Carpathian Development Institute

The Carpathian Development Institute, founded in 2004, is a leading professional organisation focussed on the support of innovative development of regions, towns and villages.

The mission of the Carpathian Development Institute (CDI) is to contribute to the development of Slovakia and to promote systematic changes in favour of sustainable development, with emphasis on the peripheral, marginalized areas. We have been making long term efforts to achieve these changes through the formation of an ideologically independent and critical intellectual environment. The starting point for its creation is the analysis and subsequent transfer of foreign experiences and the latest knowledge applied to the conditions of Slovakia.

As a think-tank organization, we link research in the areas of development with the functioning and activities of self-governments and other development actors in the territory. We provide politically and administratively independent development analysis, studies, scenarios and proposals for development strategies, plans and programs as a basis for the decision-making process at national, regional, subregional and local levels. We understand the problems of development in a complex way, including development of civil society, human resource development, as well as technological, environmental and cultural development.

We consider one important source of improving the quality of our outputs to be cooperation with different foreign and Slovak institutions such as universities, specialized professional organizations, regional development departments of municipalities and regions, NGOs, as well as professionals in different sectors.

Most of our activities are carried out on a pilot basis and may subsequently be replicated in similar conditions. We therefore seek to transfer gained knowledge and experience to other countries through international projects.

Providing cutting-edge expertise, innovative individual approach and dissemination of best practices and knowledge are key principles governing the delivery of our outputs.