On March 24-25, Kyiv hosted the final conference of the project “Support for the rapid economic recovery of Ukrainian municipalities” (SRER). The project lasted from 2022 to 2025 and was implemented by UNDP in Ukraine in cooperation with GIZ Ukraine with financial support from the German government.

Within the SRER project, the city of Zhytomyr implemented the subproject “Entrepreneurship Laboratory” and created:

• a production workshop for wood, metal, and polymer processing, prototyping, and small-scale production on the premises of the Professional College of Technical Innovation in Zhytomyr (5 Seletska St.);
• a coworking space – a modern office space with flexible usage for work, study, and networking for entrepreneurs (19/2 Kyivska St.).

The production workshop is already providing services to local businesses, and the coworking space is scheduled to open in April 2025.

Overall, the project resulted in:

• The creation of innovative business spaces and entrepreneurship support centers in nine communities of Ukraine;
• The restoration of water supply infrastructure in three communities to industrial zones where many micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are concentrated.

In addition, within the project, teams from all 12 municipalities underwent training to strengthen their capacity to implement recovery and economic potential development projects at the local level.

The conference served as a platform to discuss the project’s achievements, exchange experiences, and identify ways to further support local businesses in the target communities.

Photo: UNDP in Ukraine