The European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) grants an annual scholarship since 2013, in memory of its Honorary President, Gianfranco Martini. He was one of the founding partners of the Local Democracy Agencies’concept and he became the first President of ALDA in 1999, when the association was established. Throughout his life, he was passionate and engaged to the promotion of local democracy, the commitment of civil society and the encouragement of interethnic dialogue in Europe, with a particular focus on the Western Balkans.