The Report of the Slavutych Citizens’ Assembly provides a detailed overview of the methodology, preparation process, implementation, and outcomes of this unique experience for the community.
On 15 April 2025, a public presentation of the Citizens' Assembly Report was held, organised by the project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine” in cooperation with the Slavutych City Council.
In 2024, with support from the Council of Europe's civic participation project, the Slavutych City Council hosted Ukraine's first-ever Citizens' Assembly. Over three sessions, held from October 19 to November 24, 2024, 45 Assembly members—representing a diverse socio-demographic cross-section of the community, including factors such as gender, age, education, and place of residence—developed recommendations for local authorities on the topic: “How can we improve the household waste management system in our community?”
The report is available via link.
Yurii Fomichev, Mayor of Slavutych, emphasised the importance of participatory democracy tools during times of war and highlighted the broad support the Citizens’ Assembly received from both the authorities and the community. “This deliberative democracy tool was well-received by the authorities, the organising team, and the participants. It boosted civic participation and allowed local authorities to view the issue from a new perspective. That’s why we plan to organise more Citizens’ Assemblies in Slavutych in the future,” he said.
Daryna Sokolova, Senior project officer of the Council of Europe's civic participation project, shared insights into organising the Assembly — from selecting the topic and implementing a communication campaign to recruiting participants. She emphasised that deliberative democracy tools provide space for meaningful dialogue and effective cooperation between authorities and the community. Furthermore, they greatly enhance representative democracy by adding depth and a human dimension.
Lead Assembly expert Olesia Vershyhora gave a comprehensive presentation of the session process, discussion topics, and recommendations of Citizens’ Assembly members for improving the waste management policy in the Slavutych community. She also shared examples of good practice from Ukraine and Europe that can be used to implement the recommendations, and outlined approaches to effective communication with citizens on waste management issues.
Special attention was given to the implementation of the recommendations. Aryna Starovoitova, Director of "Regional Development Agency" at the Slavutych City Council, presented key measures that are already being taken:
- a working group has been established to develop an action plan and holds regular meetings;
- the cost of bulky waste disposal services for cottage-type housing has been assessed;
- preparations have begun for conducting a waste morphology analysis;
- a series of meetings has been organised on topics such as sorting, composting, zero waste habits, and eco-entrepreneurship;
- a pilot waste management project is planned for the Kyivskyi Quarter.
The presentation also included a discussion of the recommendations for drawing up a follow-up Action plan for their implementation.
The Slavutych Citizens' Assembly marked an important step in the development of deliberative democracy in Ukraine and demonstrated effective cooperation between citizens and local authorities. The experience of the community, detailed in the report, is a powerful example of how a meaningful dialogue between the public and decision-makers can be established even in difficult times. It can serve as a valuable guide for introducing similar participatory tools at local, regional and national levels.
A video of the Citizens’ Assembly in Slavutych is available via link.
