In general, the program consisted of three educational modules and live events. The last month of the summer was hectic for the School of Community Leaders participants – everything to get them the maximum amount of preparation before the local elections!
During the first module, the participants had the opportunity to communicate with representatives of the public sector, experts on local self-government, economy, and representatives of local self-government bodies. And at the end, we held a live event for the listeners with Yulia Mostova, editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Dzerkalo tyzhnia”.
The second stage of training was devoted to the nuances of the 2020 elections and the tools of a successful election campaign. At the request of the participants, we held a feedback session with Pavlo Sheremeta, the founder of the analytical center proryv.in.ua, so that our listeners could discuss all local development issues with the expert in more detail. In general, during this module, students developed a winning strategy for conducting an election campaign and learned how to communicate with voters.
We devoted the third stage of training to practical tools for engaging citizens. After all, it is impossible to be a leader without the community’s support and uniting people around a common big idea. Community residents are not just voters. And winning the elections thanks to a successful strategy is only the beginning of the journey. After the elections, the most challenging part begins – you need to interact with citizens, look for problems and solve them together.
In particular, within the framework of the Programme, we held a motivational live session together with the finalists of the national TV project New Leaders for students of the School of Community Leaders. Deputy of the Mariupol City Council Maksym Borodin, head of the Kotsiubynsky Settlement Council Olha Matyushina, and mayor of Chortkiv Volodymyr Shmatko told how difficulties are turned into opportunities, and communities are developed. Each of the speakers has extensive experience in local self-government.
At the end of the training, we managed to hold a training Town Hall Meeting online with the participants. During an impromptu town meeting, listeners tried to solve the problem of a large amount of outdoor advertising in cities, which, on the one hand, can spoil the appearance of buildings and, on the other – bring money to the city budget.
Although training within the School of Community Leaders-2020 has ended, the community of people united by values and “armed” with knowledge remains. And this is the most important thing. And we hope to continue cooperation with alumni of the School of Community Leaders in the future!
