30 representatives of local self-government bodies and civil society enhanced their awareness of the Community Statute and civic participation tools during the training "Using the regulations of the Berdychiv City Territorial Community Statute" on February 19, 2025.

The training was organized by the Council of Europe project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine” in cooperation with the Berdychiv City Council.

18 representatives of local self-government bodies and 12 participants from civil society:

• Learned about the regulations of the Berdychiv City Territorial Community Statute.
• Mastered civic participation tools (general citizen meetings, public hearings, local initiatives, public expertise, etc.) and their application in the interaction between local authorities and the community.
• Discussed the use of the Statute’s regulations in the daily activities of local self-government bodies to ensure citizens can influence decision-making.

"I attended this training with high expectations, and in the end, I learned a lot of new things about our Statute and how we, as the public, can influence decision-making in the community. Now I’m thinking about how to establish a self-organization body in Berdychiv and who could help me with this. The Council of Europe experts presented the information in a very engaging way, providing examples from other communities. I am very grateful for this event," shared training participant Ms. Nina Boiko, head of the "Voloshka" condominium association.

A survey conducted by the Council of Europe project after the training showed that 92.3% of respondents improved their awareness of the Community Statute and civic participation tools and rated the training 5 out of 5. Additionally, 53.8% of respondents stated that the training exceeded their expectations.

The Statute of the Berdychiv City Territorial Community, as well as regulations on civic participation were developed with expert and methodological support from the Council of Europe project and adopted by the Berdychiv City Council on February 22, 2024.

Beyond Berdychiv, during the implementation of the Council of Europe project on civic participation in 2023-2024, expert support was provided to the Lutsk, Brusyliv, Sumy, Poltava, and Slavutych territorial communities in developing Statutes and a package of regulations defining specific civic participation tools, including general citizen meetings, public hearings, local initiatives, public expertise, e-petitions, and public consultations.

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.