On 13 March 2024, Ukrainian practitioners of civic engagement discussed the adjusted Council of Europe toolkit "Monitoring and Evaluation of Participatory Processes and Their Results" at a round table in Kyiv.

This innovative tool provides civil society organisations and authorities with necessary techniques and a set of digital tools to evaluate participatory processes. Developed in 2022, applied during two capacity building programmes in 2023, and supplemented with a chapter on results evaluation and a system of indicators in early 2024, the adjusted toolkit will contribute to the rapid recovery and development of Ukrainian communities based on quality participatory decisions.

During the hybrid event, the 60 representatives of Ukrainian public authorities and civil society organisations, including 30 online participants, provided suggestions for the practical implementation of the tool and its improvement.

Several participants expressed their enthusiasm for this innovative tool, that also comes very timely. Monitoring of participatory processes is a key element of each stage of the decision-making cycle and the evaluation of the results allow for the implementation of quality public decisions. It contributes to the transparency, openness, and accountability of activities of public authorities.

During the very active round table discussion participants exchanged their experiences of cooperation between civil society organisations and public authorities regarding the monitoring of processes and implementation of decisions. One participant highlighted the importance to perceive the monitoring process not as a strategy to blame authorities for not functioning, but to see it as an opportunity for joint constructive improvement of processes. Representatives of public authorities expressed their needs regarding training and practical support to conduct effective monitoring and evaluation of participatory processes and their results. As one of the results of the roundtable, participants and experts developed a plan to pilot the toolkit for monitoring and evaluation of participation processes in Ukrainian communities in 2024.

The activity was organised by the project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine” in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” (2023-2026).