Waterloo-Hamilton Delegation Mission to Zaporizhzhia Oblast
From July 10-14, 2006, the Canada-Ukraine Partnership Project for Regional Governance and Development (RGD Project) hosted a delegation of senior officials from Canada in Zaporizhzhia oblast. Michael Murray, Chief Administrative Officer of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Province of Ontario, Canada, and Terrance Cooke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the (former) Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, Province of Ontario, Canada and President of Cooke Capital Corporation participated in this mission. Their visit became the next step in developing a partnership between Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine and Waterloo and Hamilton in Canada – an informal partnership that began during the RGD Project’s study tour to Canada in April 2006 in which Zaporizhzhia senior officials participated.
During their program in Zaporizhzhia, the Canadian delegates met with senior officials from Zaporizhzhia oblast and Zaporizhzhia city, became acquainted with Zaporizhzhia oblast’s resource potential, and discussed possible methods of cooperation between these Canadian regions and Zaporizhzhia oblast, particularly in the sphere of regional development strategic planning issues.
On July 11, 2006, in the Zaporizhzhia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an International Workshop was held with the aim of exchanging Canada’s and Zaporizhzhia oblast’s experiences in strategic planning. Workshop participants included heads of regional state administrations, heads of regional councils of Zaporizhzhia oblast, heads of cities of oblast and region level, and heads of regional administrations of Zaporizhzhia city. Before the workshop, the Head of the Chamber together with its senior managers made a short presentation about Zaporizhzhia region for the delegates. During the workshop, participants discussed the following issues:
Canadian experience in regional strategic planning – Mr. Murray and Mr. Cooke explained the features of Canadian regional governance, regional government competencies, sub-national financing, and defining priorities in strategic planning.
Ukrainian experience in regional strategic planning – Mr. Goncharuk, First deputy Head of Berdyansk city, and Mr. Mamchak, Head of Socio-Economic Development in Tokmak city administration, talked about their successful experience in regional strategic planning as well as the difficulties of this process, connected mainly to the issue of overly centralized financing.
New perspectives in regional strategic planning – Mrs. Lekh, Regional Manager, RGD Project, Mr. Nazarenko, Ukrainian expert on strategic planning, RGD Project, and Mr. Sergienko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Credit Union “Agrar-Credyt”, spoke about the opportunities the RGD Project gives to Zaporizhzhia oblast in the process of strategic planning.
During the delegation’s visit, the RGD Project’s office in Zaporizhzhia was officially opened. The Canadian delegates and representatives of Zaporizhzhia regional state administration and Berdyansk city council were the honourable guests of the RGD Project team at this event.
The Canadian delegates visited the Historical Museum on Khortitsa Island, the Horse Theater where they watched a Cossack performance, Stone Grave historical memorial, the private bakery “Olf”, and Dniepro Hydro-electro Station. This acquainted them with Zaporizhzhia region’s cultural and industrial potential. The Canadian delegation also visited Berdyansk city for two days, where they met with the Head of Berdyansk city, as well as other senior officials of the city, to discuss the current local government situation in Berdyansk and the city’s successful experience in strategic planning. Also, on July 14, 2006, the delegates participated in a Roundtable discussion on public engagement in the creation and implementation of Berdyansk’s city development strategy. Ukrainian workshop participants had the opportunity to ask Mr. Murray and Mr. Cooke many practical questions concerning the peculiarities of regional governance in Canada, and in Waterloo region in particular. They discussed issues connected with different areas of governance, such as the medical system, environmental protection, civil construction, and other public services.
These events (the Workshop and Roundtable as well as the mission itself) aimed to strengthen collaboration among all project stakeholders to create and implement a strategic plan for the development of Zaporizhzhia oblast. The main goal of the events was to actively engage all citizens of the oblast in this process and to discuss Canadian experience in the sphere of strategic planning and its relevance to Zaporizhzhia oblast. The main aim of the Canadian delegation’s mission was to establish further cooperation between the City of Hamilton and the Region of Waterloo, Province of Ontario, Canada, and Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine.
Program of the visit Materials on the workshop you can find in "Strategic Planning Workshops" section
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