On 4 to 7 July the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is holding a Forum for local democracy in Ukraine gathering together mayors, municipal councillors and young local leaders in Snovjanka, in the Region of Chernihiv. The Forum will focus on two main themes: representative democracy and its challenges and citizen participation. The participants will have the opportunity to discuss issues such as the representation of women in politics, youth engagement and public trust in elected representatives. They will also exchange good practices for renewing dialogue with citizens through participatory and democratic innovations.

The Forum will take place over four days and include interactive plenary sessions, working groups on the main themes and discussion groups. The members of the Ukrainian delegation and members from other European delegations to the Congress, along with international and local experts will contribute to the discussions through case studies, statements and examples of good practices.

The Forum will be opened on 4 July, by the President of the Congress, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, who will also take part, on 5 July 2017, in a working group on the representation of women in politics.

The Snovjanka Forum forms part of the “Promoting Local Democracy in Ukraine” project, run by the Congress within the context of its
2015-2017 Action Plan for Ukraine. The aim of this project is to improve the implementation of democratic principles in Ukraine by enhancing the institutional and leadership capacity of local elected representatives and by disseminating good practices in local democracy nationwide. The Forum participants have been contributing actively to this since 2015 and at the Forum they will be able to have more in-depth discussion on questions linked to local governance, through shared experience and peer exchange.