The event was organized on 25-27 October by the Academy of Ukrainian Press with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme and the National Association of Journalists of Ukraine. The project is aimed at improving the quality of professional coverage of the decentralisation reform in Ukraine. The training was conducted under the guidance of leading experts and trainers, Inna Gadzynska and Liliya Atnazheva, at the Ternopil Local Government Development Centre.

During three days the participants got acquainted with stages and goals of the reform, analyzed issues of potential interest for five key audiences (pensioners, employees, officials, youth and community activists, entrepreneurs and farmers, housewives), put questions to the deputy chairman of the Pochayiv Town Council, Serhii Maksymchuk.

The Pochayiv community is a powerful tourist and religious centre and one of the first one with the developed strategy. An interactive method of conducting the training and the use of various gaming and media formats caused even more interest in the topic of decentralisation. All 18 participants from different regions of Ukraine were experienced journalists; they took active part and asked relevant questions to trainers and experts.

According to Olga Cheniakova, a participant of the Media School, trainings on the reform coverage like this one always inspire, increase the level of knowledge and give journalists an opportunity to realize the problem and publish professional articles. AUP trainers actively shared their experience with the local media. Thus, Liliya Atnazheva gave an interview to the “Let’s Talk” programme of the Ternopil Oblast Radio, while Inna Gadzynska told about the Media School on air for TV4.

After the Media School, journalists prepared 13 reports featuring the peculiarities of the decentralisation reform in regional communities. The reports will be published in the local press and AUP’s collection of articles “Decentralisation in Ukraine.”