Registration has opened for residents of the Lviv Agglomeration to take part in a citizens’ assembly that will be held in June–July 2026, with comprehensive methodological and financial support from the Council of Europe project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine's recovery”.
The topic of the citizens’ assembly is: “How can we preserve and use our water resources sustainably?”
In the Lviv Agglomeration, which brings together 13 communities, 10,000 invitation letters have been sent to randomly selected households, following the methodology developed jointly with international experts from the Federation for Innovation in Democracy Europe (FIDE). At the same time, all interested residents may register by phone, by completing an online registration form, or by applying in person at their city, settlement or village council. Registration will remain open until 10 May 2026.
From among the registered candidates, 50 participants will be selected by sortition to reflect the demographic diversity of the agglomeration in terms of age, gender, education and place of residence. Over the course of three weekends (13–14 June, 27–28 June and 11–12 July 2026) participants will explore the topic of the assembly with the support of independent experts and stakeholders, deliberate in small groups and develop recommendations for the authorities, which have committed to considering them.
At the same time, a large-scale information campaign is underway across the agglomeration. Information about the citizens’ assembly is being displayed on billboards, posters and flyers distributed in shops, healthcare facilities, public transport stops, municipal institutions and other public spaces.
Citizens’ assemblies are widely used across Europe and worldwide. 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 Lviv Agglomeration is available on the agglomeration’s website.
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.
In Rivne, the first and second sessions of the citizens’ assembly have already taken place, with the final session scheduled for 25–26 April 2026. The citizens’ assembly in Kyiv’s Obolon district will start on 18 April 2026.
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.
