On 11-12 May the Council of Europe project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine” organised an introductory capacity-building workshop for local officials  from 18 target local self-government bodies from across Ukraine who met in Lviv, Ukraine, to share their experience in good practices of participatory governance during the war and inclusive recovery and development of communities.

"Today we are starting the first offline seminar of the project, in which representatives of the pilot communities of the project participate: these are the communities that demonstrate best practices of participatory governance, in particular during the war, are open to democratic innovations, communities that are leaders of change and democratic reforms.

“Good governance is a model of public governance based on close cooperation with citizens and all stakeholders with the aim to improve the quality of life and community development. Therefore, we invite you to share your experience and practices of participatory governance in order  to establish cooperation and interaction, help identify problematic aspects of the implementation of participatory mechanisms, and also help us to spread your experience and practices among communities in Ukraine and beyond", - said Volodymyr Kebalo, Senior project officer.

On the first day of the seminar, the project experts presented the results of the needs assessment study of the project pilot communities and talked about effective mechanisms of civic participation in order to raise awareness of various aspects and methods of citizen engagement in the decision-making process, inclusive restoration and development of communities. Representatives of communities prepared presentations and shared experience and good practices of participatory governance, in particular regarding the development of statutes and strategies of the communities, programmes for the development of civil society and volunteer activities at the local level, the introduction of a school participatory budgeting, adaptation of the educational process in the community during the war, integration of internally displaced persons and people affected by the war into the decision-making process, renaming of toponyms in communities, etc.

On the second day of the seminar, the participants received capacity-building support on good democratic governance, public consultations, standards and methods of effective and inclusive participatory processes, as well as worked in groups on an interactive practical task: modeling the process of consultations on the development of local policies.

At the end of the two-day workshop, the participants visited the session hall of the Lviv City Council with a tour at the invitation of the Lviv City Council.

The Council of Europe project on civic participation will continue to support joint initiatives and activities with pilot local authorities within the three  key elements: effective mechanisms for civic participation, building of active communities, participatory decision-making.

The Council of Europe project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine” is designed to support the implementation of the objectives set out in the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” (2023-2026) to strengthen the democratic processes and address the challenges public authorities are facing in the time of war and in post-war context through active and effective civic participation at the local, regional and national level.

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