Sustainability of initiatives and further development of municipal sector: representatives of partner cities gathered at PLEDDG Steering Committee meeting in Vinnytsia

PLEDDG Steering Committee meeting took place in Vinnytsia on December, 17. PLEDDG team, delegation of the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine headed by Ambassador Larisa Galadza, representatives of the Association of Ukrainian Cities and the heads of 16 partner cities were among the participants.

Vinnytsia is actively changing, responding to the needs of its residents and current challenges of a modern municipal management. Local authorities have managed to apply almost the entire range of tools that PLEDDG implements. Today Vinnytsia is a leader in many areas. These include supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, investment attraction, marketing and branding of territories. That is why Vinnytsia was chosen as the venue for the meeting. Everyone here can see and feel the importance of effective municipal development”, – said Alexander Kucherenko, PLEDDG Project Director.

The meeting was focused on the discussion of sustainability mechanisms for initiatives developed together with PLEDDG. This is one of the priority tasks that will allow to continue the development of municipal sector strengthening practices in Ukraine, implement effective democratic governance and create favorable conditions for the development of small and medium-sized businesses at the local, regional and national levels.

The meeting was chaired by Vinnytsia Mayor Sergey Morgunov and Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities Alexander Slobozhan. All the participants noted that along with the support of partner cities initiatives PLEDDG provides a comprehensive assessment of local communities`, businesses` and government`s needs.
Over the five years of cooperation, all partner cities have achieved significant results in various areas of the Project activities. PLEDDG experts marked their success with the 2019 #ChangingCities awards in three main categories:

“Best use of open democratic governance tools»;
“Best in application of environmental sustainability and gender equality tools»;
“Best in the field of supporting entrepreneurship and local economic development”.

As a result, representatives of partner cities received awards in 18 nominations.

At its final stage, PLEDDG continues to develop important tools for local development, focusing on their stable functioning in the future. Implementation of medium-term planning mechanisms and constant analysis of performance indicators will allow cities to remain successful in the future.