Source: Vezha
On April 20, 2018, Vinnytsia hosted special guests – representatives of a Canadian municipality and experts of PLEDDG Project. Together with Vinnytsia municipal experts, they discussed the results of implementation of the “Meaningful City: a Space for Communication and Participation” project.
The meeting took place at the NGO-hub (11, Pushkina str.). The Canadian delegation consisted of Garth Frizzel, Councilor of the City of Prince George and a Board Member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Marion Villanueva, Director of Programs at FCM, and Kadie Ward, PLEDDG Senior Governance Advisor.
Vinnytsia was represented by Vitaliy Pogosyan, Head of the Economic and Investment Department of Vinnytsia City Council, Alina Dyachenko, Director of UE “City Development Institute”, and Svitlana Khodakova, Chairman of the Board of the NGO “Open Society”.
At the hub, the Canadian guests were greeted with tea, sweets, and pastries. They were then informed about the activities of the newly created NGO-hub, its initiatives and progress in the development of strategic documents under the “Meaningful City” project.
It worth mentioning that “Meaningful City: a Space for Communication and Participation” project is implemented with the support of PLEDDG Project, with funding from the PLEDDG Democratic Governance and Development Initiatives Support Fund.
– In the past I worked in seven countries where, in some instances, many local problems were resolved through the creation of similar communication spaces, – said Marion Villanueva. – Sometimes local authorities do not trust civil society organizations, and NGOs, in their turn, do not trust the authorities. It happens so due to the absence of a platform for communication, with different parties knowing little about each other, so a communication gap appears between the authorities and civil society. But at the end of the day, with the creation of a communication platform it becomes possible to start a much-needed conversation.
Canadian guests were surprised to learn that Vinnytsia did not have any opportunity to learn from others’ experience of launching communication platforms.
– I am curious, is it at all possible for Vinnytsia to create a kind of knowledge database for non-governmental organizations? – asked Garth Frizzel. – So that it is convenient for everyone to get the necessary information?
Vitaliy Pogosyan and Alina Dyachenko responded by saying that the city was already moving in that direction; in particular, a web-site for the NGO-hub would be created which would provide all necessary information for NGOs. The web-site will allow city residents to communicate and exchange experiences.
“It means that Vinnytsia will be a pioneer of such activity and an example to follow”, the meeting participants concluded.
Over tea, they discussed the Business Support and Development Academy, which was launched by Vinnytsia City Council together with Vinnystia Business Club with the support of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), which is implementing Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance Project (PLEDDG Project). The Academy will provide services to small and medium-sized businesses and will support Vinnytsia companies in adopting international best business practices. This innovation was also praised by Canadian guests.
In addition, creation of a technology park on the premises of the Kristal factory was brought up. Canadian guests pointed out that this was of great importance to the city.
Towards the end of the meeting participants discussed the implementation of the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life. Last year Vinnytsia became the first Ukrainian city to join the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life.
The Charter forbids discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, social status, genetic traits, language, religion, political or other opinions, belonging to a national minority, wealth status, place of birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.
The meeting ended with Canadian guests and Vinnytsia municipal experts agreeing on continuing their cooperation.