Fair and sustainable hromadas recovery and development require the involvement of various social groups in planning and decision-making. It is especially important to engage those social groups that have fewer resources and are typically excluded from governance and decision-making processes. Communication and transparency are essential prerequisites for cooperation, trust, and interaction between government bodies and hromadas residents.

“Public participation in local development issues is the basis for forming a democratic political culture. That’s why through this and other projects, we strive to assist hromadas in creating a participatory environment for reconstruction and development, where everyone can take part, take responsibility, and influence the common future,” — explains Ivan Verbytskyi, Cedos Director.

Recently, Cedos started working on a new project “Trust through Participation: Informing and Capacity Building of the hromadas”. Its goal is to strengthen connections between citizens and government authorities in hromadas of the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Odesa, Zaporizhia, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts by assisting government authorities and civil society organizations in providing participatory processes.

What Does the Project Encompass?

The project consists of two components:

  1. Informational and educational to increase knowledge about the participatory tools: 12 thematic articles on various aspects of engagement and 10 podcast episodes on challenges, opportunities, and the experience of hromadas in local development.
  2. Provide assistance to 10 hromadas in setting up participatory processes (conducting a needs assessment, identifying key challenges and limitations, developing an engagement plan, conducting a participatory event, providing recommendations).

What will hromadas receive?

Within the project, a team of experts in community engagement, research, spatial and strategic development, heritage, education, social protection, housing, and urban planning will work with selected hromadas. They will assist in the following steps:

  • Conducting needs assessments for each hromada regarding the partisipation of residents in the implementation of a specific project (program, strategy) that the hromada is working on or planning to work on.
  • Identifying key challenges and constraints related to involve residents.
  • Developing a plan for involving residents and other stakeholders in the development and implementation of the project (program, strategy).
  • Organizing an event to involve residents.

In addition, experts will provide recommendations on improving the participation and involvment of residents in the hromada.

This project is implemented with the support of the USAID Project “Democratic Governance in Eastern Ukraine” (DG East).

Write to us if you have questions or are interested in this project.