45 residents of the Rivne community are working together to develop recommendations for the local authorities on how to make the community a place where young people want to stay and build their future.
A citizens’ assembly has officially started in Rivne. The process, which will consist of three two-day sessions, is organised by the Rivne City Council with comprehensive support from the Council of Europe project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine's recovery”.
On March 28–29, 2026, the first session took place, where participants, with the support of independent experts and facilitators, began exploring all aspects of the citizens’ assembly topic: “How can we make our community a place where young people want to stay and build their future?” Later, working in groups, they will discuss problems and challenges and propose ways to address them. Together, they will develop recommendations for the local authorities, who commit to considering them.
The first session proved to be dynamic and engaging. Participants immersed themselves in the topic through expert presentations and active discussions in small groups. A particularly appreciated format was the “speed dialogues”, during which experts rotated between the groups, answering questions and sharing practical examples. Together, participants explored key aspects of young people’s lives — including education and the economy, opportunities for civic participation and the socio-political environment, youth policy, security and the impact of the war, generational characteristics, as well as culture, leisure and sports — all through the lens of the assembly’s central question. This format allowed participants to hear diverse perspectives, ask questions and gather valuable insights for their further work.
Following the first session, the project team and facilitators highlighted the participants’ high level of engagement. They observed that assembly members are motivated, open, and actively contributing to discussions, willingly sharing their ideas and personal experiences. It is worth noting that the composition of the citizens’ assembly was determined through a representative random selection process, ensuring that it reflects a mini-public of the Rivne community across key socio-demographic characteristics.
The planning and preparation for the citizens’ assembly lasted for more than five months. Its planning, preparation, and execution fully adhere to the Recommendation CM/Rec(2023)6 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on deliberative democracy, as well as international standards for participatory democracy. The next sessions will take place on 4–5 April and 25–26 April 2026.
Citizens’ assembly is an innovative tool of deliberative democracy, widely used across Europe and around the world. In Ukraine, the first citizens’ assemblies were held in 2024 in the Zviahel and Slavutych communities with the support of the Council of Europe. These assemblies became the first citizens’ assemblies in the world to be conducted during wartime.
More information about the citizens’ assembly in the Rivne community is available on the website of the Rivne City Council and here.
The Council of Europe project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine’s recovery” provides comprehensive expert and methodological support for the organisation and implementation of citizens’ assemblies in the Rivne community, the Obolon District of Kyiv, and the Lviv Agglomeration in 2026. In October 2025, the respective Memorandums of Understanding were signed in Strasbourg.
The preparation and implementation of the citizens’ assembly take place within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” for 2023-2026 and the project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine’s recovery”, implemented by the Council of Europe Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
