A round table meeting on "Ensuring economic development of the regions of Ukraine through new approach to training" was held at the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service on August 1, 2014. The results of the LED training program, implemented by the MLED Project in May - July of this year were presented at this meeting. The participants discussed the possibility of including "Local Economic Development" and "Management of Local and Regional Development" as compulsory section within the professional development training program for the representatives of local self-governments and the deputies of local councils.

The representatives of the following agencies participated in the meeting: Cabinet of Ministers, Presidential Administration, Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, and Communal Living of Ukraine, Ministry of Education and Science, National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service, NAPA, State Fund for Local Self-Government in Ukraine, AUC, All-Ukrainian Association of Village and Town Councils, Ukrainian Association of Rayon and Oblast Councils, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council, MLED Project.

Welcoming notes were delivered by the Chairman of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service Kostyantyn Vashchenko and First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine Vyacheslav Negoda. The Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council Yevhen Udod and the Director of the MLED Project Oleksander Kucherenko jointly presented the training program "Local Economic Development" and spoke about the first trainings recently held in Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. These pilot trainings will provide the basis for the national curriculum to train and retrain public employees in order to facilitate economic development of Ukrainian regions under decentralized governance.

"The essence of the project is to help local government employees become effective managers, able to develop their own territory – from infrastructure projects to investment attraction. In view of decentralization this will become a major requirement for local government officials. Decentralization of authority envisages a totally different operational mode. Local authorities will have to handle more tasks and resources, and overall become more responsible. Therefore local governments must be well prepared: mentally and professionally. In order for local authorities to be effective, community leaders must learn new work principles. To do this, we now employ the best experts in the field of management", – said Yevhen Udod.

The issue of developing a comprehensive curriculum aiming to increase strategic planning capacity of local authorities was raised during the meeting. Discussed were the content and duration of training programs, necessary funding, target audience, selection process and qualifications of trainers, as well as certifying documents to be issued to program graduates. To acquire some practical skills, the likelihood of internship in foreign countries was also discussed.

When commenting on decentralization, Kostyantyn Vashchenko emphasized that it is not enough to just hand over the responsibilities to the local level, it is important to think in advance who will implement certain tasks and how. He noted that today it is essential to understand how ready are local government officials to work within newly created (according to constitutional reform) city councils, how competent are they, how professional, as well as able to perform in a far more responsible manner.

The meeting concluded with recommendations to create a working group consisting of the representatives of National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service, NAPA and international technical assistance projects. It is planned that the working group will develop suggestions on improving the training and professional development system on economic development for public servants and local government officials; on local government reform and decentralization of authority in terms of ensuring appropriate professional development; on including regional and local economic development as separate topics within professional development courses, as well as support the development of LED curriculum, the creation of a training program for instructors at academic institutions and the use of various training methods (distance learning courses, focused learning, etc.).