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Description
The aim of the project is to make use of the experience that Association of Towns and Communities of Slovakia obtained in the area of modernization of local territorial self-government and in implementing the right to good governance, principles of the corporate social responsibilities and transparent measures in local governments so that the Ukrainian self-governments can draw not only inspiration but also learn lessons on pros and cons. Launching the project in October 2020 will allow the involvement of the new leadership of the Ukrainian authorities, which will be elected in the autumn 2020 elections. The transfer of knowledge will include experiences from Norway in the area of services of general interest, proven experiences in implementing the principles of the concept of corporate (territorial) social responsibility and anti-corruption strategies and transparent measures at local level. The project will benefit not only the Ukrainian authorities, but also their Slovak partners. However, the main target group will be representatives of the Ukrainian self-government, mayors, staff of regional and local structures in the self-government. The project partners will also benefit by gaining unique knowledge in the field of transfer of Slovak, Norwegian and Ukrainian experience, which they, in turn, will be able to further use and disseminate. The project will strengthen relations among national local governments´ associations from Slovakia, Ukraine and Norway as an added value.
Summary of project results
Ukraine has been undergoing a complicated process of decentralization since 2014. Due to this fact, we have decided to assist this process by providing good practice example from the decentralization journey in Slovakia and the V4 countries and providing public services of general interests in Norway in order to better prepare the Ukrainian self-government for the challenges of the decentralization and modernization process. This way, we intended to help and make reforms more effective in the self-governing system of Ukraine, with an emphasis on good governance, increased accountability and transparency, and the creation of long-term partnerships for the transfer of good practice. The activities we carried out during the project were focused on the transfer of knowledge through workshops and expert manuals of methodological assistance, organisation of roundtables that created a platform for expert discussion on municipal reform and staging of two volumes of expert forum as part of well-known Slovak event “Days of Ukraine”.
The aim of the project was to make use of the experience that ZMOS obtained in the area of modernization of local territorial self-government and in implementing the right to good governance, principles of the corporate social responsibilities and transparent measures in local governments so that the Ukrainian self-governments can draw not only inspiration but also learn lessons on pros and cons. The transfer of knowledge included experiences from Norway in services of general interest, proven experiences in implementing the principles of the concept of corporate (territorial) social responsibility and anti-corruption strategies and transparent measures at local level.
During the implementation of the project, 6 manuals on Innovative solutions in the provision of public services, Civic participation, Education and training in local territorial self-government, Smart technologies (energy efficiency and waste management), Open data and Selected policies in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources were published and disseminated . At the same time, 4 newsletters were published, which are devoted to tools of cross-border cooperation, mutual cooperation of cities and municipalities, and international aid to Ukraine. The Municipality Day 2021 and 2022 events were followed by the publication of 2 collections. Strategic material “Slovak-Ukrainian cross-border cooperation at the local and regional level as a tool for joint territorial development and renewal of Ukraine” was created and published as well.
6 workshops, 2 expert conferences, 2 roundtables, 2 Days of Municipality, launching and final conference were organized (with presence in person or online of more than 1700 persons).
There were 2 study visits to Norway- our partner organization and municipalities in Norway- together 9 Slovak mayors and 8 Ukrainian mayors.
All activities created an opportunity to exchange contacts and other necessary information and solutions between representatives of cities and municipalities from Slovakia and Ukraine. These activities contributed significantly to the achievement of the project''s goal, which was to support cooperation between local governments in the border regions of Slovakia and Ukraine, to raise awareness of the potential of Slovak-Ukrainian territorial cooperation in the interests of current and future support of this cross-border cooperation (support of partner contacts, relations and joint solutions). At the same time, they were a platform for the transfer of experience with reform and modernization processes in local territorial self-government and in the provision of public services based on experience from Norway and the V4 countries, to support European standards and good, transparent and responsible governance in Ukraine.
As the project was affected by the COVID 19 pandemic and subsequently by the war in Ukraine, the events moved to the online space. This fact significantly influenced one of the goals of the project, namely the networking of border municipalities from Slovakia and Ukraine, but on the other hand, it enabled the participation of a much wider audience and the participation in the events doubled compared to the planned value.
Summary of bilateral results
Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Association (KS) is the sole Norwegian association for local and regional authorities. KS promotes and defends the autonomy and appropriate funding of Norwegian municipalities and county councils for more than 45 years. KS has been directly involved in Ukraine for more than 10 years. Starting in 2008, it has used its expertise to strengthen local governance and local democracy in the country, primarily by way of organizing efficiency networks. KS with AUC has developed a strong and productive partnership. Through these activities, KS has acquired a broad and deep level of knowledge and understanding of the local government sector in Ukraine, which was the benefit of implementation of the project. ZMOS has cooperated with KS for several years within the European umbrella association of local governments - participation in common meetings, exchange experiences and know-how from local governance. KS ensured the expert participation at 2 workshops and 1 professional conference and in preparation of 2 manuals in order to reach outputs based on common partnership. Moreover, they hosted 17 representatives from SK and UA in Norway for study visit. The visit showed considerable potential for cooperation between the Slovak and Norwegian self-governments in the future program period of EEA grants on local development in Slovakia, and contacts will be maintained for the development of increased cooperation between KS and ZMOS. This type of cooperation could also open the door for trilateral cooperation between the Norwegian, Slovak and Ukrainian self-governments.Discusions started about a possible cooperation with partner KS for the next programming period of EEA grants on local development regarding sharing of best practices, know-how and solving similar issues that worry municipalities in Slovakia and Norway.