Success stories

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.

Ukraine’s first inclusive manicure parlour opened for customers in Vinnytsia, where services are provided by manicure artists in wheelchairs. Named ‘Dandelion’, this mini-parlour is a one-of-a-kind social initiative aimed at popularizing the idea of creating jobs for people living with disabilities not just in Vinnytsia but in other regions as well.

For several years, the Ivano-Frankivsk Region has been the top performing Ukrainian region in tourism income. In 2018-2019, Ivano-Frankivsk saw an increase amount in tourism fee proceeds, and more than one million tourists visited the city in 2019. In an effort to promote the tourism appeal of Ivano-Frankivsk, the PLEDDG Project helps the local authorities develop tourism potential, particularly by devising a marketing strategy and the city’s own brand. ‘Ivano-Frankivsk – city for life’, as well as creating the ‘Visit Ivano-Frankivsk’ mobile app.

Poltava Region is a highly developed regional economy in central Ukraine. In 2019, the Ministry of Regional Development continued to rank Poltava as the leading region in economic performance, financial self-sufficiency, as well as investment development and foreign economic cooperation.

Zaporizhia city council launched a ‘Mobile Administrator’ service with the support of PLEDDG Project. This unique service has been created for the elderly and people living with disabilities, who are unable to move about on their own and therefore need to receive administrative, permitting and approval services at their home

Misto Zmistiv, or Meaningful City Hub, in English is a central hub and a genuine driver of social activity in Vinnytsia. It is founded on the idea of creating cross-sector dialogue among public activists, local authorities and the business community. Last year alone, the hub hosted 476 activities organised by 59 Vinnytsia-based, 26 all-Ukraine civil society organisations (CSOs), 7 international organisations and 17 departments of city- and oblast-level administrations, attended by almost 16,000 people. What is the contribution of the PLEDDG Project to this model and what makes it successful?

In just a year, Maryna Zverkova, a businesswoman from Pershotravensk, has managed to put her business idea in place and set up eco-friendly pellet production as well as boost her financial independence. This is through both business skills and an advanced knowledge obtained as a result of her participation in events held within the framework of the gender-centered initiative “Women entrepreneurship as alternative for development of one-company cities”. The initiative, of which implementation became viable due to the financial support of the Canadian Government, has already proven its worth