400 thousand euros for a revitalized park — this is the amount Iryna Tochena, Head of the Economic Development Department of Horodok City Council in Lviv region, together with her team the USAID HOVERLA Activity support, attracted through the cross-border program Interreg NEXT Poland-Ukraine 2021-2027. Iryna, a true champion in grant applications, has submitted over 100 projects, with 20 successfully implemented. Winning Interreg NEXT was her professional dream come true.

---

This story is part of the Governance Champions campaign by the USAID HOVERLA Activity. It is a series of publications dedicated to Local Government Day featuring professionals who bring outstanding results to the community through their daily work.

 

 

Iryna joined the Horodok community's local government from its inception, aiming to modernize her hometown's schools, hospitals, and parks. As the head of the economic development and investment department, she and her team diligently applied for international grants to support community development.

"The community's financial resources are limited, especially during wartime. Writing grant applications allows us to attract international funding for our community's growth," says Iryna.

 

 

Together with her team, Iryna has submitted more than 100 projects. 20 of them in various fields - education, social, and healthcare - have already been successfully implemented. With grant funds, the community equipped a sensory room for children with disabilities and purchased rehabilitation equipment for them. The desire to provide the community with even more modern services motivates project manager Iryna Tochena to work even in particularly difficult circumstances:

“I remember, before February 24, we were preparing an application for the Kusanone program of the Japanese government. When the invasion began, I came to work on Sunday and decided that if we had such developments, how could we leave them behind? So I sat down and finished everything. I prepared all the necessary documents, scanned them, and sent them in. I wrote the following sentence in the application: “Ukrainians deserve a good quality of life.” We won with this project.”,  — recalling Iryna.

When Iryna surveyed the community’s development strategy, she revealed a desire for parks and recreation areas, inspiring Irina to revitalize a neglected central park. Many residents voted for creating parks and recreation areas. So Iryna started writing a project to modernize an abandoned park in the center of Horodok. Now this park is inaccessible, the paths have been destroyed by tree roots, and there is no grass - only tall trees that break during storms.

“I support the reconstruction of the park with both hands. Right now, what we have is not a park, but a thicket in the city center, which is not suitable for a European community” says Roman Opalynskyi, a resident of the Horodok community.

 

 

With a clear vision of how to reconstruct this park, Iryna applied for the Interreg NEXT Poland-Ukraine 2021-2027 cross-border program, where Horodok joined forces with the Polish city of Siedlce and Pryvilne from Rivne Oblast. HOVERLA training and consultations helped them to prepare the grant application correctly:

“There were specific tips on how to develop a communication strategy, and how to develop documentation, taking into account that the project does not cover value-added tax. It was very valuable to learn from colleagues who had real practical experience and had won such projects themselves,” says Iryna.

Iryna's project was recognized as one of the 10 best, and 400 thousand euros were allocated for its implementation. With these funds, Horodok plans to turn an old abandoned park into a modern eco-space. New trees and shrubs will be planted here, a stream and gazebos will be arranged, and barrier-free entrances and benches with armrests will be equipped to make the park accessible to all residents. They also plan to organize eco-picnics and eco-activities for the community's students.

“There are so many processes in this project: procurement, planning, financials, and reporting - a real living organism. We will not only restore the park, but also conduct environmental workshops, and our students will go to study with our partners,” Iryna summarizes.

The plan is to completely transform this place into a magnet that will attract residents and tourists to come here for recreation in two years.

The USAID HOVERLA Activity helps to build the institutional potential of local governments through the professional development of their officials, supporting the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development’s efforts in strengthening the capacity and self-sufficiency of Ukrainian communities.