Organized by the “Lavoslav Ružička” College in Vukovar, and under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and Administration on June 2 and 3, 2022 the 12th International Conference on Public Administration Development was held in Tuheljske Toplice. The co-organizers of this year’s conference were the Faculty of Law in Osijek and the State School of Public Administration, while the media sponsor this year was Novi informator d.o.o.

The central topic of this year’s conference was Functional connection of local self-government units – challenges and opportunities for more balanced development. On the first day of the conference, the Minister of Justice and Administration, Ph.D. Ivan Malenica presented measures and activities that are being taken in accordance with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030 in order to achieve greater efficiency of local units and raise the quality of public services at local levels. Minister Malenica singled out the measure “Further optimization and decentralization of LRU (R) S through support for functional mergers” for the implementation of which 21.6 million HRK has been provided and which intends to create a system for financing joint operations.

After the presentation of Minister Malenica, a panel discussion on Administrative Procedure and Administrative Dispute in the Republic of Croatia – Genesis and Open Issues was held, in which prof. Dario Đerđa, Ph.D., Marko Šikić and prof. Bosiljka Britvić Vetma Ph.D. with moderation of the advisor to the Minister of Justice and Administration Božidar Horvat mag. iur.

More than 40 papers were submitted for participation in the second day of the conference, in which the authors, from a professional and scientific point of view, discussed various aspects of local self-government, with special emphasis on the possibilities of functional connection of local self-government units. In their presentations, renowned authors questioned the possibilities and challenges of functional integration in the implementation of local government responsibilities in the areas of animal rights, education, care for children, the elderly and people with disabilities, citizen participation in local decision-making and many other interesting topics.

We thank all those who contributed to the Conference and invite you all to the next, 13th International Conference on Public Administration Development.