The U-LEAD with Europe Programme organised an internship for the most motivated participants of the training course “Steps for Specialists. Project Cycle Management”, which ran from 23 to 28 September. They represented the municipalities of Kushuhum and Vilniansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the municipality of Berezan, Mykolaiv Oblast, the municipality of Berezivka, Sumy Oblast, the municipality of Chemerivtsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, and the municipality of Vatutine, Cherkasy Oblast.
Nataliia Zaitseva, Project Manager of the Department of Regional Activities of U-LEAD, spoke about this:
“The internship is the final stage of this year’s training programme on Project Cycle Management. At each stage, participants competed for the right to go further. We received more than 100 applications and selected 60 participants who completed the 8-week online training. During training, our participants developed project concepts as homework. The most active 20 participants of the online training took part in the 3-day offline module “I’m a Project Manager” and continued working on their projects. The module finished with project pitching. Following this event, six participants that were the most motivated according to the coaches were offered internships.”
Throughout the week, they studied practical experience in the development, implementation and reporting of projects from specialists of Perechyn, Velykyi Bereznyi, Synevyr and Kolochava municipalities.
According to Pavlo Lohvinov, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Zakarpattia Oblast, these municipalities actively participate in cross-border cooperation programmes, have implemented projects and are ready to share their practical experience with colleagues.
“It’s so great that the final stage of the training programme was held in the Zakarpattia Oblast. It was a challenge for our team to identify and offer great project management practices. We were so happy to join this initiative. I firmly believe that the young professionals gained useful practical experience and were inspired by ideas that will help them in the development of their territories,” he said.
The organisers received extensive positive feedback from the participants. Everyone appreciated useful practical experience, good internship organisation and quality teamwork.
Oleksandra Taranenko, Head of the Economic Development, Trade and Regulatory Policy Department of the Vilniansk municipality, stated:
“The internship in the Zakarpattia Oblast was an intense and meaningful experience. Practical advice from people with the background in project management, writing and winning cross-border grants for many years is an invaluable treasure. The sheer volume of project reporting files is really impressive, and the way these people’s eyes light up when proudly show off the results of implemented projects is truly inspiring.”
For Oleksandra Stavenko, Chief Officer of Economic Development and Investment Sector of the Vatutine municipality, this internship was an important step in her professional growth:
“Now that I’m back home, I’ve got a clear understanding of the steps to start my work as a project manager in local self-government. I am grateful for the internship opportunity in the Perechyn municipality. It was an extremely valuable experience that helped me learn more about project cycle management and explore success cases on cross-border cooperation and other projects of my colleagues from the Zakarpattia Oblast.”
According to Svitlana Panchyshyna of the Berezan municipality, such training programmes and practical knowledge contribute to the capacity of local self-government and strengthen human resources.
“I had a chance to learn from the experience of two rural municipalities in attracting funds for the purpose of their socio-economic development. I learned more about the ways to cooperate with NGOs. By joining an online meeting with the head of Poprad’s municipal institution, Centrum voľného času (Slovak Republic), I learned a lot and gained new skills of international cooperation,” she said.
She added that it was enlightening to visit investment properties and see the results of project activities.
In addition, during her internship, the participant wrote a grant application with the help of U-LEAD expert Tetiana Danyliv and sent it to the project competition.
Vita Kaieta, a leading specialist of the Economic Development Department of the Chemerivtsi municipality, who completed an internship in the Synevyr municipality, named being motivated as the key feature of any project manager. According to her, she learned how to talk about the most important things in layperson’s terms during all the training components.
Each internship participant appreciated practical work and improvement of project presentation skills, as well as the opportunity to make new contacts and partnerships, see the interaction between project participants and observe the work of different teams.
“The internship in the Velykyi Bereznyi municipality was a valuable experience that allowed me to learn more about project management, understand the importance of cooperation and communication and see the real results of the work of the local self-government team. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the U-LEAD program for the content and knowledge that increased my professional competence,” said Inna Hulakova, Deputy Director of the Berezivka Centre for Culture and Leisure.
Her opinion was seconded by Olesia Chornovol, Chief Officer of the Kushuhum Municipality Development Agency:
“In addition to important knowledge, this course gave me valuable contacts and practical experience that cannot be overstated. I was especially happy to be among the six participants who completed the internship — this is a great honour for me.”
As Nataliia Zaitseva summed up:
“U-LEAD continues to systematically support the development of municipalities’ capacity in project management, and this is already the fourth round of this training programme. We are proud of how far our municipalities have come, and we have already started preparations for our next activities.”
