Delegation from Vinnytsia Takes Part in ACT NOW Mayors' Conference in Brussels

Recently, the capital of Belgium hosted a large-scale event - ACT NOW Mayors' Conference 2023. This is a conference of mayors that annually brings together hundreds of representatives of different communities from around the world to share experiences and establish business relations between cities. This year's event was a platform for presenting the best practices of Ukrainian communities. Representatives from Vinnytsia and other cities of Ukraine were among the attendees. The main topic of the international forum was crisis management and post-war recovery of Ukraine.

Deputy Mayor Andrii Ocheretnyi noted that the ACT NOW Mayors' Conference 2023 came at a historic moment for our country.

"The latest report of the European Commission, which gave Ukraine the green light to start negotiations on EU accession, is another confirmation that we are moving in the right direction," he said.

During his public speech, Andrii Ocheretnyi shared with the audience the best practices implemented in Vinnytsia. In particular, he talked about projects related to environmental protection, the development of renewable energy sources, and other initiatives that the city is currently actively implementing on its way to European integration.

"We talked about innovative projects being implemented in European cities, as well as how Ukrainian communities see post-war reconstruction. We were the first among the other participants to share our experience in implementing the European Green Deal: environmental protection, energy efficiency, urban mobility, and other areas that we are systematically implementing. Among them is cooperation with local businesses, which is necessary to strengthen the economy. Our goal is to join the EU. Our foreign colleagues noted that Vinnytsia has already taken many steps towards European integration and expressed their readiness to support us in this endeavor. In particular, we are talking about the possibility of participating in European grant projects designed to support Ukraine in its development," commented Andrii Ocheretnyi.

During one of the interactive sessions, Andrii Ocheretnyi told his foreign colleagues about the role of civil society in community resilience and the tools of interaction that the municipality has been implementing in the city for years. In particular, this is the Budget of Public Initiatives, the essence of which is to involve Vinnytsia residents in decision-making on the implementation of certain projects aimed at improving the quality of life in the city and settlements of starosta districts. Another platform for various events and public discussions presented by the Deputy Mayor is the City of Meanings Hub. According to Andrii Ocheretnyi, it is a space where officials, civic activists and residents of Vinnytsia who are not indifferent to the city's development come to joint decisions.

According to him, the international conference has become not only a platform where Ukrainian cities could talk about their recovery and development plans, but also a tool for developing new friendly ties with European and international partners.

During the discussion panel, he also spoke about how the war has become an incentive for Vinnytsia to combine strategic planning and operational response to the challenges facing the community. The city continues to follow strategic goals and documents such as Vinnytsia 3.0.

"We have faced many challenges caused by the full-scale war. These include the acceptance of internally displaced persons, relocation of enterprises from other regions of Ukraine, rocket attacks in the community that damaged infrastructure and, unfortunately, claimed dozens of civilian lives in the Vinnytsia community," says Andrii Ocheretnyi. "We must remember the high price that Ukrainians had to pay in the fight against the russian aggressor. The countries of the European Union have become reliable partners of Ukraine and Vinnytsia in particular. Together, we have managed to implement many ideas that improve the quality of life in the city and bring it to a new level. So we plan to continue working with European institutions to develop and bring our European integration closer."