Post Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025
On 26–27 November 2025, Lviv (Ukraine) will host the Post-Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 Forum: “Capitalisation and the Way Forward: Decentralisation and Local Governance at the Centre of Ukraine’s Reconstruction”, co-organised by ALDA – the European Association for Local Democracy and the Central European Initiative (CEI).
From Commitments to Delivery: Turning URC 2025 into Action
Building on the outcomes of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2025) held in Rome, the Forum will focus on how to transform international commitments into tangible results for Ukrainian regions and municipalities. The high-level event will bring international actors directly to Ukraine’s local level, ensuring that recovery is led by and for communities.
By situating the event in Lviv, the organisers aim to strengthen direct cooperation between Ukrainian hromadas, European local authorities, and donors, while allowing smaller municipalities to access international partners without travel barriers.
The Forum combines high-level plenaries, governance labs, and a structured matchmaking platform, creating a dynamic environment for collaboration.
Day 1
The opening plenary, “From URC 2025 to Ukraine’s Local Recovery – from Commitments to Delivery (Part 1),” will bring together high-level speakers from Ukrainian institutions and European organisations. Among them Andriy Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv; Oleksii Ryabykin, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Territorial Development of Ukraine; Vadym Boichenko, ALDA Governing Board member and Mayor of Mariupol; Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko, President of URAROR and Kharhiv Regional council. European perspectives will be represented by Thibaut Guignard, member of ALDA’s Governing Board, Mayor of Ploeuc l’Hermitage and President of LEADER France;
The plenary will be moderated by Mr. Bastian Veigel, Team Leader of U-LEAD with Europe, and will include a presentation of the Capitalisation Paper from URC 2025 by Mr. Denys Tchakov. The discussion will focus on moving from the commitments expressed at URC 2025 toward practical implementation and on the importance of sustainability in Ukraine’s recovery process.
Following the plenary, participants will take part in a series of workshops and networking sessions focused on practical cooperation. Topics will include attracting EU partners to local projects, gender and inclusion, and ecological approaches, led by Ljubica Kosheliuk of U-LEAD with Europe. Yurij Stepanets will present the City Charter programme developed with ALDA, while Sladjan Ilić from LDA Zavidovići and Ivan Korud, Mayor of Ovruch, will share experience from the Western Balkans and Ukraine’s growing Local Democracy Agency network.
The morning will conclude with an ALDA community networking session featuring Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA, and Ukrainian mayors hosting LDAs.
After the ALDA Ukraine Annual Members’ Assembly, which will review 2025 activities and adopt the 2026 plan, participants will gather for lunch and the opening of the exhibition and marketplace area.
In the afternoon, working groups will explore cooperation between local authorities and civil society, the role of municipal service companies, and lessons from post-war recovery in the Western Balkans.
The day will close with the Exhibition and Project Lab, where Ukrainian hromadas will present proposals for international cooperation.
Day 2
On the second day the focus will remain on the central theme — “From URC 2025 to Ukraine’s Local Recovery: From Commitments to Delivery (Part 2)”. This second plenary session will bring together international envoys, regional leaders, and Ukrainian mayors to review lessons learned from URC 2025 and to identify the next steps on the path toward 2026.
Speakers will include Davide La Cecilia, Italian Special Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and URC 2025 Coordinator and Yurii Mushka, Deputy Secretary General of the Central European Initiative. They will be joined by Ingre Amelie Tarschys, Rapporteur on Ukraine Reconstruction for the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe; Christian Debève, Councillor of the Region Grand Est. Ukrainian and regional perspectives will be brought by Serhii Morhunov, Mayor of Vinnytsia.
The session will be moderated by Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA and will underline how the URC process has evolved from a conference of commitments to a framework of delivery, setting the direction toward 2026.
During this session, a Memorandum of Understanding between ALDA and Ro3kvit will be signed, further strengthening collaboration between European and Ukrainian partners.
The discussion will turn to international and inter-municipal cooperation — an essential pillar of Ukraine’s recovery.
Speakers will include Fabrizio Rossi, Secretary General of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR, online), who will highlight the Bridges of Trust and European Partnership Hub initiatives; and a representative of SALAR, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions.
Ukraine’s perspective will be presented by Oleksandr Slobodzan, Director of the Association of Ukrainian Municipalities, who will outline ongoing cooperation models — the “shoulder to shoulder” approach — and the role of small municipalities in developing international partnerships.
The plenary will be moderated by Olha Oliinyk, Representative of the Local Democracy Agency Vinnytsia.
In the afternoon participants will engage in practical working sessions focused on funding readiness, compliance mechanisms, and EU or bilateral project opportunities, guided by Ukrainian and European NGOs.
Specialised discussions will follow on cross-border cooperation (Interreg), green recovery with ICLEI, and best practices from Build Back Ukraine, as well as sessions on Horizon Europe, research initiatives, and CERV twinning programmes.The day will conclude with a World Café discussion gathering feedback on the URC process and ideas for future improvements. The Closing Plenary will feature a representative of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs presenting the Post-URC Action Dossier and the roadmap for 2026, followed by closing remarks and a farewell coffee — ending two days of intensive dialogue and partnership for Ukraine’s local recovery.
