Success stories

Business Women’s Space is the first co-working center committed to supporting social innovations, women’s entrepreneurship and startup campaigns. Since it opened in Zaporizhia in 2019, it has had more than 700 visitors during its first 8 months. The co-working space was created by the NGO Center for Career Development “Professionals” under the auspices of the Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance international technical assistance project (PLEDDG) through its SME Development Fund

As part of the decentralization reform, Ukraine has already created near 800 administrative services centres. One good example is the administrative services centre of Poltava City Council, which increased the number of services offered to clients 20 times, and the number of administrators 5 times over the past 7 years alone. A number of particularly important upgrades have been implemented with the financial support of the PLEDDG Project as part of the Democratic Governance and Development Initiatives Support Fund.

Owing to cooperation between Zaporizhia City Hall and PLEDDG in supporting the city development strategy, the community of Zaporizhia has finally been heard about a poignant issue – the environment. As full-fledged participants of the strategic planning process, local residents and NGO representatives insisted that environmental aspects be considered in the continued development of the city.

(Українська) Упродовж останніх чотирьох років Проект ПРОМІС у співпраці з Асоціацією міст України активно діє в напрямі впровадження гендерної рівності в Україні. Практичним інструментом реалізації політики рівності на місцевому рівні сьогодні стала Європейська хартія рівності жінок і чоловіків у житті місцевих громад. В Україні першим підписантом Хартії стала у 2017 році Вінниця, місто-партнер Проекту ПРОМІС. На цей час до неї приєдналися вже понад 60 українських міст

Ukrainian society has been faced with a major challenge for several years now: finding a way to help those who lived through the war.The PLEDDG Project has also been engaged in supporting veterans and within PLEDDG SME Development Fund provides its resources to encourage initiatives to assist veterans of the conflict in gaining the necessary qualifications and finding suitable work.

In 2019 the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council approved the city brand. The search for a suitable logo was not easy for the city’s residents and took several years. Success in this important process was made possible through cooperation between the city and PLEDDG Project.

The City of Enerhodar has launched innovative solutions involving the public in local decision-making as well as promoting self-organization and win-win cooperation with local authorities and utility companies. Since 2012, the East Europe Foundation has been implementing the project ‘Open City: Increasing Citizens’ Participation in Local Development’, while the initiative in Enerhodar has been made possible with support from the PLEDDG Project.

Planning of Kolomyia’s strategic development began four years ago under the auspices of the PLEDDG Project. Kolomyia residents believe that by 2027 the town will become the epitome of a high-quality urban environment in addition to being an economic and tourist centre of Prykarpattia. These two strategic directions have been chosen as priorities for continued development of the local economy and the town in general.

Vinnytsia is the centre of a modern region with a vibrant growing economy that enjoys a series of market advantages: long-standing industrial traditions, a vast utility and transport infrastructure, extensive educational resources and academic institutions specializing in information technologies, engineering and health care. By supporting the development of strategic programs and essential city promotion tools and helping implement new standards for attracting and supporting investors, the PLEDDG Project made a hefty contribution to boosting the investment appeal of Vinnytsia. In 2019, Vinnytsia continued to retain its position as one of the leaders in the Investment Sector Transparency Ranking of 100 Ukrainian Cities published by the Ukrainian office of Transparency International.

Melitopol has designed and approved the marketing strategy and the city brand with the support of PLEDDG. The principles of simplicity, natural values, and clarity are at the core of the Melitopol brand – local traditions, relations between the authorities and the business community, and the city space as a whole. Hospitable and business-oriented are the words that describe the two aspects of Melitopol through which the city opens itself to its residents, guests, entrepreneurs, and investors with the help of specially selected communication channels and instruments.