Visit of Niagara Region Leaders to Zakarpattya: Next Steps towards Future Cooperation
From July 14 to July 18, 2006, Mr. Peter Partington, Chairman of the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Canada, and Mr. Michael Boggs, Project Manager of the Ontario Centre for Municipal Best Practices, and former Chief Administrative Officer of the Region of Niagara, Canada, visited Zakarpattya region. This visit was the next step in building a partnership between Niagara and Zakarpattya regions – an informal partnership that was initiated during the April 2006 study tour to Canada in which a delegation from Zakarpattya participated and which was organized by the Regional Governance and Development (RGD) Project, implemented by the Canadian Urban Institute with funding provided by the Canadian International Development Agency.
During their visit, Mr. Peter Partington and Mr. Michael Boggs met with Mr. Oleh Havashi, Head of Zakarpattya Regional State Administration, and Mr. Mihailo Kichkovskij, Head of Zakarpattya Regional Council, to discuss possible areas of cooperation between the regions. Furthermore, these leaders of Niagara region had the opportunity to become familiar with the economic and resource potential of Zakarpattya region. They visited Uzhhorod, Mukachevo, Perechin, Svalyava, Volovetskij and Mizhgirrya districts. Many common features between Niagara and Zakarpattya regions were identified during this visit, indicating a great potential for future cooperation.
During the mission, several meetings with Heads of District Administrations and Councils as well as leaders of businesses and NGOs were held to discuss perspectives on bilateral cooperation. The guests from Canada also visited some key industrial enterprises of Zakarpattya region, namely “Eurocar” (production of auto cars), “Fisher-Mukachevo” (production of skis and hockey sticks), and state company “Leanka” (wine production).
These representatives of Niagara region expressed their wish to cooperate on a regional level with Zakarpattya in tourism development, health protection, and education. The honourable guests from Canada expressed their positive impression of the high level of services provided in the sanatoriums they visited, namely “Kvitka Polonyny”, “Polyana” and “Suziriya” in Svalyava District. The possibility of organizing tours to Zakarpattya for Canadian citizens plus exchange visits for Ukrainian and English language teachers from Zakarpattya and Niagara regions were also discussed.
Then, on July 17, 2006, the RGD Project together with Zakarpattya Regional State Administration and Zakarpattya Regional Council held an International Workshop entitled “EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF STRATEGIC PLANNING: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES” in Uzhhorod. During the workshop, Mr. Peter Partington and Mr. Michael Boggs presented the challenges and opportunities of Niagara region’s development. Workshop participants gained information on Canadian experiences with involving the community in the decision making process. Participants also heard about the strategic planning experience of Ukrainian regions from Mr. William Pardy, Canadian consultant on the Community Economic Development project in Ukraine, and from Mr. Krzysztof Herbst, Lviv Development Project Director from Poland.
Next, representatives of Zakarpattya Regional State Administration, Mr. Mikhajlo Petrovtsi, Head of the Main Department of Economy, and Mr. Olexandr Marchenko, Head of the European Integration and Tourism Development Department, discussed the economic and tourism potential of Zakarpattya region. Ms. Natalie Nosa, Regional Manager of the RGD Project, briefed participants on the project’s activities in Zakarpattya and presented a vision for future cooperation between Canada and Ukraine. She noted that a strategy for development in Zakarpattya region will be developed with the project’s support and through the united efforts of the authorities, self-government bodies, NGOs, and businesses. This process will become a pilot model for the implementation of similar processes in other Ukrainian regions. She also noted that the RGD Project’s regional office in Zakarpattya has been established in Uzhhorod.
Representatives of the authorities, self-government bodies, NGOs, and business sectors actively participated in the workshop. All participants valued the possibility of future cooperation and expressed their wish to develop and strengthen a partnership between Canadian and Ukrainian regions through the exchange of experiences in the field of strategic planning.
Program of the Visit Materials on the workshop you can find in the "Strategic Planning Workshops" section.
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