Meeting with the mayor of Vagharshapat community Vagharshapat

May 06 - May 06

Mayor Diana Gasparyan hosted the team of the “DiaLoG” program implemented by SALAR International, led by Program Director Shane Quinn. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Philip Sandberg, Deputy Mayor of Lund, Sweden, who is visiting Armenia to share Sweden’s successful experience in forming inter-municipal unions and fostering inter-municipal cooperation, as well as its long-standing and progressive practices in local self-governance and decentralisation.

Welcoming the guests, Diana Gasparyan emphasized that the municipality of Vagharshapat values its partnership with SALAR International’s “DiaLoG” program, highlighting ongoing efforts in fostering school-community collaboration.

She highly appreciated Sweden’s experience in local governance and underlined that Armenia’s local communities are ready to work with Swedish partners, learn from them, and enhance their knowledge and skills.

Deputy Mayor Philip Sandberg expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and noted that he is always happy to return to Armenia, this time with even greater enthusiasm, as he aims to build practical collaboration with Armenian municipalities. He shared insights into Lund’s local governance model, particularly in areas such as tax collection, school management, waste management, environmental protection, and water resource management. According to Mr. Sandberg, the success of Sweden’s public and municipal services lies not only in the enabling legal framework but also in the mindset and culture that encourages municipalities to independently develop ways and mechanisms for cooperation across various sectors.

He also elaborated on the benefits of decentralisation in terms of delivering higher-quality services to citizens and providing a counterbalance to central authorities.

The parties discussed and expressed concern about the de facto inactivity of Armenia’s professional municipal association, which hampers the development of local self-governance and the amplification of the local voice.

The head of Vagharshapat municipality presented the current challenges facing the community and the opportunities decentralisation could offer, proposing and expressing hope that one tangible result of decentralisation would be the allocation of a share of income tax revenues directly to communities.

The meeting also covered the activities and objectives of SALAR the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions.

At the conclusion of the visit, both sides agreed to make additional efforts to deepen their cooperation.