Updating the Strategy for the Dashiv Municipality enabled the municipality to update its strategic priorities, strengthen its focus on residents’ needs and adapt the document to today’s conditions and challenges.
These changes prompted a review of strategic goals and approaches to municipal development to ensure that the document remains a relevant and practical planning tool rather than a mere formality.
A strategy developed with input from residents
The process of updating the Strategy spanned 2025 and involved active participation from residents of the municipality. To this end, an online survey and questionnaire were conducted, enabling the opinions of different age and social groups to be factored in and providing a better understanding of the current issues and expectations of residents.
Svitlana Voichenko, the Secretary of Dashiv Municipal Council, says: “The initial Strategy was approved in 2021, even before the outset of the full-scale invasion. Since then, the security situation, social challenges, municipal development priorities and residents’ needs have undergone significant changes, necessitating a review of strategic goals and approaches to municipal development.”
Surveys and analyses have led to new priorities being added to the updated Strategy. Notably, two new operational objectives have been added to the document, reflecting current needs and responding to the challenges of wartime and post-war recovery:
- development of barrier-free and inclusive spaces for all municipality residents;
- increasing the level of security and civil protection of the people in the municipality.
“By engaging the locals, we got a clear picture of what issues are most important to the municipality right now. This led to new priorities in the updated Strategy,” notes Svitlana.
Expert support and consistency in planning
Experts from U-LEAD with Europe contributed significantly to the process of updating the Strategy. As part of the “Updating the Local Development Strategy” support programme, they accompanied the municipality at all stages of drafting the document, from training and consultations to agreeing on updated strategic and operational goals.
Expert support enabled not only the content of the Strategy to be revised, but also its logical integrity and consistency with other municipal planning documents and state policies to be preserved.
“Updating and harmonising strategic and zoning documents, accounting for the effects of the war, principles of sustainable development, security, inclusion and green transition, is one of the key tasks for municipalities today. The support provided by U-LEAD with Europe in the area of strategic planning helps municipalities make management decisions geared towards practical results,” says Vitalii Shvets, the Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in Vinnytsia Oblast.
Consistency as a principle of development
The cooperation of the Dashiv municipality with U-LEAD with Europe is systematic and consistent. Back in 2018, with the support of U-LEAD experts, the municipality approved a short-term strategic development plan, followed by a Municipal Development Strategy until 2030 in 2021, and an updated version in 2025, which reflects the new wartime realities and challenges.
Alongside its work on strategic documents, U-LEAD supported the municipality in strengthening its administrative and financial capacity, notably through consultations and training programmes for specialists. Officials of Dashiv Municipality underwent training as part of the Steps for Specialists programmes, specifically on preparing the local budget, introducing medium-term budget planning and developing a budget stabilisation plan.
A specific area of cooperation has been consultations on public investment management (PIM), which is directly linked to the implementation of the municipality’s strategic goals. In late 2025, Vinnytsia Regional Office team worked with senior municipal officials, the finance department, and the education department to plan funding and organise the network of educational institutions for 2026. The focus was on realistic budgeting, resource management, staffing procedures and financial autonomy of institutions.
“We are grateful to the experts of U-LEAD with Europe for their professional guidance throughout the training process, for helping us revise our strategy, and for their guidance in engaging local residents,” says the secretary of the village council.
The updated Development Strategy for the Dashiv Municipality until 2030 was approved by a decision of Dashiv Municipality Council. The document has been adapted to modern realities and prioritises safety, cohesion and sustainable municipal development.
