ALDA is a key stakeholder in the field of local democracy, active citizenship, and cooperation between local authorities and civil society in Europe, its neighborhood and in the World, mainly acting through participative methods and decentralized cooperation.

As a core element, ALDA supports citizens and groups of citizens in their initiatives aimed at improving their local context, building bridges with local authorities in order to make this change real.

ALDA was established in 1999 at the initiative of the Council of Europe to coordinate and support the network of Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs), which are self- sustainable, locally registered NGOs acting as promoters of good governance and local self-government, with which ALDA collaborates in many activities.

ALDA is a membership-based organisation gathering today more than 350 members, including local authorities, associations of local authorities, and civil society organisations, coming from more than 45 countries in the enlarged Europe.
ALDA is funded through membership fees, as well as project funding from the European
Commission, the Council of Europe and other public and private donors.