Explorando los valores propios de la cooperación al desarrollo municipalista. Propuesta de un marco y análisis del caso del Fons Valencià per la Solidaritat

Abstract

This study aims at contributing to the debate on the potentialities of development cooperation from municipalities by exploring the understudied cases of local international cooperation funds. For this aim, a comprehensive theoretical framework is proposed on the bases of the identification of the specific values of local cooperation from a municipalist perspective. From this framework, the case of the Valencian Solidarity Fund (VSF) is addressed. We explore is if it is taking advantage of the potentialities of this kind of cooperation. Mix methods and both primary and secondary sources are used: institutional data bases, documentation from VSF, interviews, and questionnaires addressing personnel from VSF and its members. Results illustrate the potential of funds for a municipalist cooperation in institutional, instrumental, and relational terms; moreover, that these potentialities may need time to be unfolded and that they face challenges and contradictions, which may be addressed with more detail.

Keywords

• local development cooperation
• municipalism
• cooperation funds
• municipalities