15 communities from all over Ukraine came to Lviv for the introductory seminar of the "Academy of Project Management and International Cooperation" — a six-month program of the Cities4Cities initiative | United4Ukraine. The goal of the project is to strengthen the capacity of communities to implement international projects and establish cooperation among Ukrainian municipalities through mentoring support.

These winners will receive enhanced mentoring support, training from practitioners, and a stipend of UAH 120,000 for the development of project teams:

• Dnipropetrovsk region: Apostoliv urban territorial community, Nikopol city territorial community
• Zaporizhzhia region: Shyrokivska rural community
• Kyiv region: Bila Tserkva urban community
• Lviv region: Novorozdilska urban community
• Odesa region: Kuyalnytska rural community, Shabivska rural community
• Rivne region: Hoshchanska settlement community,Zdolbuniv urban community
• Sumy region: Okhtyrka urban community, Sumy city community
• Kharkiv region: Pervomaisk city community, Rohanska settlement community, Slobozhanska settlement community, Chuhuiv city community.

"With this project, we want to bring 15 communities to a qualitatively new level of project management and international cooperation. Most of all, we strive to make knowledge about project management and international cooperation publicly available, because today these are skills that communities desperately need. And most importantly, we want the horizontal connections that are created thanks to this project between communities from the west, east, south and north to develop and bear their fruits independent of the project", — Marta Suprun, expert on international cooperation Cities4Cities | United4Ukraine.

Cooperation is not just words. During the introductory seminar, the partnership agreement was signed by the mayors of Okhtyrka, Sumy region, and Kopychyntsi, Ternopil region, Pavlo Kuzmenko and Bohdan Kelichaviy. As part of the academy, the Okhtyrka community will take over the experience of international cooperation from Kopychyntsi.

The mayors of Kopychyntsi and Okhtyrka during the signing of the agreement

At an inspired morning meeting, the Mayor of Lviv invited Academy participants to join the UNBROKEN Cities network — a union of cities from around the world to support and develop rehabilitation in Ukraine. It should be noted that Manchester, Liverpool and Lviv are the founding cities and the first participants of the international network.

"Always have a few contingency plans. In times of crisis, it is important to know the responsible services you are working with. Surround yourself with people you can learn from. Be inspired by successful practices and have the responsibility to do your best in your community," - Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wished the academy participants.

Participants of the Academy of Project Management at a meeting with the Mayor of Lviv

The Academy of Intermunicipal Cooperation and Project Management» is organized by the Cities4Cities | United4Ukraine initiative with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative (UCBI).

Cities4Cities | United4Ukraine are partner initiatives that joined forces in September 2022. Cities4Cities was founded by the city of Sindelfinden (Germany) under the patronage of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. United4Ukraine was launched by SALAR International and the city of Lviv (Ukraine) with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).