The second strategic session on restoration and development of macro-regions was held in Cherkasy region
A strategic session was held on December 20 as part of the update of Cherkasy Region Development Strategy 2021-2027. The event was attended by the Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Ryabykin, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Andriy Vitrenko, People’s Deputies of Ukraine, UNDP project manager Anastasia Korobai, representatives of National Institute for Strategic Studies, representatives of Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regional state administrations, directors of Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regional development agencies, heads and representatives of territorial communities, and experts. About 50 people took part in the event.
As Oleksiy Ryabykin, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, noted during his speech, such strategic sessions are important in the formation of state policy, because ministries must listen to the needs of regions and territorial communities. All the resources that the regions will receive must be correlated with regional development strategies. He also added that the central macro-region is a region of concentration of labor resources.
Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Andriy Vitrenko emphasized the importance of the educational sector in strategic planning of the development of regions and the formation of an optimal network of educational institutions.
Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions presented the state of their strategic planning.
“Despite the obstacles caused by the war, we do not stop and move on. After all, Cherkasy region is a land of great power!” – noted Oleksandr Turchenyak, Deputy Head of Cherkasy Regional State Administration. He presented an analysis of the potential of Cherkasy region, in particular industry, agriculture, foreign economic and international activities. He outlined the results of the implementation of current Cherkasy Region Development Strategy and focused attention on the priorities that will be in the updated Strategy.
During the discussion of each of the presentations, the participants of the strategic session focused on the features inherent in each of the regions.
The participants of the event identified steps to improve coordination between the regional and local levels, and also discussed the mobilization of resources for recovery.
At the end of the event, Pavlo Ostapenko, an expert in territorial development and local self-government, the Head of Public Organization “Ukrainian Researchers Society”, presented the Concept of reforming the system of strategic planning of regional development. The main idea of the Concept is a four-level classification of territories: macro-regions, functional types of territories, subtypes of functional types of territories, and classes. Within the framework of the Concept, a hierarchy of development priorities and strategies was also presented.
ФОТО
This strategic session was the second in a series of planned events, the first one was held on December 16 in Lviv, the next ones will take place in Kropyvnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Kamianets-Podilskyi, and Kharkiv. A series of sessions allows to comprehensively analyze the state of regional planning, identify strengths and weaknesses, and develop effective tools for their elimination.
The initiative is implemented as part of a joint project of UNDP and Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, with the financial support of the Japanese Government. The main goal is the development of effective mechanisms to support regional development and recovery of the country in wartime conditions.