The key to the democratic restoration of Ukraine is the involvement and development of communities: uniting people, communication and mutual listening, mutual support and planning for a common future. For this to happen, public spaces are important — accessible spaces or spaces where different people can come together and interact.

Cedos and the Western NIS Enterprise Fund announce a competition for grants for the creation or renovation of physical spaces of community building centers in hromadas, as well as the development of program activities of such centers.

What are “community building centers”?

Community building centers are accessible physical spaces where people from different social groups have the opportunity to meet and gather for joint leisure time, community development, cooperation and comprehensive realization of their human potential. Community building centers can be either separate premises or parts of other public buildings: administrative service centers, hubs, public libraries, cultural centers, public spaces, schools, etc.

A key characteristic of community building centers is their accessibility: physical and social. People from different social groups, regardless of their physical condition or social status, should be able to freely visit and use these spaces. They must be fully accessible to people with disabilities.

The center’s program of activities may include educational opportunities (informal education, training programs, professional meetings, lectures and seminars), vocational training (for example, programs for veterans, internally displaced persons), psychological support programs, clubs and programs for children and youth, elderly people, as well as space for parents with children, etc.

What will hromadas get?

On a competitive basis, 10 grants in the amount of UAH 1,000,000 each will be awarded for the development of spaces and institutions that perform or will perform the functions of community building centers described above. Funding should be distributed between two components of the project: 1) physical creation or renovation of community building centers and 2) programmatic and substantive (event) filling of the centers.

During the implementation of the project, hromadas will receive consulting and expert support from mentors with expertise in architecture, as well as culture, communications and social interaction. In addition, the communities will be united in pairs for the mutual exchange of experience among themselves on the principle of “equal to equal”.

At the beginning of the work, approximately in mid-August, two people from each hromada will be able to take part in a three-day workshop on creating public spaces in Lviv. At the end of the project, approximately in February 2024, each hromada will be able to present its experience, successes and lessons learned at a joint final conference.

What are the conditions of the competition?

Applications are accepted from civil society organizations (officially registered public NGO, charitable organizations). Having a partnership with local authorities will be a significant advantage when evaluating applications.

Projects must be implemented in hromadas with a population of up to 100,000 people.

A mandatory condition is co-financing in the amount of at least 20% of the grant amount. Co-financing can be not only in monetary form, but also, for example, in the form of materials or performance of works, however, in any case, its financial equivalent must be calculated and indicated in the application.

Projects and spaces related to commercial, party and religious organizations or purposes cannot be supported within the framework of this competition. In addition, projects that involve the development of spaces that will not be physically and socially accessible will not be supported.

The selection of winners will take into account such criteria as the motivation and validity of the application, understanding of specific needs, previous experience and the ability to implement the project in a short time. In addition, we will strive for the representation of different hromadas by type and geographical location.

Interaction within the project involves active communication and cooperation between the hromada and Cedos. To ensure effective interaction, we ask you to identify a coordinator from the hromada who will be the contact person. In general, we expect that it will take at least 60 working days for hromada administration of the project. Calculating and budgeting project administration (management) costs is mandatory to confirm the hromada’s ability to implement the project.

The grant will be provided in several tranches. Interim and final reporting is provided.

How to participate?

To apply for a grant, please:

When?

  • Applications are accepted until 23:59 on July 23, 2023.
  • Incomplete applications will be filtered out at the technical selection stage. To clarify the information, we will invite the shortlisted hromadas to a video call conversation in July-August. The selection results will be announced in August 2023.
  • Expected project implementation dates: September 1, 2023 — January 31, 2024.

How to ask a question?

Questions about the application process, the selection of hromadas or the project in general, please send to comrebuild@cedos.org.ua with the subject line “Questions”.

On July 13 at 15:00 Kyiv time, we will provide an information session, where the conditions of the competition will be presented, and also there will be an opportunity to ask questions. The session will be online via the Zoom platform, and the recording will be available on the Cedos website. Register for the information session via the link: https://bit.ly/3O15U3k