Two-day training for communities: Results of the second module of the Recovery Academy

The second module of the Community Recovery Academy, aimed at training municipal managers for effective economic recovery of communities, was completed in Vinnytsia. The event was attended by 30 representatives from different regions who are working on development strategies in the face of war.

The first day was focused on exploring the innovative spaces of Vinnytsia. Andrii Ocheretnyi, Deputy Mayor, spoke about the development of the Vinnytsia Industrial Park, which is attracting relocated businesses and implementing renewable energy. Particular attention was paid to the mechanisms of support for enterprises, including compensation for the cost of installing solar systems. He shared how the Vinnytsia community managed to provide the Industrial Park with all technical communications, road infrastructure and lighting.

The participants also visited the KNESS international group of companies, specializing in renewable energy. Serhii Kravchuk, Director of Trading, presented the company's technologies, and Viktor Terletskyi, Director of Technology, demonstrated the operation of the PV.SCADA Control Centre for managing solar power plants.

The Crystal Innovation and Technology Park has become a vivid example of combining science, business and the public. It has created a modern infrastructure to support start-ups, develop new technologies and provide training. The participants were told about the park's facilities, including the Fab Lab, the Entrepreneurial Development Centre and ІТ School.

The tours were followed by a presentation from the Vinnytsia community. Natalia Maletska and Diana Matsiuk, representatives of the Vinnytsia City Council's Department for Recovery and Development, spoke about finding funding and grants for community projects. They shared their experience in attracting international donors, developing the recovery strategy, and adopting regulations at the local level to support entrepreneurs and restore infrastructure.

The final part of the day featured a workshop on “Justice for Economic Recovery of Communities” run by the Academy's organizers. The participants agreed that every community has the right for fair recovery, they discussed how to ensure it at different levels – international, regional and personal (for each resident). In particular, they raised the issue of the financial component of recovery, compensation at the expense of the aggressor country and importance of support programs at the state level.

The second day of the workshop was no less active and included both theoretical and practical processing of materials. Participants worked together with representatives of the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Professional and Continuing Education, which contributed to in-depth understanding of the key aspects of community recovery in the war times.

The trainers, Doctor of Economics, Professor Olha Doronina and Doctor of Political Science, Professor Tetiana Nagornyak, analysed the potential of communities and the main economic and social challenges they face. This helped to formulate adaptive socio-economic policies for different types of communities: temporarily occupied, de-occupied and rear-guard.

Taking into account the development priorities identified at the first training – education, healthcare, business and investment – the communities developed strategic objectives and tactical measures that meet the key goals of sustainable development. They also discussed goals and priorities for different types of social and economic policies.

Using the world café format, participants explored benefits and risks for communities that have hosted IDPs since the beginning of the war, as well as identified problems and ways to prevent these in the context of IDP integration.

At the end of the training, participants discussed their homework and common mistakes in SWOT analysis, visions, missions and community development plans.

The team of the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Professional and Continuing Education expressed satisfaction with motivation of community representatives and their understanding of the importance of work even under conditions of temporary occupation. They emphasized that communities are the foundation of Ukraine's recovery, and even in difficult conditions it is important to work with people in order not to lose their potential for future reconstruction of cities, towns and villages.

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