The Support Programme “Development of a Comprehensive Recovery Programme for the Territory of a Municipality” is now launched. As part of the Programme, 10 municipalities from 8 oblasts will work together with U-LEAD experts to develop comprehensive recovery programmes.
Which municipalities are selected?
These are the municipalities of Ratne, Volyn Oblast, Velyka Dymerka and Dymerka, Kyiv Oblast, Buryn, Sumy Oblast, Vilniansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Tomakivka and Solone, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Burshtyn, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and Stryi, Lviv Oblast.
"The geography of participation"
They will be represented by professionals in local economic development, architecture and urban planning, as well as land management. In addition to the development of comprehensive recovery programmes (CRPs) together with U-LEAD experts, municipalities will receive assistance in preparing the accompanying package of documents (approval of the CPR by the regional military/state administration, preparation for holding public hearings, formalities for approval by the local council). Hryhorii Starykov, Head of U-LEAD’s Working Group on Planning spoke about it.
According to him, the Support Programme aims to enhance the professional competence of the participants in planning the recovery of the municipal territory and present them with the techniques and tools of using geographic information systems, public engagement, project management and monitoring the implementation of the recovery programme.
The selected municipalities, as Hryhorii Starykov also reported, represent three different groups:
- De-occupied municipalities that were affected by hostilities.
- Municipalities on the border with Belarus, which require the construction of fortifications, mining of the border, etc.
- Rear-line municipalities facing shelling of military facilities and critical infrastructure and hosting a significant number of IDPs and relocated businesses.
What is a comprehensive recovery programme and why do municipalities need it?
As was explained by Hryhorii Starykov, local self-government bodies can develop a number of documents aimed at recovery on the ground, including a comprehensive recovery programme for the territory of a municipality, a recovery and development plan, update the development strategy (after the approval of the updated State Strategy for Regional Development until 2027), a comprehensive plan for the spatial development of the territory of a municipality, detailed plans for the territories:
“For the municipalities, these documents will not only facilitate consistent and structured recovery, but most importantly, lay the groundwork for attracting funding from international institutions.”
Mr Starykov emphasised that the recovery planning system was not fully clear for all municipalities. Indeed, some of the documents mentioned above are mandatory, while others are not. Some, although related to urban planning documentation, do not fall under it, while others are the opposite: they are simultaneously urban planning and land management documents.
Why is it important to have a comprehensive recovery programme?
According to Hryhorii Starykov, changes in Ukraine’s legal framework made requirements for the system of planning documents stricter, which requires appropriate actions at the local level. These include following the principles of barrier-free environment, green transition, New European Bauhaus, circular economy, public engagement, creation of an effective monitoring and risk assessment system, etc.:
“The comprehensive recovery programme defines the main spatial, urban planning and socio-economic priorities of the state recovery policy and includes an action plan to implement them. Figuratively speaking, this is a demonstration of the principle “There is no money without plans nor plans without money”.