4. 6. 2019 | PR, U-LEAD: with Europe
The Centre for European Perspective has hosted its 6th International Study Visit of Ukrainian Local officials in Slovenia. The event begun on Monday, 27th of May at Jable Castle and lasted for 5 days.
The topic of the visit was “Local Economic Development”. Local economic development is one of the key issues for ensuring the success of the decentralization process in Ukraine. However, the number of enterprises and economic activity at the local level remains very low. It concerns both the lack of enterprises in general and the problem of registration outside the place of operation.
14 local officials from Ukraine have taken part in the study visit, coming from different spheres, ranging from Project coordinators, Directors of Regional Councils, Heads of amalgamated hromadas, Heads of financial units in amalgamated hromadas, Starosta in hromadas, Economists of units on humanitarian issues, family, youth and sports in amalgamated hromadas councils, state registrars in land issues, Deputy heads of the Department of economic policy, State Experts on interregional and cross-border cooperation and Leaders of the Expert Group on strategic planning of regional development.
The first day started by an opening delivered by Andrii Borodenkov and Oleksandra Yanushevska from the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Slovenia, who have been present in all of the study visits so far. They gave an overview of Slovenia and doing business in Slovenia. Meliha Muherina, Project Manager at CEP, followed their introductory remarks with an overview of the agenda for the following days and answered all the questions participants had.
The first lecture of the day was given by Mr. Robert Drobnič, discussing the topic of Regional Development Planning. He focused on planning of regional development, implementation of national programs, implementation of EU programs and Social Entrepreneurship.
The second lecture was given by mag. Peter Medved, who focused on East and West Slovenia Cohesion Region Development Councils, the Functioning of development councils of cohesion regions, Initiating consultations, coordination, cooperation and joint action of ministries, development regions and development partners in the development region (representatives of municipalities, the economy and the non-governmental sector).
The third and last lecture of the day was given by Dr. Boštjan Grabner, on Development Agency of Savinjska Region, where he gave an insight to regional sustainable development in Slovenia; National and international regional development; connecting and developing partnerships for sustainable development; finding financial resources and promotion of the region.
The following days were full of practical experiences Participants started the second days with a lecture on Social Entrepreneurship at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, delivered by Urška Bitenc. Her lecture was followed by visit to two social entrepreneurships, Skuhna in Ljubljana and Pomelaj in Mala Polana. The third day was started by a lecture delivered by representatives of the Slovene Enterprise Fund in Maribor who presented their line of work, the process of finding financial resources for different development, business projects and business cooperation with domestic and international financial institutions. On the fourth day a lecture by Association of Municipalities and towns of Slovenia was delivered by Barbara Horvat who gave the participants an overview on what they do, their national and international activities, presented the sections of city municipalities, the section with the Administrative Unit headquarters and the sectiones of other communities.
One of the most important parts of the Study Visits are also long-term agreements for cooperation. During this study visit two Letters of intent were signed between:
- Mayor Roman Hrynus from Bibrka, Ukraine and Mayor Janez Kramberger from Lenart, Slovenia and
- Municipality of Hajdina and Zabolotsi (Ukrainian: Заболотці) village in Brodivskyi Raion, Lviv Oblast, from western Ukraine.
The visit is taking place in the framework of the multi-donor action U-LEAD established by the European Union and its Member States Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. It aims at contributing to the establishment of multilevel governance that is transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the population of Ukraine. U-LEAD with Europe is supporting the Ukrainian Government, represented by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine (MinRegion) as a key political partner in the coordination and implementation of the decentralization and regional policy reforms. The Program carries out demand-driven and targeted trainings for officials at the national, regional and local level.
27. 5. 2019 | PR, U-LEAD: with Europe
Centre for European Perspective is hosting its 6th International Study Visit in Slovenia. The event begun on Monday, 27th of May at Jable Castle and will continue throughout the week.
The topic of the visit is “Local Economic Development”. Local economic development is one of the key issues for ensuring the success of the decentralization process in Ukraine. However, the number of enterprises and economic activity at the local level remains very low. It concerns both the lack of enterprises in general and the problem of registration outside the place of operation.
There are currently 14 local officials from Ukraine taking part in the study visit. Participants are coming from different spheres, ranging from Project coordinators, Directors of Regional Councils, Heads of amalgamated hromadas, Heads of financial units in amalgamated hromadas, Starosta in hromadas, Economists of units on humanitarian issues, family, youth and sports in amalgamated hromadas councils, state registrars in land issues, Deputy head of Department of economic policy, State Expert on interregional and cross-border cooperation and Leaders of Expert Group on strategic planning of regional development.
The first day started by an opening delivered by Andrii Borodenkov and Oleksandra Yanushevska from the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Slovenia, who have been present in all of the study visits so far. They gave an overview of Slovenia, doing business in Slovenia. Meliha Muherina, Project Manager at CEP, followed their introductory remarks with an overview of the agenda for the following days and answered all the questions participants had.
First lecture of the day was given by Mr. Robert Drobnič, discussing the topic of Regional Development Planning. He focused on planning regional development, implementation of national programs, implementation of EU programs and Social Entrepreneurship.
The second lecture was given by mag. Peter Medved, who focused on East and West Slovenia Cohesion Region Development Councils, the Functioning of development councils of cohesion regions, Initiating consultations, coordination, cooperation and joint action of ministries, development regions and development partners in the development region (representatives of municipalities, the economy and the non-governmental sector).
Third and last lecture of the day was given by Dr. Boštjan Grabner, on Development Agency of Savinjska Region, where he gave an insight to regional sustainable development in Slovenia; National and international regional development; connecting and developing partnerships for sustainable development; finding financial resources and promotion of the region.
The visit is taking place in the framework of the multi-donor action U-LEAD established by the European Union and its Member States Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. It aims at contributing to the establishment of multilevel governance that is transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the population of Ukraine. U-LEAD with Europe is supporting the Ukrainian Government, represented by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine (MinRegion) as a key political partner in the coordination and implementation of the decentralization and regional policy reforms. The Program carries out demand-driven and targeted trainings for officials at the national, regional and local level.
17. 5. 2019 | PR, U-LEAD: with Europe
Centre for European Perspective has this week hosted the 5th International Study Visit in Slovenia, that began on Monday, 13th of May at Jable Castle and concluded on 17th of May in Graz.
There were 17 local officials, entrepreneurs and business associations from Ukraine taking part in the study visit. The topic of the visit was “Role of Business Organisation’s cooperation with local communities”.
The first day started by an opening delivered by our Executive Director Katja Geršak who welcomed the participants and introduced keynote speakers, mag. Aleš Cantarutti, State Secretary and Marko Drofenik, Director General from Directorate for Regional Development, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Slovenia. All the speakers welcomed our participants and expressed their satisfaction that such projects are happening and hope they will continue in a meaningful manner. We were also thrilled to host Andrii Borodenkov and Oleksandra Yanushevska from the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Slovenia, who have been present in all of the study visits so far. The content part of the visit started by a presentation delivered by Irena Meter, from SPIRIT Slovenia – Public Agency for Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Foreign Investments and Technology, who focused on incentives for companies in Slovenia, its program and activities. She was followed by Zoran Stamatovski, who focused on Systemic approach to business environment development; Small business assistance programs and Local communities in developing business environment. Third on the agenda was Gorazd Jenko, expert on Smart specializations strategy of Slovenia from the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, who focused on Challenges of Slovenia and answers form the S3 strategy, Projects under the S3 strategy and Bilateral national and local partnerships. Last but not least, participants were addressed by Matej Rogelj from Chamber of commerce and Industry of Slovenia, who focused on Forms of organization of associations and chambers; Local and regional forms of associations and Cooperation between Private and Public Sector.
After a successful first day, full of background knowledge for following days, participants had a chance to experience the mentioned topics in practice. The full second day was spent in Kamnik, where we were kindly welcomed by Local Entrepreneurs club Kamnik, Kik Štarter, TIC Kamnik and Mayor of the Municipality Mr. Matej Slapar. We are also very proud of two Letters of Intent that were signed that day, signalizing a will for cooperation continuation. Letters of Intent were signed between Aleš Juhant, Vice President of Business Club Kamnik, Mykola Savulyak, Business Community Club from Ukraine and Tetiana Palamarchuk, Executive director of Union of Ukrainian entrepreneurs. We are looking forward to the future and hearing how the events will develop for them.
The third day of the event was spent with a visit to Technology Park Ljubljana where participants were greeted by the Director of the Technology park, Mr. Cerar Matej. The setting of the activities in that afternoon was the city center of Ljubljana, where the participants were introduced to investment and development plans for the city while exploring it´s hidden treasures. They were familiarized with such projects as the old town renewal and the city renewal, found out about traffic that is closed in the city center and the impact of the projects on small business.
The fourth morning started very early with a business breakfast with BNI Slovenia, followed by a trip to Graz. In Graz participants were greeted by many speakers, ranging from municipality representatives, local business coordinators, Ukrainian Honorary Consul and others. The topics of discussion were: The city of Graz and the region Styria as business location and co-operations, clusters, co-working in the area; Political agenda and export support also with local subsidies and other initiatives to support companies; Strategy of the Internationalization Centre Styria. The visit was finalized with a short summary of everything discussed, feedback session and certificates ceremony.
The visit is taking place in the framework of the multi-donor action U-LEAD established by the European Union and its Member States Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. It aims to contribute to the establishment of multilevel governance that is transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the population of Ukraine. U-LEAD with Europe is supporting the Ukrainian Government, represented by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine (MinRegion) as a key political partner, in the coordination and implementation of the decentralization and regional policy reforms. The Program carries out demand-driven and targeted trainings for officials at the national, regional and local level.
13. 5. 2019 | PR, U-LEAD: with Europe
Centre for European Perspective is hosting the 5th International Study Visit in Slovenia this week. The event begun on Monday, 13th of May at Jable Castle.
There are currently 17 local officials, entrepreneurs and business associations from Ukraine taking part in the study visit. The topic of the visit is “Role of Business Organisation’s cooperation with local communities”.
The first day started by an opening delivered by our Executive Director Katja Geršak who welcomed the participants and introduced keynote speakers, mag. Aleš Cantarutti, State Secretary and Marko Drofenik, Director General from the Directorate for Regional Development, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Slovenia. All the speakers welcomed our participants, expressed their satisfaction that such projects are happening, and hope they will continue in a meaningful manner.
We were also thrilled to host Andrii Borodenkov and Oleksandra Yanushevska from the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Slovenia, who have been present in all of the study visits so far.
The content part of the visit started by a presentation delivered by Irena Meter, from SPIRIT Slovenia – Public Agency for Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Foreign Investments and Technology, who focused on incentives for companies in Slovenia, its program and activities. The presentation that followed was organized by Zoran Stamatovski, who focused on Systemic approach to business environment development; Small business assistance programs and Local communities in the developing business environment.
Third on the agenda was Gorazd Jenko, expert on Smart specialization strategy of Slovenia from the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, who focused on Challenges of Slovenia and answers from the S3 strategy, projects under the S3 strategy, bilateral national and local partnerships.
Finally, participants were addressed by Matej Rogelj from Chamber of commerce and Industry of Slovenia, who focused on Forms of organization in associations and chambers; Local and regional forms of associations and Cooperation between the Private and Public Sector.
In the following days, the participants will learn more about doing business in Slovenia and about Slovenian business associations. They will meet representatives from the Local Entrepreneurs Club in Kamnik, visit their incubator Kik Štarter, as well as Technology Park Ljubljana, join a business breakfast with Local Business Global Network, meet the mayor of Kamnik and visit Graz and the region of Styria.
The visit is taking place in the framework of the multi-donor action U-LEAD established by the European Union and its Member States Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. It aims at contributing to the establishment of multilevel governance that is transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the population of Ukraine. U-LEAD with Europe is supporting the Ukrainian Government, represented by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine (MinRegion) as a key political partner in the coordination and implementation of the decentralization and regional policy reforms. The Program carries out demand-driven and targeted trainings for officials at the national, regional and local level.
29. 3. 2019 | PR, U-LEAD: with Europe, Waste management
On 28th of March, the fourth study visit “Travel to Know – Travel to Change” in the framework of „U-LEAD with Europe – Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development” programme concluded with a closing ceremony in Krško.
The visit took place between 24th and 28th of March 2019 with 18 public officials from Ukraine visiting Ljubljana, Logatec, Vrhnika, Celje and Krško under the patronage of U-LEAD with Europe Programme. The project on the topic of waste management – “Upgrading Municipal Waste Management Services” – helps key actors of 36 selected amalgamated hromadas (AH) in three Ukrainian regions (Dnipropetrovsk, Volyn and Zhytomyr) to implement green approaches in the waste management sector and to obtain knowledge about the best practices of transparent and accountable waste management services, which is responsive to the needs of population.
The fourth international study visit put an emphasis on positive and negative cases of implementation of efficient waste management in Slovenia. Participants learned more about the experience in municipal waste management planning, municipal waste collection, treatment and disposal options during the visits to waste management companies Snaga Ljubljana, Kemis Vrhnika and Kostak Krško. Visiting a modern incineration and a waste treatment plant in Celje (Toplarna Celje) gave the participants an opportunity to get acquainted with new technologies that could be taken into consideration for further contribution of AHs to the regional waste management planning.
The fourth study visit was especially fruitful for Deputy Head of Krynychanska amalgamated territorial community from Ukraine, Mrs Trotsenko and the Mayor of Logatec, Mr Menard, who signed the letter of intent for cooperation during the visit to the Municipality of Logatec. The participants also met with the Mayor of Krško, Mr Stanko, who received the group and met with Mr Yevtukh, Deputy Head of Yemilchynska amalgamated territorial community, with whom they discussed the possibility for cooperation in the future.
The multi-donor action U-LEAD of the European Union and its Member States Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden was established in order to carry out demand-driven and targeted training for officials at the national, regional and local level.
See the photo gallery of the project below.
25. 3. 2019 | PR, U-LEAD: with Europe, Waste management
U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme 4th international study visit that Slovenia is hosting began on Monday, 25th of March at Jable castle.
There are currently 18 public officials from Ukraine taking part in the fourth study visit from three Ukrainian regions: Dnipropetrovsk, Volyn and Zhytomyr. The topic of the visit is waste management and the visit is a part of the project “Upgrading Municipal Waste Management Services”, which helps key actors of 36 selected amalgamated hromadas in the mentioned Ukrainian regions to implement green approaches in the waste management sector.
Participants began their visit with an introduction day at Jable Castle, where they were welcomed by CEP Executive Director Ms Katja Geršak, Ms Andreja Purkart Martinez from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr Andrii Borodenkov, First Secretary from the Embassy of Ukraine in Slovenia.
First day at Jable castle kicked-off with an activity organized by the moderator of the visit, Ms Meliha Muherina and a lecture on the topic of waste management in Slovenia by Dr Lucija Jurić Soršak from the Ministry for Environment and Spatial Planning , a lecture on EU approach to waste management and extended producer responsibility by Mag Radovan Tavzes, former director general of the directorate for environment. Ms Tatjana Orhini-Valjavec then led an active lecture on efficient use of resources and circular economy.
In the following days, the participants will learn more about the role of NGOs in efficient waste management and the importance of communication between the community and the municipality. They will also be able to experience Slovenian waste management in practice, as they will visit Snaga Ljubljana, Kemis Vrhnika, RCERO Celje, Toplarna Celje and Kostak Krško. The participants will also meet with the Mayor of Logatec and the Mayor of Krško.
The visit is taking place in the framework of the multi-donor action U-LEAD established by the European Union and its Member States Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. It is aimed to contribute to the establishment of multilevel governance that is transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the population of Ukraine. U-LEAD with Europe is supporting the Ukrainian Government, represented by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine (MinRegion) as a key political partner, in the coordination and implementation of the decentralisation and regional policy reforms. The Programme carries out demand-driven and targeted trainings for officials at the national, regional and local level.
