To teach participants, representatives of CSOs and local governments, a systematic and data-driven approach to public finance management, including analyzing community needs for budgeting, analyzing budget indicators, making decisions based on the analysis, and communicating the results and decisions to stakeholders. The program also focuses on financing community recovery, as well as ethical and professional standards in public finance management.
The program aims to prepare participants to effectively influence budgeting, while ensuring openness, transparency and public participation in the budget process. Participants learn how to develop advocacy strategies, collect and analyze data, communicate with different stakeholders, and make informed decisions on budget allocations. Thus, the objective of this program is to train qualified professionals to effectively manage budgetary resources at the local level.
The total duration of the course is from 08.04.2024 to 30.06.2024.
The second half of April 2024 – Topic 1: Public Relations and Community Needs Analysis online.
It includes:
Forms of participation of citizens (public) in the budget process at the local level
The role of public associations and organizations in analyzing community needs, formulating and monitoring budget implementation
Using the results of the analysis to plan budget expenditures.
Analysis of community needs to attract extra-budgetary funds for recovery in Ukraine
May 16-18, 2024 – Topic 2 “Public Finance Analytics” and 3 “Ethics and Professional Standards in Public Finance Management” – offline at the Ukrainian Catholic University.
Topics include:
Methods of analyzing budget indicators
Transparency and openness of public finances. Tools for ensuring budget openness
Communication of analytical results to stakeholders (local council members, representatives of local authorities, and the public)
Peculiarities of financing the recovery in Ukraine. Specifics of financing during martial law
Advocacy tools to promote the wishes of citizens in budgeting
June 2024 – Project implementation with mentoring and final project presentations
The organizers also offer an optional preparatory block aimed at preparing participants for the main course. The preparatory block is recommended for those participants who wish to improve their knowledge of public finance and the organization of the budget process for local governments. The preparatory block will be held online in the first half of April 2024.
Structure of the preparatory block:
Representatives of the audience mentioned above are invited to participate in the program: public activists, representatives of the relevant executive bodies of the community, local deputies. It is encouraged that candidates for the program have previous experience in designing and implementing projects in their communities, and have experience in communicating with the community. Representatives of different audiences from the same community are also encouraged to participate in the program, i.e. when there is a representative of the public sector, executive bodies, and/or a local deputy from the community.
To apply for participation, please fill out the application form. Applications are accepted until March 24 inclusive. Participants will be selected based on their motivation letter and previous experience in the context of the program. In the application form, please also indicate persons who can recommend you for participation. If necessary, the program organizers may contact these persons.
Candidates will receive the results of the selection process and information on recommendations for participation in the program by April 1. Some candidates may be placed on a waiting list, which means that if one of the program participants refuses to participate, such candidates from the waiting list will be sent an invitation to participate in the program. Please note that the organizers reserve the right not to provide explanations for the results of the selection decisions.
The activities are co-financed with the support of the Act to Support the Phoenix Project Acceleration Program, implemented by the East Europe Foundation with funds from the European Union
Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive certificates from the Ukrainian Catholic University.
If you are interested in the course “Participatory Community Budgeting: From Needs to Analytics” and are ready to join as a participant, please contact Yevhenia Husina, manager of the UCU Office of Innovation, at husina@ucu.edu.ua.