Sustainability Conference

AMI will hold a regional conference for the communities of Kharkiv region, where working standards of transparency and monitoring will emerge from real cases.

‍

1. As everything was

For the fourth year in a row, the Kharkiv region is simultaneously responding to security threats and planning recovery. In some communities, the martial law has de facto buried publicity: decisions are not published or issued in formats suitable only for archival purposes. International partners expect procedural certainty from communities, but there is none. Most of the communities of Kharkiv region enter the 2027 budget planning cycle without jointly agreed rules of the game.

AMI decided not to wait for the rules to appear themselves, and submitted an application for the regional conference “Sustainable Recovery of Kharkiv Region: From Cases to Procedural Standards”. The event was supported by the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework of the “Impulse” project.

‍

2. Impressive results

The one-day conference will be held in Kharkiv in October 2026. Participants, from 90 to 110 people, will represent local governments, the public sector, business, veterans and youth initiatives.

The program is built around three blocks: recovery as a system with transparent criteria of priorities; monitoring and transparency of implementation of local programs; people and the recovery economy with a focus on veterans, youth and local business. At least five cases of Kharkiv communities are presented not for illustration, but for moving to specific procedural conclusions.

At the end of the conference, the participants will agree on two application documents. The first is a monitoring package with a template for the registry of projects and recovery activities, a KPI matrix and a public reporting procedure. The second is the minimum standard of transparency of decisions and recovery data in the conditions of martial law with specific requirements for the deadlines and formats of publications. Both documents are ready for direct application without additional decisions of the council.

Following the conference, AMI will distribute the package of materials in at least 40 communities, hold two online implementation sessions and provide advisory support.

‍

3. Challenges and Achievements

To hold a conference in Kharkiv in the context of active hostilities means to build the event around security logic. Location with certified shelter, evacuation protocols, backup date, hybrid connection capability. Details of the venue are not publicly disclosed.

A separate challenge is transparency as a topic. Some communities react to it warily: fear of leaking sensitive data, unwillingness to speak publicly about problems. The conference format is designed to focus on minimum standards and practical solutions, rather than mutual claims.

‍

4. Impact on the community

The communities of Kharkiv region that implement the Monitoring Package and the Transparency Standard will receive not only internal order in the data. Procedural certainty is a direct requirement of international partners to participate in recovery programs. A community with clear prioritisation rules and a public register of activities is significantly more likely to attract resources from the EU and international financial institutions than a community without any procedures.

‍

5. What will the project leave

As a result of the conference, AMI will launch advocacy work with Kharkiv State University, specialized associations and potential partners on scaling tools at the regional policy level. The two agreed documents will remain in the public domain for all communities, not just for participants in the event.

Registration and details will be announced soon.

The project is implemented within the framework of the “Impulse” initiative, which is implemented by the International Renaissance Foundation in cooperation with the Eastern Europe Foundation with the support of Norway (NORAD) and Sweden (SIDA).