It encourages the coordination of national and local actions by jointly working together towards a common national agenda. The whole process from the selection of the local development projects to their implementation is meant to be based on a participatory approach that builds on heated, open and informed debate between different levels of government. Their function is to support municipalities in their association process, thus providing essential services at lower management costs. This national level team tends to be a pro-active force that takes part in all the stages of the strategy building on the field.