Transport routes, water, critical infrastructure, and recovery do not respect administrative boundaries. For communities to be able to tackle such issues together, practical cooperation, coordinated planning, and legislative solutions are required. The participants at the opening of the III International Forum of Agglomerations in Lviv discussed these matters.

Vitalii Bezgin, Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, who joined online, recalled the steps already taken to develop metropolitan governance: amendments to the Law on the Principles of State Regional Policy and a Government Resolution on functional types of territories. He identified amendments to sectoral legislation as the next stage.

Practical solutions, said Vitalii Bezgin, are needed not only by communities in Lviv region, but also by territories around Ivano-Frankivsk, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and other cities where agglomerations have already effectively formed.

Acting Head of the Lviv Regional Council Yurii Kholod suggested viewing cooperation between communities through the prism of people’s everyday needs. According to Mr Kholod, people’s quality of life depends on the extent to which neighbouring communities are able to join forces.

‘People live in one community, work in another, but benefit from shared amenities: roads, transport, schools, kindergartens. To create comfortable conditions for people, we need to work together,’ said Yurii Kholod.

The First Deputy Mayor of Lviv Andrii Moskalenko drew attention to the fact that residents expect community leaders to resolve a wide range of issues, even when responsibility for them is shared between different institutions and levels of authority.

‘We are talking about very practical issues of city functioning. About the fact that when we are united, we can achieve much more,’ he noted. Among such issues, Andrii Moskalenko mentioned the functioning of critical infrastructure and the retention of staff at heating and water supply companies.

Vasyl Koval, Head of Pidberiztsi community, emphasised that an agglomeration should not mean the absorption of small communities by a large city. In his view, it should be based on a partnership of equals.

‘A city will be strong when its communities are strong. There needs to be a partnership here. We have to do our best to ensure that residents receive high-quality services, because it all starts with people,’ he said.

The Chair of the relevant Verkhovna Rada Committee Olena Shuliak outlined three legislative challenges: the delineation of powers between levels of authority, the continuation of financial decentralisation, and coordinated spatial planning. She emphasised that communities need to plan shared transport routes, utility networks, water supply, and energy provision, as well as agree on the principle for distributing personal income tax.

The Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and President of the Chamber of Regions, Cecilia Dalman Eek, called Ukrainian decentralisation an example that could inspire other countries. She recalled that the European Charter of Local Self-Government enshrines the right of local governments to cooperate on matters of common interest.

‘Cooperation between communities and governance mechanisms in agglomerations can help to coordinate strategies, provide better-quality services, rebuild critical infrastructure, and support sustainable development. The absence of favourable national legislation should not prevent communities from taking the initiative and seeking practical ways to cooperate,’ she emphasised.

Cecilia Dalman Eek also congratulated the Lviv agglomeration on hosting Ukraine’s first citizens’ assembly at agglomeration level. She said that this format enables residents to participate in discussions about the future of the region and can help build trust.

Sören Herbst, Head of the Multilevel Governance Department of U-LEAD with Europe programme, who joined the event online, mentioned the issues common to all communities that he had discussed with local government representatives: waste management, water treatment, tourism, and transport.

‘The Lviv agglomeration demonstrates that, even in challenging circumstances, cooperation between communities in Ukraine is possible. A legislative framework is needed to help develop agglomerations and make them stronger,’ he said.

The Head of the RELEVE project, Aurélien Mas, emphasised that an agglomeration enables communities to respond jointly to the needs of people who live, study, and use services across different communities. The development of such forms of cooperation, he said, will influence the ability of communities to attract European funding and rebuild the country more effectively.

‘How quickly you are able to establish agglomerations as a form of cooperation will determine how successfully communities attract European funding and, ultimately, how quickly they will be able to rebuild the country,’ noted Aurélien Mas.

The Forum was organised by the Lviv Agglomeration Association and Lviv City Council, in cooperation with and with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the RELEVE project (Expertise France), which forms part of the U-LEAD with Europe programme.