Representatives of 11 communities participated in a study visit to Ternopil on March 20, 2025, to learn from the successful experience of the Ternopil City Council in implementing the “Being an Entrepreneur is Easy” project and establishing the public open business space “OpenSpace Ternopil.”
The visit was organized by the Association of Ukrainian Cities as part of the “Support for Rapid Economic Recovery of Ukrainian Municipalities” (SRER) project, funded by the German government and implemented by GIZ in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine.
The study visit included representatives from communities that have also implemented local initiatives within the project, including Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Zviahel, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lozova, Lutsk, Rivne, Stryi, Smila, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv.
Serhiy Nadal – Head of the Ternopil Regional Office of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, Mayor of Ternopil
Mustafa Sait-Ametov – Head of the Regional Development Program at UNDP Ukraine
Oleksandr Slobozhan – Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities
Tetiana Korchak – Head of the Department of Economy, Industry, and Labor of the Ternopil City Council
Iryna Romaniv – Head of the Communications Department at the Digital Transformation and Media Communications Office of the Ternopil City Council
Volodymyr Vasylevskyi – Director of the NGO “Institute for Sustainable Regional Development”
Anastasiia Paperniak – Entrepreneur
Viktoriia Homzik – Entrepreneur in the marketing and communications industry, SMM and communications expert
Maryna Teplova – Monitoring expert at the Association of Ukrainian Cities
Maryana Kononchuk – Sustainability expert at the Association of Ukrainian Cities, Executive Director of the Volyn Regional Office of the Association of Ukrainian Cities
Serhiy Nadal expressed his gratitude for the continuous and reliable support of the German government, the GIZ company, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, Mustafa Sait-Ametov personally, as well as the project’s partners, including the Association of Ukrainian Cities and Oleksandr Slobozhan personally, for facilitating the project’s implementation. The Mayor of Ternopil emphasized the importance of supporting businesses and the value of the newly created business space for Ternopil:
“Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of Ternopil’s economy. We support them and appreciate that, despite the war, they have not stopped but continue to grow, create new jobs, open enterprises, and operate. A crucial experience is that the city has learned to be a partner and a friend to businesses, which is essential for development. We now want to focus more on supporting people returning from the front, particularly in developing veteran businesses. ‘Open Space’ is another step toward supporting small and medium-sized businesses, both for beginners and those who have been operating for a long time. In this space, entrepreneurs can meet, learn, network with colleagues, and exchange experiences. I hope that ‘Open Space’ will become the permanent, living economic heart of our city.”
Mustafa Sait-Ametov expressed his gratitude to the donors, particularly the German people and the German government, who fund numerous projects in Ukraine, all project partners, including the Association of Ukrainian Cities, and the city councils of the target communities for their high-quality work, which has yielded fruitful results.
“This project is special because it combines an infrastructure component with one aimed at strengthening the capacity and economic resilience of communities. The SRER project is based on three pillars: infrastructure, capacity building, and communication with experience exchange. The study visit will help promote all three elements, as the event includes learning components by allowing participants to see what has been accomplished in Ternopil, adopt best practices, actively communicate with colleagues and partners, form horizontal connections, and continue municipal communication to share new solutions and opportunities. We remain committed to assisting Ukrainian communities, as they are the foundation of Ukraine’s recovery and development,” said Mustafa Sait-Ametov.
Oleksandr Slobozhan expressed his gratitude to the donors and project implementers—the German government, GIZ, and UNDP in Ukraine—for facilitating the rapid recovery of Ukrainian municipalities and presented a unique publication:
“The value of the electronic publication ‘Algorithms for Implementing Rapid Economic Recovery Projects: Experience of 12 Ukrainian Municipalities’ lies in the fact that it provides a detailed roadmap for implementing rapid economic recovery projects that have been carried out in communities within the SRER project. The publication includes an overview of key initiatives aimed at local business development and community economic resilience, as well as an analysis of results and recommendations for further application of successful practices. The Association of Ukrainian Cities will replicate these important developments among 1,071 municipalities.”
The Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities also thanked the team of the Ternopil City Council, particularly Ternopil Mayor Serhiy Nadal, for successfully implementing the local initiative and wished for the successful development of the “OpenSpace Ternopil” business hub for the benefit of the community residents.
Here is the translation of the text into English:
Tetiana Korchak presented the results of the implementation of the project “Support for Ternopil City Council for Economic Recovery through the Implementation of the Project Initiative ‘Being an Entrepreneur is Easy’ (SRER Ternopil).” She shared the journey of the project from idea to realization, the conclusions made during the process and at the end of the project’s implementation in Ternopil, informed about the main achievements, and provided advice for other municipalities regarding the implementation of similar projects.
Iryna Romaniv shared a unique communication strategy, talked about the use of the Ternopil City Council’s brand and the promotion of the space, particularly through the “E-Ternopil” app, shared the experience of cooperation with the media, and presented a catalog of local product manufacturers developed within the project.
Volodymyr Vasylevskyi spoke about effective networking for public organizations aimed at establishing communication between entrepreneurs and the public.
Anastasia Papernyak shared the experience of how the created business space, which became a meeting place for the active business community, is facilitating collaboration among local entrepreneurs.
Viktoriya Homzyk talked about the tools of effective communication and ways of marketing support, sharing information about the advocacy campaign and thematic meetings with bloggers and opinion leaders.
Marina Teplova shared the specifics of achieving the target indicators as a result of implementing the “SRER Ternopil” project: she justified the choice of indicators, analyzed the achievement of goals, and confirmed the success of the initiative “Being an Entrepreneur is Easy.”
Maryana Kononchuk presented the electronic publication on the successes of the SRER project: “Support for Rapid Economic Recovery: The Experience of 12 Ukrainian Municipalities.”
The event was moderated by the Deputy Director of the Municipal Non-Commercial Enterprise “City of Innovations,” Nataliya Shast.
The moderator demonstrated to the participants the “Open Space Ternopil” area: the results of the redevelopment of a municipal space of 1187 m2, taking into account the needs of people with limited mobility, with the creation of a modern multimedia conference hall with a transformer partition for holding mass events for up to 150 people, a showroom for presenting local products, a coworking space for 25 people, and creative workshops for industrial design and urban studies.
As part of the event, a master class was held, during which participants of the study visit created unique items by hand: sewing in patchwork style, learning leather embossing, and mastering the technique of heat printing.
The study visit was the final event of the second comprehensive Educational Program organized by the Association of Ukrainian Cities.
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5 webinars held between January and March 2025
2 two-day training sessions in Kyiv for representatives of the winning municipalities
A study visit to a municipality that successfully implemented a local initiative
The Association of Ukrainian Cities is one of the partners of the SRER Project, which aims to strengthen the capacity of municipalities and local project teams in Ukraine.
This material was created by the Association of Ukrainian Cities within the framework of the “Support for Rapid Economic Recovery of Ukrainian Municipalities” (SRER) Project, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine with the support of the international cooperation project ReACT4UA (“Application and Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in Trade”), funded by the Government of Germany and implemented by the German federal company Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The opinions, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this document belong to the authors and compilers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Germany, GIZ, UNDP, or other UN agencies.
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