015” Leerdam
Aldrin was very enthusiastic about his time in Leerdam. “The experience was great. Staying with a Dutch family gave me an opportunity to interact with several people in a more informal setting. I was happy to see that not only did I learn from my colleagues but they also learnt from me. The use of incentive systems to encourage citizen participation impressed me and I intend to incorporate that in my action plan for the development of a solid waste management strategy for my municipality back in Zambia.”
Aldrin is one of six talented local government practitioners selected to be part of this three-week talent programme. The other talents, originating from Pakistan, Gambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Indonesia also followed internship programmes in Dutch Millennium Municipalities, including Zwolle, Drechterland, Rotterdam, Meppel, Steenwijkerland and Hoorn.
This year three more talent programmes will take place in the Netherlands. If you would like to know more about this talent programme or what’s involved in becoming an internship municipality see the website www.talentforgovernance.com.
All participants of the talent programme on Citizen Participation and Inclusive Governance in June 2015