The project, implemented in 2008 by the UNDP in 14 cities and municipalities in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, was designed to improve the system of decentralised services in waste water management, water supply, health care and primary education.
The purpose of the Rijeka conference, which was opened by Mayor Vojko Obersnel, is to exchange experiences and analyse examples of good practice.
The UNDP Resident Representative to Croatia, Yuri Afanasiev, said that public administration systems in the region were becoming increasingly complex because of the adoption of European Union regulations and circumstances caused by the ongoing global crisis.
Key issues in the coming decades will be drinkable water, thermal insulation of buildings and renewable energy, he said.