The Community Forum program is one of the most successful Swiss Development Agency (SDC) initiatives in Macedonia, has proved to be successful approach to support community ownership of local-self-governance processes. Through structured discussions Forum participants discuss community projects and provide recommendations to local institutions. The Forum creates new partnerships, increases citizen’s ownership of governance, and produces practical benefits to the community. 

The goal of the Forum Programme in Macedonia is to enhance participatory community development and good local governance in applying a structured instrument for citizen participation – the Forum Approach. The Forum Approach is a development platform – 1) for the citizens to actively participate in the decision making process in their municipality 2) for the administration to develop a participatory, accountable, and trusted local governance.

The main features of the Forum approach are:

1. Forums operate through structured discussions open for all citizens. They are led by external independent certified moderators and follow a fixed agenda;
2. Forum participants are structured in working tables according their social and economic interests;
3. Forums elaborate projects ideas and provide recommendations to institutions;
4. Decisions about the projects to be developed and financed are taken by the Forum - through their working tables;
5. Forum projects are implemented through preliminary secured funds, co-financed by donors, local governments and the beneficiaries.

The particular objectives of the Forum programme are to:

1. Create partnerships between local stakeholders. While developing recommendations and project ideas citizens and stakeholders establish among themselves informal coalitions that later may be institutionalized.
2. Improve the project development capacity of the local community. While participating in the elaboration of project ideas the CRDs administration build skills and acquire knowledge. In the implementation phase they develop practical project capacity. 
3. Concrete improvement of the local socioeconomic environment. The concrete outcomes of the financed projects are not the immediate goals of the Forum approach. However these practical results often constitute the leading motivation for citizens and institutions to participate in the Forum.

CSOs and citizens and the Community Forum approach will be merged in one mechanism to influence the decision-makers. This kind of merging is innovative and it will increase the citizens’ participation in the decision making processes on local level.