LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Educational Resource Center

The Educational Resource Center focuses most of its initiatives on activities in small towns, settlements, and villages across Ukraine. One of its key projects addressed energy efficiency issues in educational and cultural institutions in pilot districts of Lviv Oblast, funded by the Eurasia Foundation. Another successful project was “Sustainable Development of Lviv Oblast Communities”, funded by the International Renaissance Foundation.

The organization carries out informational and educational activities, training programs, public advocacy, and analytical research. It collaborates with international, national, regional, and local organizations.

Seminar

Representatives of the organization have participated as experts in the "Development of Dairy Cooperatives in Ukraine" project, implemented by the SOCODEVI Consortium, the Canadian Cooperative Association, and the Sherbrooke Institute for Cooperative Studies and Education, with financial support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. They were also involved in the research project "Developing a System for Forming and Implementing Youth Leadership Potential in Ukraine’s Amalgamated Territorial Communities", conducted at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine from 2017 to 2020.

Experts from the Educational Resource Center also serve as consultants for the “Decentralization Brings Better Results and Efficiency” (DOBRE) program.

Activities in 2021

July 5–8, 2021

Staff members Ihor Kaspruk and Nataliia Moroziuk participated as consultants for the Foundation for Local Democracy Development in strategic planning working group meetings for the Tupychiiv and Liubetska communities in Chernihiv Oblast under the USAID DOBRE program. They facilitated discussions on community development issues and solution scenarios. As a result of lively debates, working group members formulated a long-term vision for their communities. The experts also conducted selective visits to local residents who had participated in a sociological survey as part of the Strategy Development Process.

September 6–7, 2021

Ihor Kaspruk and Nataliia Moroziuk attended the final meetings of the strategic planning working groups for the Tupychiiv and Liubetska communities under the USAID DOBRE program. The meetings presented the results of public consultations, where residents' feedback and proposals were discussed. The next step involves the adoption of the strategies by local councils.

October 18–26, 2021

As consultants for the Foundation for Local Democracy Development, Ihor Kaspruk and Nataliia Moroziuk participated in mentoring visits to assess the implementation of development strategies in the Biloberizka community (Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast), Borshchiv, Ivanivka, and Velykogaivska communities (Ternopil Oblast) under the USAID DOBRE program. During these visits, the experts met with local government officials, working group members, leaders and staff of municipal institutions, and community members. Based on their findings, they provided recommendations for updating the strategies.