Regional Development Agency of the Kharkiv Region "Increasing the capacity of communities in Kharkiv region in the field of grant management and international partnership"

Kharkiv region suffered from military aggression and faced large-scale challenges in the areas of recovery, security, economic activity, and human potential. At the same time, the region's communities are highly proactive, but often lack the institutional capacity to attract external resources.
The lack of trained grant management personnel, low level of English-language communication, and lack of experience in international cooperation limit communities in using available financial instruments for recovery and development.
The project aims to remove these barriers through systemic support, education and the creation of an environment of interaction.

2. Project objective
To train specialists in the communities of Kharkiv region to effectively participate in grant programs and develop international cooperation for sustainable local development.

Project objectives
1.    Conduct a series of thematic trainings for community representatives.
2.    Introduce mentoring support for community teams.
3.    Create an online platform for sharing knowledge and resources.
4.    Hold a competition for small projects among the communities of the Kharkiv region.
5.    Launch an incubator for inter-community initiatives.
6.    Promote partnerships with communities in Europe.
7.    Organize study visits to EU countries.
8.    Ensure inclusive participation of IDPs, women, youth, and people with disabilities.
9.    Introduce mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness.

4. Target audience
- Representatives of local self-government bodies
- Representatives of civil society organizations
- Young activists, initiative groups
- Educators, members of local councils
- IDPs and socially vulnerable categories

Main components of the project
5.1. Training sessions
- Fundamentals of grant writing
- Establishment of civil society organizations and networks
- Funding sources and working with donors
- Project cycle: from idea to implementation
- Grant reporting and accountability to the community
- Tools for engaging citizens
- Development of local policies
- Gender equality and inclusion
- Sustainable development of communities
5.2. Practical activities
- Joint writing of grant applications
- Mentoring support of projects
- Establishing partnerships with EU communities
- Study visits abroad
- Preparation of case studies of successful initiatives

5.3. Initiatives of the RDA of Kharkiv Oblast
- Online hub with materials, templates, donor register
- Small grants competition (up to 10 thousand euros)
- School of Local Development (youth educational program)
- Incubator for inter-community cooperation projects
- Advocacy campaign to strengthen community capacity
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6. Implementation plan (key stages)
Month Activity
1-2 Needs analysis, development of the training program
3-4 Conduct trainings, launch the platform
5-6 Start mentoring support, writing applications
7 Organize a small grants competition
8-9 Incubation of inter-community initiatives
10 Study visits
11 Completion of projects, final evaluation
12 Summarizing the results, report, continuation strategy

. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E)
- Baseline and final surveys of participants
- Knowledge testing before/after trainings
- Online metrics of platform activity
- Mentor reports
- Feedback from communities
- Quarterly reports to donors
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8. Risks and ways to minimize them
Risk Response
Security situation Flexible formats, online/hybrid events
Migration of personnel Involvement of young people, mobile specialists
Lack of experience in communities Mentoring, templates, simple examples
Low motivation Grant competition, study tours

Communication strategy
- Press releases, social media, media partnerships
- Online success stories (videos, articles)
- Branding of all materials
- Public events at the end of the stages
- Newsletter for interested communities
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10. Expected results
- 100 specialists from 30 communities trained
- At least 20 project applications submitted
- 10 local initiatives implemented
- Online platform with access to materials created
- Partnerships with at least 5 EU communities established

11. Success indicators
- 70% of participants submitted applications after the training
- 20+ applications submitted, 10 projects implemented
- 500+ users of the online platform
- 5+ partnership memorandums with EU communities
12. sustainability of the project
- The online platform will remain freely available
- The created knowledge base will continue to be updated
- Development school and competition may become annual
- Trained specialists are integrated into community activities
- Potential for scaling the project to the entire region
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13. Estimated budget
Item Amount (€)
Program development, trainers 15,000
Organization of trainings and logistics 20,000
Development and support of the online platform 10,000
Mentoring program 12,000
Small grants for communities (10×10,000) 100,000
Communication campaign 5,000
Study tours 18,000
Administrative costs 15,000
Total € 195,000
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14. Annexes
- Letters of support from communities
- Previous success stories of RDA Kharkiv Region
- Partnership letters from foreign communities (if any)
- Scanned copy of the applicant's registration
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