Donnarumma, Anna Maria (ed.), Training exchange between Italy and Kosovo towards a development in partnership, English translation by Flora Hyeraci, Roma, PRO.DO.C.S. Ed., 2009.

The book was published in the context of the Development Education Project “Training exchange between Italy and Kosovo towards a development in partnership”, carried out by Italian and Kosovan NGOs during 2009. The project aimed at strengthening a path of peer education.
The Study/Research on Kosovo profile, which represents the core of the Project, was carried out analyzing international cooperation best practices according to strategic issues specific to the fields of intervention of each NGO involved in the Project. The fields are: the social field – with regard to abandoned children; the education field; the interethnic/intercultural dialogue; the primary sectors of the economy; the financial and microcredit development and the emigration phenomenon. The research employed 15 operators/ researchers equip, shared almost equally between Italy and Kosovo, and was published by PRO.DO.C.S. in the series “Cities and Citizenships” in four languages: Italian, Albanian, Serbian and English.

KEY WORDS: development education; partnership; international cooperation; intercultural dialogue; economic development; European citizenship; immigration; multi-ethnic coexistence; peer education; rural economy.

INTRODUCTION
The Development Education Project “TRAINING EXCHANGE BETWEEN ITALY AND KOSOVO TOWARDS A DEVELOPMENT IN PARTNERSHIP”, carried out by Italian and Kosovan NGOs this year (2009), aimed at strengthening a path of peer education and research. It showed the potentialities of local associations, territorial networks, private actors who work in the social field and administrative/ government bodies involved in the Project in the two Countries. All these players worked in partnership for ten years, from 1999 to 2009, using different approaches of cooperation (depending on the specific situations and needs, such as emergency, humanitarian aid, self-development, decentralized cooperation). They favoured people’s development and expressing their dignity and freedom – despite ethnic-cultural-religious differences – and, through the promotion of dialogue among different people, they contributed to the community growth and a peaceful coexistence. The NGOs involved in the Project worked on supporting community development, fighting for human rights for everyone, promoting interethnic/ interreligious dialogue and a peaceful coexistence among ethnic minorities living in the Country; all this was made in the context of current efforts to affirm a stable sovereignty and to create democratic institutions in Kosovo.
The Project aimed at deepening knowledge and creating awareness of a sense of belonging to the same geopolitical area, where the European Union and the Balkans have to face together political issues following neighbourly relations and the common European citizenship. Kosovo draws our attention being a developing and transitional Country that puts out real challenges to the European geopolitical space, in the efforts to create a united Europe, extended to the Balkans, and to promote partnership, self-development and peaceful coexistence among the Countries of that area.
The results of the Research “In Partnership Italia/Kosovo”, which represents the core of the Project and that was already been published here in the Italian version (the Albanian, Serbian and English translations will be published in the respective volumes of the series “Cities and Citizenships”), shows Italian Cooperation actions. Every NGO involved in the Project cooperated to capitalize project proposals and coordination forms among different players, following an idea of subsidiarity and of a networking, in order to implement socio-cultural strategies in specific sectors, so as to promote self-development. Each NGO worked in its field of competence, offering the expertise they achieved in working at different projects and implementing cooperation best practices. Following this approach of job sharing, joint actions and rigorous assessments, made by the NGOs together with Italian Cooperation beneficiaries and with other social, decentralized and institutional actors as favoured counterparts, had an important role in promoting partnerships between Italy and Kosovo, through selected and ad hoc activities, also directed to back local development plans. Analyzing and deepening proceedings realized in partnership favoured reaching a higher level of consciousness on existing opportunities of strengthening social subjectivity in the context of democratic development.
We also focused on Country’s privileged subjects, on their operating as main actors and on the consequences our actions had on them. They belonged to selected sectors of the society and the education world of both Italy and Kosovo and got instruments, information and suggestions useful to an interdependent and joint development.

The research employed 15 operators/ researchers equip, shared almost equally between Italy and Kosovo, and lasted 9 months.
The research collected data and information provided by each NGO concerning their own sector of intervention. It is interesting to compare them so as to find out connections existing among the different fields. Sharing such different information is useful also for future actions and cooperation practices. Each civil and/or institutional player was involved according to its proper characteristics and project potentialities.
The research will be presented at two International Conferences that will take place in Rome at the beginning of November 2009, and in Pristina in March 2010; and it will be the basic document of speakers’ and participants’ discussion.
A web space will be provided as tool for in-depth examinations and to save on line the important work carried out; a space where the project can go on. The information can be found on PRO.DO.C.S. (NGO-in-chief) web site, where links to the other NGOs, public/ administrative institutions and universities all involved in the Project are available. Attachments the Research referred to are already on the net.
It is also intended to create a forum where further information can be shared between NGOs and Kosovan and Italian associations that are interested in following the work started with this Project.
Finally, we have to mention coordinating activities already in progress in Kosovo among Italian NGOs, supported by the Local Technical Unit of cooperation in Pristina and under the supervision of the Italian Embassy in Belgrade. These institutions have favoured comparison and reciprocal support among the NGOs. We would like to thank them for their work and contribute to carry out a quality and successful Project. Coordination among the NGOs made the creation of a territorial network possible: a space where every player has its own role according to its institutional nature and potentialities. Central issues and innovative approaches were shared in a context of subsidiarity and in the light of future joint actions of peer education, cooperation and neighbourhood policies with the Balkans. We have to thank also those who collaborated in carrying out the Project and who are mentioned further in the document.
The Research intended to give an important message to Italian and Kosovan communities, that could be useful to create efficient communication and interexchange tools. The importance of working in partnership was stressed in the Research in the light of contributing to reciprocal awareness and therefore to encourage self-development, the Millennium Development Goals’ achievement and a peaceful management of the conflicts, so as to guarantee a peaceful coexistence.

Anna Maria Donnarumma
Presidente of PRO.DO.C.S.