The “Laboratories of Creative Dialogue” project launched in 10 municipalities in Kirovohradska oblast

Solving problems with a dialog: a new project is launching in 10 municipalities in Kirovohradska Oblast, informed Oleksandriya City Council. The “Laboratories of Creative Dialogue” project aims to find an understanding between residents and other stakeholders in the municipality, consider interests of different groups when making decisions, and build a sustainable and productive communication between public administration and residents of the municipality to help resolve pressing problems. The project the oblast is a part of is being implemented by the Association of Public Initiatives of Ukraine with support of ULEAD with Europe. It aims to increase the dialogue as an important instrument of local self-government in Ukrainian municipalities. As of now, 10 municipalities were selected in Kirovohradska Oblast to participate in the project through an independent selection process. Oleksandriya community is one of these municipalities.

Other municipalities include the following: Ustynivka, Bobrynets, Subotsi, Dmytrivka, Mala Vyska, Novoarkhanhelsk, Ketrysanivka and Maryanivka communities. As a part of the project, representatives of local self-government bodies will learn to use dialogue techniques to communicate with people and put their new skills to use. In each municipality, relevant topics of local development will be selected, different visions of solving local problems will be considered, and public discussions with involvement of all stakeholders will be held. The new experience will help involve residents of municipalities in decision-making processes on the local level more in the coming years, uncover the potential for rebuilding the country, and attract additional resources through cooperation with state and international funds. Serhiy Tkachenko, the local coordinator from our oblast, will help municipalities master the instruments of dialogue in the process of holding public consultations.

“Understanding and cohesion within municipalities is the key to stability and endurance in conditions of information attacks of the enemy, who is using all means available to split the Ukrainian society, spread discord and despair.”

The communities that will be able to involve new residents in a timely and effective manner will have such advantages as reduction of social tension, strengthening of workforce potential, engagement of additional financial, material and investment resources, resistance to potential conflicts during information wars. By adopting the procedures and practices generally accepted in the EU countries regarding decision-making process at the local level, municipalities will be better equipped to prepare for the programs aimed at rebuilding Ukraine,” stated Yurii Stepanets, Project Coordinator and CEO of the Association of Public Initiatives of Ukraine.

The “Laboratories of Creative Dialogue” project is implemented by the Association of Public Initiatives of Ukraine with support of ULEAD with Europe in 120 municipalities in 12 oblasts in Ukraine. It is one of the first major initiatives of introduction of the dialogue approach to the engagement tools at the local level. The project is implemented within the framework of U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine — Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme, a multi-donor action of the EU and its Member States (Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, and Slovenia) to support Ukraine on its way to strengthening local self-government. U-LEAD promotes transparent, accountable and multilevel governance in Ukraine that meets the needs of citizens and empowers municipalities.

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