On 10 April 2017 in Kyiv a round table “Participatory Democracy in the system of local self-government” was organised by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government with the support of the Council of Europe Programme “Decentralisation and Territorial Consolidation in Ukraine”. More than 140 participants took part in the event, including the Members of Parliament, representatives of the MinRegion,  international organisations, civil society, local self-government and its associations, national and international experts, academia.

Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Mr Мårten EHNBERG in his opening speech stated that citizens’ participation is an essential element of any democratic society. For decentralisation to show its positive effect local authorities need to encourage and facilitate citizens’ participation, both individually and with the help of various civic organisations. The state should ensure via legislation minimum standards, provide support and assistance to hromadas in implementing of good practices of citizens’ participation in the decision-making process.

At the request of the Committee the opinion of the Special Adviser to the Government of Ukraine on Decentralisation “Participatory Democracy Tools: European Standards and Practices” was presented to the participants at the event. The document contains information about various international and European standards in the field of citizens’ participation in general and at local level, in particular of Council of Europe ones, overview of the existing legal framework and participatory tools in Ukraine, various levels and forms of citizen participation, legislative approaches and examples of participatory tools in European countries.

New technologies and opportunities come along with new forms of participation. The participants emphasized that even under the current conditions and within the existing legislative framework various instruments of citizens' participation have been actively implemented in municipalities in Ukraine – new trends in participation, such as smart city, e-participation and participatory budgeting. Apart from big cities the city of Drohobych has been actively implementing e-participation tools and plans to further engage its residents through various e-solutions and online platforms e.g. smartphone app for its residents.