How can communities with limited resources set priorities, balance immediate needs with long-term development, and make justified and transparent decisions? These questions were central to a strategic workshop for community leaders entitled “Effective and Transparent Management of Public Resources at Community Level: From Immediate Needs to Effective Use”.

The event was organised by the Centre for Innovations Development with the support of the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine. Representatives of communities, experts, and partners joined the workshop not only to discuss current challenges but also to jointly develop practical approaches to the management of public resources.

 

From responding to needs – to managing resources

Today, communities are tackling several difficult tasks simultaneously: meeting the basic needs of residents, responding to the aftermath of war, rebuilding damaged infrastructure, maintaining the resilience of their areas and planning for future development.

In such circumstances, effective resource management goes far beyond budgetary planning. It involves a community’s ability to recognise the full range of available resources – financial, property, land, infrastructure and human – determine their value, and make decisions about their use based on clear priorities and expected outcomes.

Thus, a key focus of the workshop was to find ways to transition from ad hoc responses to individual needs to the systematic management of public resources.

In her welcome address to the participants, Iryna Bilousova, Project Manager of the “Public Administration and Infrastructure Recovery” project within the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, emphasised the event’s practical focus. She said it was important that the training went beyond theoretical approaches and helped communities work with specific documents and tools that could be applied in their daily work.

 

 

Tetiana Stefiuk, Head of the Secretariat to the First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Adviser to the Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, emphasised that developing administrative capacity is an investment by the community in its own future..

 

 

She emphasised that effective management of public resources encompasses not only budgetary funds, but also the community’s property and other assets. A community’s future development depends largely on its understanding of its own resources and its strategy for using them.

 

Which decisions are the real priorities?

Kateryna Ivanchenko, Director of the Centre for Innovations Development, highlighted one of the major challenges facing communities: the need to make strategic decisions amid uncertainty and limited resources.

 

 

In such circumstances, merely finding the financial resources to meet the next immediate need is insufficient. It is also important to address broader management issues:

• what the community’s priorities are right now;
• which decisions will have the greatest impact on the quality of life of community residents;
• what resources the community already has at its disposal;
• what resources it lacks;
• how to assess the expected outcome of using these resources;
• how to balance urgent expenditure with investment in development.

This means shifting from asking, ‘What do we need funds for?’ to asking, ‘What outcome should the community achieve, and which resources will best help to achieve it?’ This approach is particularly important when there are insufficient resources to implement all desired projects simultaneously. In such cases, management quality is determined not only by the amount of available funding, but also by the ability to prioritise correctly.

 

Communities identified key challenges and opportunities for change

The practical part of the workshop took the form of a “World Café”. Community representatives worked in groups to discuss different aspects of managing and using public resources.

 

 

The participants shared their experiences, compared their approaches, and looked for solutions to standard management issues.

The key topics discussed included:

• identifying community priorities;
• planning for recovery;
• balanced approach to urgent needs and investment in development;
• effective use of existing resources;
• seeking additional resources;
• the need for modern management tools;
• the need for expert support and capacity building.

Representatives from different communities recognised that many of the problems were common to all. At the same time, the discussion revealed that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all territories. Effective management requires taking into account the specific characteristics of a community, including its resources, risks, demographic situation, economic potential, and strategic objectives.

During a panel discussion, the participants presented the results of their group work. This allowed them to compare different approaches and shift the focus from discussing individual problems to seeking systemic solutions.

 

 

Data and digital tools as the basis for justified decisions

A separate section of the workshop was devoted to modern tools for managing public resources.

Mykhailo Leichenko, Director of IT and Analytics at the Centre for Innovations Development, presented his vision of how data, digital solutions, and analytical tools can help communities improve the quality of their management decisions.

 

 

For the community, the digitalisation of management is not just about moving individual processes online. Rather, it is primarily an opportunity to gain a broader perspective, work with current data, compare alternatives and evaluate the outcomes of decisions.

This approach facilitates a gradual transition from management based on intuition or incomplete information to data-driven management.

 

From discussion to practical solutions

The final part of the workshop involved working together to develop proposals and identify the next steps.

‘For a community, effective resource management is not just a question of the budget. It is a question of the quality of management decisions: do we understand what outcome we want to achieve, can we set priorities, and do we have the tools to monitor how effectively resources are used?’ commented Kateryna Ivanchenko.

 

 

An important part of the event was the participants’ reflections. Community representatives identified the knowledge, practical tools, training, and expert advice needed to strengthen their management capacity.

These findings have direct practical implications. They will lay the groundwork for the future implementation of the Centre for Innovation Development’s project, particularly the preparation of a training programme for communities, the organisation of expert consultations, and the development of practical materials.

The strategic workshop not only provided a platform for exchanging experiences, but also for developing a shared vision of how to strengthen communities’ capacity to manage their own resources.

This involves transitioning gradually from managing individual expenditure items to managing resources and investments, shifting from reacting to problems to setting priorities, moving from fragmented data to systematic analysis, and evolving from making ad hoc decisions to evaluating their outcomes.

In the current situation, communities cannot afford to use resources on the basis of immediate need alone. Every decision must consider not only current needs, but also its impact on sustainability, residents’ quality of life, and the community’s future development. Effective management of public resources is therefore one of the key elements of community resilience, particularly in times of war, recovery and preparation for the future.

The event was supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden.