On March 19, 2024, Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, visited  Zvyahel territorial community – one of pilot municipalities of the Council of Europe project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine”.

During the visit, the Head of Office and the project team discussed with Mykola Borovets,  Zvyahel mayor, and members of the city council the results of the cooperation that began in 2021, as well as future plans as regards engaging citizens in decision-making process.

Currently, the Council of Europe project on civic participation is working productively with  Zvyahel territorial community on participatory development of the community Strategy until 2030 and  implementation of the School Participatory Budgeting mechanism – a powerful participation tool for youth. Soon, piloting of the innovative mechanism of deliberative democracy – citizens' assemblies – will begin.

Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, and Mykola Borovets, Mayor of Zvyahel, planted a tree in the center of Zvyahel as a symbol of fruitful cooperation and support that is being provided by the Council of Europe.

Mr. Maciej Janczak also delivered a welcoming speech to the school students of Zvyahel community during the practical training on refining and presenting student projects "UChange: Primeris", organised as part of the implementation of the School Participatory Budgeting mechanism in the community. Head of the Office also delivered a brief presentation to youth about the funcioning of the Council of Europe,  answered questions of young residents about the Organisation, and how it is supporting Ukraine during the war.

20 students from Zvyahel territorial community participated in the training on School Participatory Budgeting. They presented their school projects, learned how to promote and defend them in debates, assessed the quality of prepared projects in a game format using the UChange methodology developed by the Council of Europe project on civic participation, and then voted for the best ones. The young participants of the training received certificates and commemorative gifts from the project, which were presented by Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, and Daryna Sokolova, Senior Project Officer. The event was covered by local media, including Suspilne TV.

The Council of Europe project on civic participation provides expert and methodological support in the process of implementing School Participatory Budgeting in Ukrainian communities. Since the beginning of 2024, 9 communities have successfully started the pilot implementation cycle of the School PB under the updated Council of Europe model: with the support of the project, the Regulations on School PB have been adapted to the wartime. Student groups and competition commissions have already been formed in 12 schools of Zvyahel territorial community. With the mentoring support of the Council of Europe project, "UChange: School of Dreams" interactive game-based trainings are being conducted.

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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