The Centre of Expertise for Good Governance and the Polish Foundation in Support of Local Democracy (FSLD) continue to implement the Leadership Academy Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation (LAP for CBC) for the bordering local authorities of Ukraine and Poland. The LAP is carried out with an active participation of the CoE Programme “Decentralisation and local government reform in Ukraine”, also implemented by the Centre of Expertise.

The Academy aims at raising awareness of the existing opportunities and legal frameworks in the field; identifying the areas of joint activities and issues that can be solved through cooperation between the local authorities located on different sides of the border; strengthening individual and institutional capacity to launch joint projects, as well as sharing the best practices.

The focus of the second stage of trainings was on how to create effective teams that bring together the interests of public, private and business sectors in cross-border co-operation, based on the principles of Good Governance; on how to identify strategic goals that will enhance the capacity of communities, engage financial and human resources for co-operation, and to develop cross-border regions where people would like to live, work, and visit, today and in the future.

Among first concrete results are the memoranda of understanding signed between the two Ukrainian and Polish municipalities. Local officials are working on the future joint projects, a network of Ukrainian and Polish representatives interested in cross-border co-operation has been established: its participants implement active communication policy and plan partnerships in various fields.