Cities4Cities United4Ukraine

💥 🎉 Lviv Municipal Partnership Forum: highlights, plans, and plenty of photos Dear friends, partners, speakers and participants, These have been incredible days, full of warm encounters and meaningful discussions. Here are the key takeaways from our second Forum: As Jochen Richter said, "European integration is a long road. You need a good pair of shoes". 🔹 And, of course, good friends and partners. We welcomed 140 participants, including municipalities, diplomats and representatives of international organisations from six countries: Ukraine, Sweden, Germany, France, Austria and the US. 🔹 This year's forum marked the end of the "Academy of Project Management and International Cooperation" programme. Through this initiative, 15 Ukrainian municipalities have truly reached a new level of international cooperation. We would like to thank Martina Quick, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine , for her continued support of local government. Ms Martina highlighted the work of two important programmes: Polaris, "Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine" and "Strengthening Municipal Solid Waste Management in Ukraine". 🔹Among the Forum participants was Tony Ring, Chairman of Karlskoga kommun in Sweden, who had visited his twin city Shepetivka prior to the Forum. 🔹 Cities4Cities is launching an annual “Ambassador of Cities' Friendship” award. Edward Mayor, President of the French NGO Stand With Ukraine, was the first laureate of this new award. We are very proud of this collaboration! 🔹Another important announcement from the Forum is that Cities4Cities is strengthening its partnerships with municipalities in the USA. In December we will hear about new agreements between Ukraine and the USA. ❤️ We love you all! See you at the third Forum in 2025! The Forum was organised with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative (UCBI) and the Swedish-Ukrainian Polaris Programme “Support for Multilevel Governance in Ukraine”, implemented by SALAR International.

Martina Quick “Sweden continues to support decentralization and waste management reform in Ukraine” During the opening of the Municipal Partnership Forum in Lviv, Martina Quick, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, spoke about the main areas of support for local government. She also emphasized that municipal partnerships between Ukraine and Sweden can help solve many pressing issues for Ukraine: “Swedish municipalities have over 150 years of local government experience. Almost 30 years of EU membership experience. At the same time, municipal partnerships help Sweden better understand our common security challenges. Today, we know about 24 partnerships between Swedish and Ukrainian municipalities. It is important that the number of such partnerships grows.” The Cities4Cities United4Ukraine was co-founded by SALAR International in partnership with the city of Lviv in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion. As of today, the network has 53 partnerships with 7 European countries. Read more on the article: https://lnkd.in/d_635gFt The forum was organized with the support of the USAID Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative (UCBI) and the Swedish-Ukrainian Polaris Programme “Support to Multilevel Governance in Ukraine” implemented by SALAR International.

🇸🇪🇺🇦 The Chairman of the municipal board of the Swedish Karlskoga is currently in Shepetivka! Tony Ring is visiting Ukraine for the first time and is the second Swedish mayor to travel to his twin city during the full-scale war. Cities4Cities, with the support of SALAR International, first introduced Shepetivka City Council and Karlskoga kommun in the summer of last year. By early 2024, the municipalities signed a memorandum of cooperation. Between these milestones, there were many online meetings, and today, for the first time, the leaders of both cities, Tony Ring and Vitaliy Buzyl, met in person. For the Swedish mayor, it is particularly important to observe and learn about risk management and the protection of the civilian population. The municipalities share much in common, including defense industry facilities. The visit has already included meetings with all emergency response services, a tour of Shepetivka Multidisciplinary Hospital, visits to community utility enterprises, and a warm interaction with lyceum students.

🇺🇦🇫🇷 During the 2024 French Mayors' Congress, at least seven new Ukraine-France partnerships are being established. Just imagine the scale of the event for local government leaders: 10000 French mayors are attending this conference. 20 Ukrainian communities and their mayors are participating in it thanks to cooperation between Cities4Cities initiative and NGO Stand With Ukraine. Thanks to cooperation with Stand with Ukraine and Région Ile de France, the partnerships Boyarka — Palaiseau, Slavutych — Francoville, Gostomel — Vélizy-Villacoublay, Kruty — Santeny, Koryukivka — Chaville have already been born. 🤝 And these days, new partnerships are being born: Chuhuiv — Château — Thierry, Opishnya - Vallauris, Verkhivtseve — Baisieux. Also, Nosivka, Sosnytsia and Tarashcha met with representatives of the Ile-de-France region and are starting to develop cooperation with communities in this region. 🔥 The most important outcomes of the two intense days in Paris: 🔹 This year, a separate event was dedicated to the French-Ukrainian partnership 🔹 Seven Ukrainian communities were able to visit French communities and begin negotiations on partnership with French partners. 🔹The Ukrainian delegation met with representatives of French businesses. This is especially important, because France plans to support the reconstruction of Ukraine at the local level through joint projects  involving communities and businesses. 🔹 Meetings in the Senate and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to strengthen Ukrainian diplomacy and support of Ukraine during the war. Сities4Cities assisted the conference organizers: the Association of Mayors of France, the National Commission for Decentralized Cooperation, the French Regions, the French Departments and the NGO Stand with Ukraine, in coordinating the visit of a large Ukrainian delegation. We thank the President of Stand with Ukraine Edward Mayor and other partners for our fruitful cooperation and for dozens of municipal partnerships between our countries. Association des maires de France et des présidents d'intercommunalité SALAR International

🇺🇦 🤝 🇸🇪 Swedish Burlöv and Ukrainian Zlatopil become twin cities Spatial planning of the city, interaction between local organizations and entrepreneurs of both countries, experience in resilience and civil protection are of common interest to this partnership. Both cities are located near large district centers: Burlöv near Malmö in southern Sweden, and Zlatopil (formerly Pervomaisky) near the district center of Lozova in Kharkiv region. The agreement was signed by the heads of the municipalities, Sara Vestering and Mykola Baksheiev, during a visit of the Ukrainian municipality to their Swedish partner. Is the path to partnership a long one? January 2024 – Cities4Cities connected Burlöv and Zlatopil during an online meeting. 👉 September 2024 – a memorandum was signed during Zlatopil's visit to Burlöv. 💬 “Even before signing the memorandum, we, together with our Swedish colleagues, discussed plans to submit a project to the Swedish Institute for a grant to develop the terms of reference for the city’s spatial planning plan. Both cities have a fairly large department in this area. We even talked about the fact that if we do not win this grant, the Swedish municipality is ready to mentor us in the development of a spatial planning document,” says Mykola Baksheiev, Mayor of Zlatopil. Read about the unique aspects of this partnership in the article: https://lnkd.in/dE_BrQ6K Сities4Cities is a part of Sweden’s reform cooperation Programme Polaris “Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine”. SALAR International Burlövs kommun

Step into partnership potential — special pre-event Sweden-Ukraine Municipal Partnership Forum! 
 Over 20 municipalities in Sweden now have active partnerships with Ukrainian communities. The first Sweden-Ukraine Municipal Partnership Forum was held two years ago near Stockholm, marking a significant milestone in Swedish-Ukrainian municipal cooperation. The next Forum is scheduled for 2025, May 20-21, near Stockholm, bringing together mayors to foster new partnerships.
 Ahead of that, Cities4Cities Initiative is creating a special online pre-event on November 26. At this time, the mayor of Karlskoga will have just returned from a visit to Ukrainian Shepetivka, bringing insights and outcomes. Additionally, the mayor of Höör, a partner of Kopchyntsi, will join the event to present updates on their partnership projects. Save the date: November 26, 1 PM Swedish Time
 Duration: 1,5-hour
 Format: Online, Zoom
 Key topics of pre-event with guests in Lviv Studio: — best practices from already established Swedish-Ukrainian municipal partnerships; — how to find a Ukrainian partner for your municipality — funding and experience exchange opportunities for partnership projects
 Moderator:  Magnus Liljeström, SALAR International expert Speakers:  What can Swedish and Ukrainian cities learn from each other? Olga Petrova, adviser to the mayor of Shepetivka Tony Ring, Chair of Municipal board of the City of Karlskoga Joint projects between Swedish and Ukrainian cities: where to start? Johan Svahnberg, mayor of Höörs kommun, Sweden Bohdan Kelichaviy, mayor of Kopychyntsi City Council, Ukraine How to find a partner in Ukraine? Cities4Cities: your back office for setting up and supporting partnerships Marta Suprun, Cities4Cities international cooperation expert Please, save the date — November 26, and join the event by the link in Zoom: https://lnkd.in/dYrPyBSA And add to the Google Calendar: https://lnkd.in/gnNfbis5

Cities4Cities is looking for an International Cooperation Expert! What if you could introduce 10 mayors from Sweden and Ukraine or help Ukrainian municipalities work on the European Week of Cities and Regions next autumn? It is interesting to work with us because: - Your work will create opportunities for cooperation between European and Ukrainian municipalities, help to raise support for the recovery of Ukrainian municipalities and strengthen their cooperation with the EU. - You will work with European municipalities, international organisations, and associations, creating valuable international links. - You will participate in European forums with delegations of local government leaders and organise events, including in Stockholm. We offer: - A close-knit and bold team; - A really warm and creative atmosphere; - The opportunity to work in an international initiative based in Lviv(Ukraine); An international contract and a competitive salary. Applications will be accepted until 25 November and reviewed on a rolling basis. Details on the website: https://lnkd.in/dHANcrxF SALAR International

Our partner Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is calling for action — join our EU-Ukraine municipal partnership network!

The delegation of association leaders met with representatives of the European Committee of the Regions and discussed specific tools for involving local governments in the negotiation process. According to Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Chair of the CoR Working Group on Ukraine, an important step should be the establishment of the Joint Consultative Committee: “During the next mandate, I would really like not only to recreate the Working Group, but also to create a Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) for Ukraine here in the Committee of the Regions. This may not be more powerful, but it is certainly more substantial. For example, we have JCCs with Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and other countries." To maintain parity, the JCC consists of an equal number of representatives of the European Committee of the Regions and representatives of local government associations. For example, the JCC Montenegro has already had 16 meetings since 2019. These meetings are a vital link between the EU institutions and local authorities in the EU candidate countries. It is a platform for dialogue and consultation, as 70% of EU policies are implemented on the ground. The Joint Consultative Committee should be established in Ukraine as soon as possible. In particular, this is why Cities4Cities organized an advocacy visit of the leaders of Ukrainian local government associations to Brussels as part of #EURegionsWeek, with the support of the Swedish flagship Polaris Program “Support to Multi-level Governance in Ukraine". SALAR International

Leaders of Ukrainian local government associations are working in Brussels this week. The visit is part of the European Week of Regions and Cities, the largest event on local development in the EU. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen the role of local governments and local government associations in the process of Ukraine's European integration. Thanks to Cities4Cities, with the support of the Polaris Program “Support to Multi-Level Governance in Ukraine,” the leaders of the All-Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities, the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities, and the Ukrainian Association of Rayon and Oblast Councils will meet with representatives of the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, European local government associations, and colleagues from various European countries. According to experts from the Swedish Association of Local and Regional Authorities, almost 70% of EU legislation has a direct impact on local development in member states. Meet us at the European Week of Regions and Cities and follow the news on our pages - we will introduce you to the most pressing issues of community and regional development in the EU! SALAR International