The team of the U-LEAD with Europe Regional Office in the Kirovohrad Oblast organised an information session on the legislative requirements and specific features of developing strategies and programmes for the social and economic development of municipalities. The Department of Economic Development and Strategic Planning of the Military Administration of Kirovohrad Oblast and the Regional Development Agency of the Kirovohrad Oblast were the partners of the event.
According to Oleh Yaremenko, head of the U-LEAD Office, municipalities should pay attention to strategic planning, as it is a tool for their effective and sustainable development, as well as an additional opportunity to involve external resources:
“Currently, our team actively visits municipalities in Kirovohrad Oblast, and strategic planning is one of the most popular topics. Representatives of municipalities are often interested in updating strategies and their compliance with strategic documents at the regional and national levels. We are holding such a partnership event so that municipality experts can hear more information about strategic planning.”
In her opening speech, Svitlana Solomakha, the Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Development and Trade, Head of the Economic Development and Strategic Forecasting Administration of the Kirovohrad Oblast State Administration, emphasised that the development strategy is not just an important investment tool; it is a legal requirement that local self-government must comply with.
“A strategic approach to planning of sustainable development of municipalities is actively implemented in Ukraine, as in other countries of the world. The development strategy is the basis for the successful functioning of the municipality, efficient use of resources and attraction of new investments. Even under martial law, when it is difficult to predict and plan anything, municipalities still need to adapt their strategies to this period. This is especially important for the implementation of municipality infrastructure projects by involving funds from the state budget, potential investors or donor organisations,” the official said.
Svitlana Solomakha said that 28 municipalities in Kirovohrad Oblast have approved development strategies in place, and 21 municipalities are at the stage of development of their strategies.
“Municipalities should understand that the approved strategies must be updated to ensure that they comply with the current legislation, state and regional development strategies. We live in new conditions that affect all processes, so these things should be reflected in the strategies,” she explained.
The participants of the event familiarised themselves with the regulatory framework for the elaboration of municipality development strategies and local social and economic development programmes. They also analysed the principles and main approaches to the drafting of development strategies. Svitlana Solomakha presented all the components of strategy development and delved into each block separately.
Director of the Kirovohrad Regional Development Agency Oleksandr Havrylenko spoke to the municipality experts about taking into account the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the results of their adaptation to the specifics of Ukraine’s development while creating development strategies and other municipality programme documents.
He emphasised that the compliance of municipality development strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals increases the chances of receiving potential additional resources from grantors:
“Every municipality should have the necessary tools to solve its local problems. A municipality strategy that meets the Sustainable Development Goals is one of the tools required to establish cooperation with international projects, which require that municipalities have strategic planning documents and their content is in compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals.”
The expert presented the experience of European countries and municipalities in the development agencies’ work, which help to attract additional resources for the implementation of a number of projects, as well as the best national practices of combining a strategic approach and sustainable development goals in the implementation of environmental, educational and other initiatives.
According to him, the development strategy is just a document, and it is implemented through approved projects and project activities of municipalities. The expert emphasised the importance of developing project management in the municipalities of Kirovohrad Oblast and training specialists in this area.
