TIRANA, July 21 – Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj has been picked as one of the world’s top 40 mayors to launch to “Bloomberg-Harvard City Leadership Initiative” recently held in New York under the auspices of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Tirana Municipality says in a statement.
Organized by the Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, the initiative is the first all-inclusive global effort to boost cooperation, adopt new innovative tools and exchange best practice for more innovative and responsible local governments.
Some of the most successful mayors around the world, including Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Stockholm Mayor Karin Wanngard and Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz participated at the forum, discussing challenges of local governance and innovative tools to ease access to services for local residents.
Unveiling the innovative tools the Tirana Municipality has launched, Mayor Erion Veliaj underlined the importance of the “Tirana Ime” (My Tirana) mobile app or the “Open Data” platform where Tirana citizens have been able to report on issues concerning them and get information on various public services.
“This initiative will create opportunities for mayors to continue online exchanges and cooperation supported by the Harvard University. In addition, the initiative provides opportunities to participants to have a continuous approach in benefitting from development grants from Bloomberg Philanthropies,” says the Tirana Municipality.
Bloomberg Philanthropies and Harvard University are collaborating to provide hundreds of city leaders customized executive education focused on leadership and innovation in governance through a $32 million initiative.
“While national governments around the world struggle, mayors must find new ways to use limited resources and deliver a wide range of services for growing populations. The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative equips mayors and their senior leaders with cutting-edge tools and techniques to more effectively tackle pressing management challenges faced in their cities,” says the Harvard Kennedy School.
Socialist Party Mayor Veliaj has been in office for two years now, leading the transformation of Tirana through dozens of public works and improved services, including the rehabilitation of the newly inaugurated Skanderbeg central square.
Veliaj is a 37-year-old former civil society activist and previous social welfare minister.
Many observers view him as Prime Minister Rama’s heir apparent at the helm of the Socialist Party.
