Leaders of reconstruction: how the training at the community recovery academy was completed

On 6 April, the Kyiv Mohyla School of Professional and Continuing Education hosted the defence of the final works of the Community Recovery Academy project. This project provided an opportunity for Ukrainian community leaders to gain the necessary knowledge and prepare for the period of recovery of their territories.

37 participating communities started a six-month journey of learning and transformation at the Community Recovery Academy, but only 25 of them – the most motivated, dedicated and courageous – reached the final stage and were admitted to defend their projects.

Over the course of four intensive modules, participants were working on development strategies, economic recovery, return of people, and resource attraction. They were studying international experience, analysing local cases, discussing, making mistakes, looking for new solutions, and ultimately forming their own vision of the future of their communities.

The key outcome of the training has become the Recovery Community Profile, a strategic document that accumulates all the knowledge, experience and best practices gained. This document not only outlines the vision and mission of the community, but also contains a specific step-by-step action plan and real projects ready for implementation.

A final session was organised to fairly assess the quality of the knowledge gained and the work done. Each community presented its achievements to an independent commission consisting of the heads of other communities, teachers of the Kyiv Mohyla School of Professional and Continuing Education, partners and co-founders of the Academy.

A welcome speech at the defence was delivered by Vadym Boichenko, Mayor of Mariupol and a co-founder of the Community Recovery Academy: “Today we are well aware that we need to prepare for the country's recovery already now – to educate, unite and build. That is why we created the Community Recovery Academy. This project is aimed not only at the future revival of the temporarily occupied territories. First and foremost, it is a response to the request of the affected communities, who are already looking for practical solutions and tools for post-war recovery. So I am grateful to all the partners who helped to fill the Academy with content, and to each of the participants who took responsibility for the future of their community. Because it is through strong communities that we are building a strong country.”

“Mariupol Reborn is a founder of the Community Recovery Academy, and certainly what was done as preparation for the revival of Mariupol after its de-occupation is a basis for the training programmes and a structure for presentations. But each community imposes its own optics and specifics on this roadmap. Communities are still very cautiously learning to see their potential, learning to live not in the present, but in the future. I strongly believe that the experience we are gaining will be of maximum benefit to Ukraine, and that in some time we will become a centre of expertise in recovery,” said Natalia Yemchenko, Member of the Supervisory Board of the NGO “Mariupol.Reborn” and Communications Director at SCM.

Oleksandr Slobozhan, Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities:

“The first graduates of the Recovery Academy take on a great responsibility not only to their communities, but also to the next participants. All the knowledge gained by the participants is an invaluable experience that they will implement as successful projects in their cities.”

The communities that have developed the best Profiles are 7 communities from 5 regions of Ukraine: Kyiv community (Chernihiv region), Rubizhne community (Luhansk region), Sievierodonetsk community (Luhansk region), Slavutych community (Kyiv region), Starobilsk community (Luhansk region), Snihurivka community (Mykolaiv region) and Apostoliv community (Dnipro region).

Also, the commission recognised the communities that have developed a veterans' policy in their strategies in a very thoughtful and detailed manner: Hornostayivska community (Kherson Oblast), Rubizhne community (Luhansk Oblast), Bakhmut  community (Donetsk Oblast), Velykolepetska  community (Kherson Oblast) and Ustyluzka  community (Volyn Oblast).

The Community Recovery Academy project is not coming to an end, but is only gaining pace. A graduation event for the first enrolment will soon take place, and enrolment for the second stream of participants will begin. The programme will continue its mission to train community leaders to effectively restore and develop their territories in the post-war period.

The Community Recovery Academy, founded by the Association of Ukrainian Cities and the NGO “Mariupol.Reborn”, aims to train municipal managers for the recovery period. The project is implemented with the support of the UK Government under the UK International Development programme and the International Republican Institute (IRI Ukraine) in partnership with Metinvest and SCM. Academic partners of the project are Metinvest Polytechnic and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.