Six weeks of rigorous work, practical training, real-life case studies, individual insights, and, above all, tangible changes in how municipalities engage with their residents. This year, officials from municipalities in Vinnytsia Oblast completed the training programme “Steps for Specialists. Local Self-Government Communications”, developed by the U-LEAD with Europe team to make local self-government bodies’ public communications clearer, more structured and more accessible to the public.
The programme was designed to give officials both the tools and a new vision of communications as a component of municipal governance, from core principles and communication audits to crisis protocols and engaging with different audiences across offline and online channels.
The first results are already evident in the municipalities across Vinnytsia Oblast.
Structure instead of chaos: how daily communication efforts have changed
Having completed a series of modules on communication objectives and planning, municipalities are now approaching their work differently. Participants note that the structure itself helped them to organise their activities into a clear logic: objective → audience → channels → result. This is the key algorithm of the programme, which was tested on real-life case studies from municipalities.
According to Svitlana Yarmiichuk, the Chief Specialist of Dzhulynka Village Council, this approach was one of the truly transformative points of the training:
“While developing the communication plan, I for the first time felt the logical progression of the process, from the objective to specific actions and results. This gave me a structure that I’ve already started to apply in creating information materials for our municipality.”
Focus on the audience and human-centred stories
The changes do not just affect processes, but also the tone of communications. Participants say they have started to think more about residents’ needs, their context, and how they perceive information.
Oksana Piasta of Chernivtsi Village Council underlines this shift in the approach:
“The most helpful advice was on how to make messages clearer, more structured and more engaging for people. Case studies and crisis management were also memorable, and so was the focus on human interest stories. This encouraged us to pay more attention to real-life cases and highlight the impact of change through people’s experiences.”
This is already evident in practice through shorter, clearer and visually organised posts, as well as a greater emphasis on positive stories that shape the municipality’s image – this was specifically highlighted in the module on image and success stories.
Stronger crisis communication skills
Among the more pressing topics was crisis communication: how to prevent and respond to problematic situations, and how to operate as a unified voice.
Olha Solovey, a specialist at Yampil City Council, already recognises the value of the new skills in her daily work:
“It was invaluable to learn about crisis communications… I liked the words, ‘If we don’t speak up, someone else will speak for us, and they won’t have our best interests at heart.’ Now, I use it to convince senior officials of the need to respond to crises, and it works.”
With the help of training exercises, participants created real response plans and crisis statements. This will help municipalities stay prepared and act in a coordinated and professional manner.
Visual cohesion and modern tools
Some municipalities have already begun to implement unified rules for posting, announcements and news. In the Visual Communication module, participants learned to apply principles of emphasis, clear composition and tools for creating visual content.
This results in a more recognisable style for the municipality, clean presentation of information and content that is easier for the audience to understand. Oksana Piasta backs this up:
“I am already making more active use of visual style and unified standards in the design of posts so that everything looks cohesive.”
Stronger communication services = stronger municipalities
The main goal of the programme was to help municipalities build a consistent, proactive and people-centred approach to communications. And the feedback from the participants shows that this approach is already taking root.
Olha Solovey summarises:
“The training course equipped me with a ‘communication toolkit’ covering everything from strategic planning and auditing to visualisation, media relations and performance evaluation. Using the knowledge and tools I have gained, I will work to improve communication in our Yampil municipality.”
Changes that come together to paint a coherent picture
The changes that participants are already implementing in their municipalities are part of a broader process of shaping a new culture of communication in local self-government in the Vinnytsia Oblast. For U-LEAD with Europe, it is not only about tools or skills, but about sustainable approaches: consistency, openness, willingness to engage in dialogue and focus on people’s needs.
Liudmyla Hurba, the Head of the Working Group on Communication and Public Participation, a Policy Advisor for Decentralisation and Local Self-Government at the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in Vinnytsia Oblast, shared her vision:
“The programme “Steps for Specialists. Local Self-Government Communications” provided the municipalities of Vinnytsia Oblast with a ‘communication toolkit’, from clear planning of communication activities to visual cohesion and the skill to work with human interest stories. This comprehensive, people-centred and structured approach makes local self-government communications understandable and more accessible to people, strengthening trust in local self-government and its resilience.”
For the municipalities in Vinnytsia Oblast, the programme “Steps for Specialists. Local Self-Government Communications” was not just training but a starting point for systematic improvement of communications: understandable, people-centred and proactive. Local officials are already implementing tools that will bring municipalities closer to people, making them stronger and more resilient.
