The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), Jordan’s national partner in the EU-funded CLOSER project, began its engagement by participating in the project’s Kick-off Meeting and Press Conference held in Palermo, Italy, from 28 to 30 October 2025.
The meeting officially marked the start of CLOSER – Connecting LOcal Proximity Networks Sustaining Participatory Governance, a regional initiative aimed at strengthening local governance and citizen participation across six Mediterranean countries, through a consortium led by the Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci ETS (Italy), and includes the partners EUROTraining (Greece), Alicante University (Spain), JOHUD (Palestine), ARDD (Jordan), and Moukhtara Municipality (Lebanon).
During the sessions, ARDD contributed to shaping the project’s strategic direction for its implementation in Jordan and supported efforts to establish and institutionalize Local Proximity Networks across the participating countries.
The final day included a press conference hosted at the Palermo Town Council Hall by the Municipality of Palermo and the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), both associated partners of CLOSER. Speakers included Fabrizio Ferrandelli, City Councilor; Mario Alvano, Director General of ANCI Sicilia; Mughannam Ghannam, CEO of JOHUD; and Malak Suleiman, ARDD’s National Coordinator for CLOSER in Jordan.
ARDD presented priority gaps and needs related to participatory governance in Jordan and explained how the CLOSER project will support efforts to address institutional and social challenges through collaborative, community-centered approaches. Malak Suleiman highlighted ARDD’s strategic focus on localization, networking, and decentralization as key to advancing institutionalized participatory governance and strengthening accountability systems.
ARDD now begins its collaborative work with five regional partners to develop a sustainable, scalable model of participatory governance within the CLOSER framework.
CLOSER aims to strengthen participatory governance at local and regional levels by establishing territorial proximity networks in Italy, Spain, Greece, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon, bringing together local actors and public authorities. These networks will receive capacity building to facilitate participatory processes for co-designing and delivering social services. The resulting governance model will be piloted in each region to ensure services respond more effectively to community needs. The initiative promotes stakeholder cooperation, institutional transparency, community ownership, and inclusive service delivery, contributing to improved well-being and territorial cohesion across the Mediterranean.
