U-LEAD with Europe

SUSTAIN THE REFORM - BUILD THE FUTURE

14556

ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED

536363

PARTICIPATIONS IN OUR ACTIVITIES

279000000 million euro

INVESTED BY OUR DONORS

358

War-affected municipalities received emergency packages

News

13.01.2026

U-LEAD invites you to participate in the training program "Steps for Specialists. Remuneration of Labour in LSG"

Would you like the process of calculating and paying salaries, as well as other incentive and compensatory payments, to be clear, simple, and easy to follow? Do you want to establish fair and transparent conditions for employee remuneration? Is your goal to make effective decisions regarding the use of budget funds? Then join the training program "Steps for Specialists. Remuneration of Labour in LSG"!

#announcement

#steps for specialists

#local self-government

13.01.2026

Culture that empowers a municipality: the experience of Bakota Hub in Khmelnytskyi Oblast

How to transform a cultural idea into a project that transforms the municipality, creates jobs and makes the region visible far beyond its borders? This was discussed at the partner infosession “Culture Projects as a Tool for Municipal Development”, held for municipalities in Khmelnytskyi Oblast by the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in Khmelnytskyi Oblast together with Terytoria, a Khmelnytskyi-based youth NGO.

#news

#culture

12.01.2026

Ensuring No Veteran Is Left Without Support: How Local Specialists Are Supporting Veterans and Discharged Military Personnel

At the request of municipalities of Sumy Oblast that sought to learn more about how to effectively manage work with veterans and discharged military personnel, the Regional Office of U-LEAD in Sumy Oblast hosted a joint informational session in partnership with the Department of Veteran Policy of Sumy Oblast military Administration.

#news

#support for veterans

06.01.2026

Labour disputes in local self-government bodies: causes, case law and practical considerations for municipalities

Labour disputes in local self-government bodies are a sensitive issue for municipalities, given that staffing decisions without proper justification may have legal and financial consequences for local budgets. This issue was discussed at the infosession held by U-LEAD with Europe, which brought together HR specialists, lawyers and municipal officials from different oblasts of Ukraine.

U-LEAD’s Project Quality Index Improvement Programme has built a bridge to INTERREG projects for the Horodenka municipality

To help project managers spot the logic and mistakes in applications and get their priorities in order, U-LEAD experts put together the Project Quality Index Improvement Programme. In practice, this is illustrated by the case study of Horodenka City Council project team, which strengthened its capacity and took a step towards cross-border cooperation.

#news

#intermunicipal cooperation

#international cooperation

02.01.2026

A virtual journey back to Ivan Kotliarevskyi’s time: a museum in Poltava comes to life through VR technology

At Ivan Kotliarevskyi Literary Memorial Museum in Poltava, literature literally comes to life before your eyes. Here, at the estate where the author of Eneida once worked and produced his creations, visitors can now take part in virtual reality quests, solve riddles and meet Kotliarevskyi and his characters "in the flesh".

#news

#culture

31.12.2025

Legal Corner. December 2025

A digest of all news on legislation in parts that may concern local self-government. This version is current as of 31.12.2025.

#legal corner

#legislation

29.12.2025

Volunteer movement that changes municipalities: How the youth of Zakarpattia Oblast received tools for action and why it matters now

In 2021, everal dozen teenagers and young adults from four municipalities in Zakarpattia Oblast participated in the “I Am a Volunteer” initiative, implemented with the support of U-LEAD with Europe. At the time, it took the form of a short training course and several volunteer activities. Which achievements were immediately apparent, and how have they developed since then? We discuss this with Eleonora Vyshniak, an Organisational Development Manager at the Centre for Community Initiatives, a non-governmental organisation.

#news

#volunteering

29.12.2025

Options for municipalities with nature reserves: successful cases and partnership formats

Nature reserves in municipalities open up new opportunities for development, rather than limit the use of natural resources. The Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS Ukraine) shared how some nature reserves in the Carpathians were already putting in place eco-friendly practices that helped local development and boosted mini-grants at an infosession held with U-LEAD.

#news

#development strategy

19.12.2025

Safer roads and bigger budget: how Yakushyntsi municipality turned road safety into a source of additional revenue

How did a small municipality near Vinnytsia reduce road accidents on a national highway while increasing local budget revenues? The Yakushyntsi municipality’s story shows how persistence, partnership, and automated traffic enforcement can improve road safety and deliver tangible financial benefits at the local level.

#news

#local budgets

19.12.2025

“I took the job on the condition that I would be allowed to run a TikTok account”: a municipality in Vinnytsia Oblast welcomed young people and changed its approach to HR management.

The municipality of Zhmerynka has always valued expertise and dedication. The council’s team is used to high staffing standards and is always looking for ways to improve internal processes. The opportunity for this came in the form of participation in the U-LEAD training programmes “HR Management” and “Preparing to Create Effective HR Management Services”, which introduced new HR tools as well as offered inspiration for new ideas.

#news

#training programmes

18.12.2025

Avdiivka municipality: how to sustain a community when the city is destroyed, but you still have a responsibility to the people

The war robbed Avdiivka of its familiar routes, houses, infrastructure, and its daily rhythm of life, which had once seemed immutable. Yet the municipality did not vanish into the turmoil. It lives on in the work of the administration team, in the network of hubs, in the meetings of people who left their hometown under varying circumstances but kept in touch with each other. Rebuilding this connection became the top priority for the authorities, who were forced to leave the city under fire.

#news

#relocation

OUR ACTIVITIES TODAY

14.01.2026

Preparation of a decision on the transfer of property under the right of usufruct of the Kryzhopil municipality

Region: -

How municipalities could benefit from grant opportunities from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation

Region: -

State Supervision and Legality in the Work of Local Self-Government Bodies

Region: -

Privatization of municipal property in Kryzhopil municipality

Region: -

How to form a budget project in accordance with the intervention logic and donor requirements in the INTERREG NEXT HUSKROUA program (Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine)

Region: -

UPCOMING PUBLIC EVENTS

U-LEAD invites you to participate in the training program "Steps for Specialists. Remuneration of Labour in LSG"

Training Programme "Steps for managers of affairs in Local Self Government authorities (LSG)"

U-LEAD Training Programme “Steps for Specialists. Ensuring access to public information in local self-government bodies”. Registration is now open.

U-LEAD Training Programme “Steps for Specialists. Working with war veterans and their families in a municipality”. Registration is now open.

U-LEAD Training Programme "Steps for Specialists: Barrier-Free Environment in a Municipality." Registration is open

U-LEAD Training Programme “Steps for Specialists. Communications for Local Self Government (LSG) Authorities”. Registration is now open.

Training Programme “Steps for Specialists: Rural Development Tools in the Municipality”. Registration is open.

U-LEAD Training Programme “Steps for Specialists. Formation and Approval of the Local Budget 2026”. Registration is now open.

Training Programme "Steps for Specialists. Project cycle management 2025". Registration is open.

Legitimate instruments to transfer property into municipal ownership: learn more during one of U-LEAD's Top Training Programmes

Training Programme "Steps for Specialists. Delivery of social services in a municipality". Registration is open.

U-LEAD invites you to participate in a unique onboarding Training Programme "Steps for specialists. Onboarding into a profession"

U-LEAD Training Programme "Steps for Specialists. Participation of municipality residents in addressing local issues". Registration is open.

24 hours to eliminate discrepancies: practical cases and advice to authorised persons

U-LEAD invites you to participate in the Comprehensive Assistance Programme "Land audit in the municipality"

U-LEAD Training Programme "Steps for Specialists. Budget Regulations". Registration is open.

U-LEAD Training Programme "Steps for Specialists. Introduction of the position of a Rural Development Officer and organization of his/her work". Registration is now open.

U-LEAD Training Programme "Steps for specialists: Leasing Communal Land". Registration is open.

U-LEAD Training Programme "Steps for Specialists. Designing a Capable Educational Network in Municipalities". Registration is open.

U-LEAD Training Programme on Developing the Charter of the Municipality. Registration is open.

U-LEAD Training Programme “Medium-Term Budget Planning in Municipalities”. Registration is Open.

U-LEAD Training Programme for ensuring the resilience of critical infrastructure municipalities. Registration is open

Social services in municipalities: three new support programs are launched at once

We announce the «Steps for Specialists. Administrative Procedure» program

We are launching the Comprehensive Improvement Program «Business environment of the municipality»

U-LEAD invites you to participate in the training program «Steps for Specialists. Service in local self-government bodies»

Municipal property management: U-LEAD announces call for participants for one of its top training programs

Our priorities

REFORM

We provide policy and legal advice to key actors on national, regional and local levels as they strive to ensure a strong role of local self-government in the current context of war and reconstruction. We undertake important activities to strengthen transparency and integrity in the system of multi-level governance. Our work contributes to finishing the unfinished business of decentralisation reform and supports Ukraine’s readiness for EU membership.

Recovery

We use our nationwide outreach and the holistic thematic coverage to help Ukrainian municipalities adapt to the context of war and recovery. We provide training, consultation and many other forms of capacity building to all Ukrainian municipalities. Our approach to capacity development strikes the balance between being tailor-made and standardized: It is tailor-made because our regional offices present in all regions of the country provide individualized advice and are in touch with all municipalities on a constant basis. It is standardized because our trainings are based on comprehensive and constantly updated thematic support packages providing the most essential skills needed to recover from the Russian war.

Reconstruction

We support municipalities in the planning, coordination and implementation of reconstruction activities to promptly respond to the urgent needs of their residents, provide high-quality basic municipal services and foster recovery of local economies. Our work is geared towards enhancing municipalities’ capacities to develop high-quality proposals for reconstruction projects ready to receive financing from national and international sources. While our work covers all sectors of reconstruction, two key activities put the spotlight on the sectors of digitalisation and education. We facilitate cooperation between the EU and Ukrainian municipalities to lever international support for local reconstruction.

Our impact since 2016