A series of webinars to disseminate the results of the “Best Practices in Local Self-Government - 2020” contest has been launched by the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance of the Council of Europe.
The first webinar in the series dedicated to promoting best practice in civil participation was held on 20 May 2021. Novopskov community (Luhansk region) and Dobroslav community (Odesa region) shared information and practical tips on their approach to civil participation which were recognised as the two best local government practices in this area. Due to COVID-19-related restrictions, this first webinar was held in a hybrid format gathering representatives of local authorities of all levels and their associations, civic activists, regional journalist and others.
Speaking about the Contest’s effectiveness Mr Viacheslav Nehoda, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Communities and Territorial Development, Chairperson of the Selection panel, underlines “Today, thanks to the decentralisation reform, local authorities are endowed with important powers and increased financial resources that enable communities and Ukraine as a whole to develop according to European standards and good practice. And the Best Practices Contest is an indicator of the reform’s effectiveness.”
The two MPs – members of the Specialised Parliamentary Committee on Local Self-Government Mr Vitaliy Bezhhin and Ms Tetiana Plachkova – admitted that the innovative practices identified and celebrated within the Contest will be taken into account in the law-making process. The Contest of 2021 is the first one when MPs joined the Selection panel and will contribute to assessment of applications.
In his welcome remarks Mr Daniel POPESCU, Head of the Democracy and Governance Department of the Council of Europe, underlined that the Best Practice in Local Government Programme was the first developed by the Centre of Expertise, and that learning from the best practice is the best learning practice. He congratulated not only the winners of the Contest, but all the participants who keep replicating best practices, learn from their peers and, thus, improve local governance across Europe.
The event was organised by the Ministry for Territorial Development jointly with the Parliamentary Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development in the framework of the Council of Europe Programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine”. About 100 participants joined the event through the online webinar platform and the audience of the social media stream recorded another 200 engaged viewers.
The next two webinars will take place on 3 and 17 June and will be dedicated to the themes of quality of educational services and safe and comfortable habitat.
The Centre of Expertise has been supporting Ukraine in implementing this contest, based on the Best Practice in Local Government Programme for almost a decade. It has been successfully adapted into a sustainable and popular contest for local authorities organised annually by Ukrainian Ministry for Territorial Development.
