Shall metropolitan governance be one of the key priorities of Ukraine’s recovery and modernisation in the wartime and post war period? High-level participants in the Launch meeting of the Steering Committee established in Lviv region (Ukraine) gave a firm positive response to this question on 18 November 2022.

Many good inter-municipal co-operation practices already exist in Ukraine and have proven their value in addressing war challenges, as Deputy Minister in charge of local and regional democracy Mr Viacheslav NEHODA admitted. Therefore, Lviv regional and local authorities are starting elaboration of Lviv Agglomeration development strategy till 2027.

The Council of Europe was invited and entrusted to become a facilitator of this process with engagement of its expert team, including Jerzy Regulski Foundation in Support of Local Democracy. This work will be based on the updated Council of Europe toolkit Strategic Municipal Planning and will be implemented with active participation of 17 local communities, Lviv City among them, academia, civil society, business and other local and regional stakeholders.

Head of Department of Democracy and Governance of the Council of Europe Mr Daniel POPESCU praised resilience and key role of local leaders and their authorities in addressing daily challenges and crisis consequences in Ukraine caused by the Russian military invasion. He emphasised on importance to draft Lviv Agglomeration development strategy in a participatory manner and to pursue win-win solutions as much as possible.

The Council of Europe will support this project through its Programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine” implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance of the Council of Europe.