The Polaris Programme “Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine” has selected nine hromadas, and a cluster of six hromadas, to become partners under the International Municipal Cooperation track and take part in Cities4Cities Mentorship — a new cycle of mentoring support focused on strengthening international cooperation capacity, developing project ideas, and building cooperation with European municipalities and institutions.
“Today in Ukraine, international partnerships are part of the agenda at both national and local levels. In this context, it is particularly important that hromadas have the capacity to define why they engage in international partnerships and which priorities these partnerships should guide them. This is precisely the capacity that the International Municipal Cooperation track is designed to strengthen”
The 10 participants, representing 10 oblasts of Ukraine, were selected from 107 applications. The new Polaris partners include rural, settlement and urban hromadas with populations ranging from 5,000 to 34,000 residents:
- Buchach Hromada — Ternopil Oblast
- Horinchovo Hromada — Zakarpattia Oblast
- “Western Volyn: Partnership for Development” — a six-hromada cluster in Volyn Oblast
- Znamianka Hromada — Kirovohrad Oblast
- Krasnosilka Hromada — Odesa Oblast
- Kuty Hromada — Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
- Novoselivka Hromada — Poltava Oblast
- Raihorodok Hromada — Zhytomyr Oblast
- Shevchenkove Hromada — Mykolaiv Oblast
- Yavornytske Hromada — Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
The “Western Volyn: Partnership for Development” cluster brings together six hromadas: Zymne, Lytovezh, Lokachi, Pavlivka, Poromiv and Ustyluh. Through the support, the hromadas aim to strengthen their institutional capacity and develop a sustainable model for the cluster’s international partnerships. In total, seven hromada clusters applied for the partnership.
Over the course of 10 months, Cities4Cities Mentorship participants will work with mentors and experts to make international cooperation a systematic part of hromada development. They will develop roadmaps, receive advisory and training support on European integration, project management and international communications, prepare at least one project concept, and take part in relevant events and meetings.
A training seminar and the launch of Cities4Cities Mentorship will take place in Ivano-Frankivsk on 9–10 September. Representatives of hromadas from the first wave of mentoring support have also been invited to participate.
The Polaris Programme “Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine” (2024–2028) is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented by SALAR International. The Cities4Cities initiative implements the International Municipal Cooperation track of the Polaris Programme.
