28-29 July 2017 XII Annual Conference of Small Cities of Ukraine “Economic Development of the Communities: Challenges and Prospects” was organised by the Association of Small Towns of Ukraine in partnership with the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine, the Council of Europe Program “Decentralisation and Territorial Consolidation in Ukraine”, with the support of a number of international assistance projects and programmes.

The Conference featuring more than 160 participants from across Ukraine has become a traditional platform for the small towns of Ukraine to discuss common challenges and development prospects, share best practices of local self-government, elaborate recommendations, including legislative. This year’s conference was aimed to discuss and elaborate mechanisms for economic development and investments increase in amalgamated communities and small towns in Ukraine. The participants concluded that amalgamation is a key to the economic development – thanks to decentralisation local budget increase. Importantly, communities should aim at business and civil society engagement, tax base expansion, strategic planning, spatial planning and medium-term financial planning, local identity and cluster development – vital to sustainable local economic development.

At the event, a special attention was dedicated to the issue of legality control over local authorities’ acts, in particular to the draft law elaborated by MinRegion. The Council of Europe expert Vadym Proshko underscored that the 12 Good Governance Principles, encapsulated in the Council of Europe Strategy on Innovation and Good Governance at local level, are pivotal to improving the quality of governance at all levels, starting at the level closest to citizens. The principles cover issues such as ethical conduct, rule of law, efficiency and effectiveness, transparency, sound financial management and accountability envisage and envisage, inter alia, that rules and  regulations  are  adopted  in  accordance  with  procedures  provided  for  by  law  and are enforced impartially, decision-makers, collective and individual, take responsibility for their decisions.