The Regional Development Agency Backa (RDA Backa) was established on April 28th 2010 in Novi Sad. It is accredited development agency by National Agency for Regional Development, and therefore it is given the status of Regional Development Subject.
The founders of RDA Backa
The Regional Development Agency Backa, in total, has 19 founders. The founders of the Development Agency are sixteen local self-govermnents on the Backa territory, the municipalities of: Bac, Backa Palanka, Backi Petrovac, Beocin, Becej, Srbobran, Sremski Karlovci, Odžaci, Kula, Vrbas, Titel, Žabalj, Apatin, Temerin, as well as the cities of Novi Sad and Sombor.
Cultivating the principle of public-private partnership, other entities from public and private sector have joined RDA Backa as founders: Slovan Progres – Selenča, The European Movement in Serbia – Novi Sad, Center for Organic Production – Selenča.
The aim of the Agency
The initiative for the establishment of RDA Backa has been launched by the local self-goverments in Backa, in order to jointly cooperate and implement the projects. The objective is obtained through domestic and foreign programmes, with the aim of empowering the local self-governments and improving the general socio-economic development of the territory in which they operate.
The main activities of this institution are:
- strengthening of the institutional capacities of the local authorities
- improvement and support in the implementation of the development programmes projects at the local and regional level
- strengthening of human capital through training and professional development programmes
- strengthening in the area of
- small and medium enterprises
- project management
- agriculture development
- tourism development
- other sectors related to the improvement of socio-economic development of the territory in which it operates.
The target of RDA Backa and its role in the community
This role enables the development agency to influence local economic strengthening in Bačka region which accounts nearby 1,0 million citizens. RDA Backa is a part of the European Commission Operative Grant until 2014. The European Commission has recognized the necessity of existence and work of such an institution in the years to come. Agency includes twenty members from Bačka region, of which sixteen are local-self-governments, two are companies and two are CSO.
The scope of the work and key program sectors of the RDA Backa are
- SMEs and regional development sector
- tourism
- agriculture and rural sector
- sector of energy efficiency
RDA Backa has huge experience in project management and implementation. In particular about projects that supported Small and medium enterprises and innovation industries founded through various EU and national funded programme. Regarding the staff of RDA Backa has 13 employees and cooperate with more than 20 external experts and companies from different areas.
The Role of RDA Backa in Adriseismic project
The Regional Development Agency Backa will benefit from the project developing
- innovative strategies
- methods and solutions for the structural strengthening
- the reduction of the seismic vulnerability of buildings with heritage values.
This will enable the valorization and enhancement of the historical areas of the region, providing better living conditions to the inhabitants and attracting an increasing number of visitors.
This will foster the economic growth and the sustainable development of the region, which is one of the main goals of the Regional Development Agency Backa.
The harmonisation of the norms concerning the management of the seismic risk and the related interventions on buildings with historical value, will give the opportunity to the Agency to develop specific activities with the regional and local administrative bodies for the implementation of such innovative regulations. Furthermore, the Agency will experiment, test and assess the rapid evaluations of seismic vulnerability. This will permit to acquire a in-depth knowledge and experience that will be transferred to the local actors.
In addition, the technical education programs and trainings that the project will develop, will enable the Agency to transfer the acquired knowledge and expertise to all the local actors involved. Innovating the process of seismic improvement interventions will create new job opportunities.