On 29-30 April 2026 in Kyiv, the Community Recovery Academy, a nationwide training centre for municipal officials to contribute to the recovery of Ukraine, held the last of five workshops of its second cohort . The event marked the concluding stage of a comprehensive training programme carried out from October 2025 to April 2026 with the Congress support, bringing together representatives of communities from 17 regions of Ukraine.
The programme was designed to strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian communities to effectively respond to recovery challenges in wartime conditions and to lay the groundwork for sustainable development. Throughout the training, participants mastered modern strategic planning tools, enhanced their skills in mobilising financial and human resources, and worked on building effective co-operation between local governments, international partners, and civil society. Particular attention was paid to developing sustainable solutions that support the rapid restoration of infrastructure and create conditions for long-term community development.
During the final workshop, participants presented their projects, received expert evaluations and practical recommendations for further refinement and implementation. The event also served as a platform for knowledge exchange, expanding professional networks, and outlining concrete steps for putting the developed initiatives into practice at the local level.
The Community Recovery School was founded by the Association of Ukrainian Cities and the CSO "Mariupol.Reborn" with the support of the project "Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine's recovery", implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" 2023-2026 by the Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. The initiative is implemented in partnership with Metinvest, System Capital Management and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
