The Council of Europe project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine's recovery” has launched the capacity-building programme “Initiative. Participation. Impact”, aimed at developing skills for effective civic participation and the implementation of local initiatives among representatives of civil society organisations, civic leaders and initiative groups.
Following an open call, 24 participants from different regions of Ukraine were selected to take part in the programme. All of them have their own project ideas and, throughout the training, will work on improving them and preparing them for further implementation in their communities.
The programme “Initiative. Participation. Impact” is designed to support active civil society representatives who seek to develop their communities, engage residents in decision-making and turn local needs into practical and sustainable initiatives. Its objective is to help participants transform promising ideas into realistic and viable projects, while developing their practical skills in civic participation, project management, citizen engagement, fundraising and ensuring the sustainability of initiatives. Particular attention will be paid to the practical application of civic participation tools through the Council of Europe’s innovative game-based methodology “UChange”. By simulating real-life community challenges, the game enables participants to explore effective ways of engaging with public authorities, mobilising citizens, and turning project ideas into sustainable local initiatives.
The training programme combines five thematic training sessions with practical work on participants’ own project ideas. Over five weeks, participants will go through the process from an initial idea to a full project concept note. At each stage, they will be supported by Council of Europe project experts, who will provide individual consultations — from developing the initial concept to the final project presentation. Participants will work on defining objectives, expected results, activities, success indicators and potential risks, as well as identifying opportunities to mobilise resources and ensure the long-term sustainability of their initiatives.
In July, participants will present their finalised projects. They will also receive expert feedback on the projects’ alignment with the Council of Europe principles of good democratic governance, the development priorities of their communities, sustainable development goals, and the effective engagement of citizens in their implementation.
The programme is implemented 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.
