The programme “Connaissance Innovatrice et Développement Local – CIDEL” (Innovative Knowledge and Local Development), is a result of cooperation between the Italian and Senegalese Governments. It was implemented through the Ministry of Local Governance, Development and Territorial Planning of the Republic of Senegal with the methodological support of the KIP International School (KIP IS). The results of the CIDEL Programme were exhibited in the KIP Pavilion in Expo Milan 2015 during the “Senegalese week” that took place in July.

At the national level, the CIDEL Programme corresponds to the strategic directions of the Programme “Emerging Senegal” (PSE) of the Act III of Decentralization, whose aim is to promote an increased autonomy of local Senegalese territories through endogenous local, sustainable and participatory development. This article describes the three innovative activities valorising endogenous development experiences and involving local actors from Senegal and Italy that were at the centre of this programme:  a National Competition for Innovative Experiences of Local Development, the development of a participatory process of territorial marketing and a Summer School on Citizens' Participation in Territorial Development entitled “Le développement sera local ou ne sera pas”. Each of these activities utilised approaches that helped existing and often unrecognized knowledge at the local level to emerge and be valorized and brought together experts, public institutions and researchers from both countries.

The CIDEL Programme is an example of a strategic partnership between public institutions and local actors from Senegal and Italy. One of its most important innovations lies in bringing together different actors (public authorities, donors, experts and researchers) in a synergy of efforts and resources in favour of local development. The objective of the programme, focused on the local development of Senegalese territories through the identification and valorisation of their resources and potentials, explains the relevance of the CIDEL programme in the KIP Pavilion “Attractive Territories for a Sustainable World”.

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