News

On 10 November, the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning held a roundtable discussion in Volyn oblast titled “Practice of Administrative Service Centres: Current State and Prospects. Regional Dimension. Volyn.”

On 3 December 2025, in the city of Poltava, the Polaris Programme will hold the first regional forum titled “Building a System of Multilevel Governance”

This week, the Polaris Programme continued its systematic work with hromadas in implementing the senior specialised school reform and strengthening evidence-based management decisions in the education sector. Key issues included teacher certification, designing an optimal school network, and buildin ...

On 6–7 November, Kyiv hosted a two-day training “The Role of the Starosta in the Hromada: Tools for Strengthening Institutional Capacity” for representatives of four second-cohort Polaris partner hromadas: Rozdilna hromada (Odesa oblast), Kazanka hromada (Mykolaiv oblast), and Obukhiv and Borodianka ...

The report was developed by the Polaris team with the expertise of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR)

The end of October was an active period for the Education at the Local and Regional Levels area of the Swedish-Ukrainian Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine (Polaris) Programme. Two hromadas – Sarny (Rivne oblast) and Khotyn (Chernivtsi oblast) – became spaces for dialogue, partnership, and ...

From 28 to 30 October in Ivano-Frankivsk, the Swedish-Ukrainian Programme Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine (Polaris) held a training titled “Skills of a Modern ASC Specialist.”

The Education area of the Polaris Programme is introducing another innovative approach to professional collaboration among educators – pedagogical coworking. On 29–30 October, pedagogical coworkings were held in Obukhiv and Lubny – events that combined creativity, meaningful dialogue, and ...

Jakob Granit, Director-General of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), explored Dymer Hromada’s approaches to recovery and its partnership priorities within the Polaris Programme.

The role includes launching the pilot project, liaising between hromadas and national experts, and shaping and supporting delivery of the municipal enterprise support programme for 2026–2028. Applications are accepted until November 12, 2025

On 22–24 October, the Polaris Programme: Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine conducted a training “Principles and Capacities of Regional Associations in Ukraine in Building Multilevel Dialogue”

The Senior Education Policy Advisor will be focusing on the main long-term challenges to the education sector in Ukraine, arising from the unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine. Applications are accepted until November 10, 2025

The first five equipped vehicles were handed over to the Kherson Oblast Military Administration and the Sumy, Myrhorod, Korop, and Oleksandriia hromadas

The Memorandum of Cooperation outlines joint efforts across several key areas aimed at the recovery and sustainable development of the region.

On October 22, the First Gymnasium named after Matviy Nomyss in Lubny opened its doors for a new educational format – the first gymnasium retreat of the Polaris Program “Gymnasium Opportunities: From Practice to New Horizons,” an event that joined 70 participants.

On 21–22 October, a two-day training titled “The Role of the Starosta in the Hromada: Tools for Strengthening Institutional Capacity” took place in Rivne, organised by the Polaris Programme. The event brought together over 40 starostas from partner hromadas in Zhytomyr and Rivne oblasts.

In today’s context of constant change and new challenges for Ukrainian education, individual learning formats are becoming a key tool for ensuring continuity and quality of education for every student. Read more about individual learning, common school mistakes, and recent legislative changes in Ser ...

On 14–16 October, the team of the “Education at the Local and Regional Levels” area of the Polaris Programme continued a series of working visits to hromadas of the second wave of partnership.

On 16 October, the Polaris Programme held an online webinar “Specifics of Organising General Secondary Education in an Individual Format”. 

From 13 to 15 October, experts from the “Developing the Institutional Capacity of Starostas” area of Polaris Programme carried out a series of working visits to second-wave partner hromadas selected through a competitive process – Sarny, Rokytne, and Ostroh hromadas of Rivne Oblast.

As part of a working visit to Ukraine, Ryan Knox, Managing Director of SALAR International – the organisation implementing the Swedish–Ukrainian Programme Polaris “Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine” – met with Ivan Lukeria, Deputy Head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure ...

The European Week of Regions and Cities serves not only as a platform for experience exchange but also as a symbol of unity and shared values with European partners

Ivano-Frankivsk became a space of inspiration and professional growth for starostas from Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Chernivtsi oblasts. On 9–10 October, the training “The Role of the Starosta in the Hromada: Tools for Strengthening Institutional Capacity” was held as part of the Polaris Programme ...

On 8–9 October, the fifth educational retreat for 22 partner hromadas of the Swedish-Ukrainian Polaris Programme were held in the Solone Hromada, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The retreats traditionally combined immersion in real-life cases, open discussions, and creative practical sessions.

One year ago, the Polaris Programme Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine was launched

Polaris Programme launched a series of scenario planning workshops for its partner hromadas under the “Locally-led Recovery” area

Fifteen municipalities will receive resources for joint activities with their Swedish counterparts, with a total budget of EUR 150,000

On 29–30 September, experts of the Education area of the Polaris Programme signed Memoranda of Cooperation with the Teofipol hromada in Khmelnytskyi oblast and the Sarny hromada in Rivne oblast. These agreements opened a new stage of partnership for the development of the school network.

The preliminary recommendations of the Polaris Programme, discussed during the event with banks, local government associations, hromadas, and experts, will serve as a starting point for developing a Roadmap for boosting municipal investments

From 23 to 26 September, experts of the Polaris Programme visited Poltava, Ternopil, Lviv and Rivne oblasts to sign Memoranda of Cooperation with new partner hromadas and to launch joint work on senior secondary school reform.