How Recovery and Development Consultants Are Trained: The Story Behind the Programme

Ukraine’s recovery amid a full-scale war is about far more than rebuilding destroyed homes, roads, or schools. Above all, it is about people who help communities develop, find solutions, build dialogue, and drive change. It was with the aim of preparing such professionals that ISAR Ednannia, with the support of the European Union, developed the Recovery and Development Consultants Programme.

Participants learn how to work with communities: support development planning, foster cooperation between local authorities and residents, launch local initiatives, and mobilise funding. The second cohort of the programme is currently underway. In total, by 2027, three cohorts of participants from civil society organisations, local self-government bodies, and businesses across different regions of Ukraine will have completed the programme.

The Recovery and Development Consultants curriculum was developed by Alona Dolia, Head of the First Ukrainian Association of Interactive Learning “Good Fortune” (“Dobra Dolia”), an educational programme methodologist, trainer and facilitator, and community development specialist with more than 20 years of experience.

From Public Service to Civil Society

After graduating from university, Alona worked in public service and later moved to Donetsk, where she discovered the civil society sector. It was there that she saw how civil society projects could become a genuine tool for change. She continued working on community development, this time as a project manager at a civil society organisation.

Alona began delivering training 25 years ago. She says she was initially afraid of speaking in front of people, but quickly realised that training was one of the ways she could help others.

“I really enjoyed it. I followed this path because I wanted to help people — including through training.”

Over the years, she has completed dozens of international programmes focused on facilitation, interactive learning, and community development. Following a training-of-trainers programme in Poland in 2008, Alona systematised her experience and developed her own training methodology.

“What I had been doing intuitively, combined with theory, came together into a broader vision.”

In 2016, Alona began training trainers using her own methodology. This gradually led to the formation of the “Dobra Dolia” team, which now delivers training and develops educational programmes.

According to Alona, a modern consultant needs to understand not only how a community functions, but also be knowledgeable across a broad range of areas — from community development and recovery to European integration. That is why the programme is continuously adapted and expanded in response to emerging challenges.

How the Recovery and Development Consultants Programme Was Created

Alona’s cooperation with ISAR Ednannia dates back to 2007, when she participated in the “NGO Management” training programme. In 2019, she joined the team as a trainer and expert, helping civil society organisations develop and improve their own educational programmes.

When ISAR Ednannia announced a tender in 2025 for the development of the Recovery and Development Consultants Programme, Alona was selected. The “Dobra Dolia” team joined her in delivering the programme.

Alona explains that the programme was developed based on a competency profile for recovery and development consultants created by expert Roman Kolyshko. This profile served as the foundation for designing the curriculum.

Interestingly, the programme’s name also evolved during the development process. The initial title, “Recovery and Development Officers”, was rejected. The team ultimately chose “consultants”, as this term more accurately reflects the role they are expected to play.

Three Weeks of Preparation for Three Days of Training

Developing a training programme involves much more than simply preparing a presentation. Designing a single day of training takes approximately four to five days of work, while developing the first core module took more than three weeks. The core module was designed so that it could be delivered both offline and online.

“When I create a training script and facilitator’s guide, I already experience and go through the training in my mind. Everything is planned down to the minute. Even practical details: here, participants will need to be divided into groups — that will take two or three minutes; then explaining the task will take at least another two minutes.”

The full programme consists of three stages. First, participants complete a core course. They learn how communities function, how local authorities and civil society interact, and what knowledge and skills a consultant needs.

After completing the core course, consultants move on to advanced modules: “Strategic Communication in Communities”; “Public Participation in the Legislative Process: Advocacy and Lobbying”; “European Integration in Recovery Processes”; “Fundamentals of Project Management”; and “Fundamentals of Cyber Hygiene and the Use of AI in Daily Work.”

The final stage of the programme is a training-of-trainers course, during which participants learn how to deliver training themselves and conduct their own pilot sessions.

For each module, the team develops a programme, presentation, participant and trainer materials, as well as practical assignments and assessment tools.

The training is designed so that even its visual elements help participants better understand and retain the material. For example, the same images are used consistently across presentations, handouts, and participant materials.

“Participants need to see this visual connection. If an image appears in the presentation, the same image should also appear in the participant guide and handouts. This helps participants better perceive and absorb new knowledge.”

The Programme Is Improved After Every Cohort

According to Alona, the Recovery and Development Consultants Programme was not created in a matter of days, nor was it simply a collection of ready-made presentations. It was built on many years of experience working with communities and has been continuously updated and expanded since its launch, taking into account participants’ feedback and needs.

After each module, the team does more than simply collect feedback forms — they analyse them in detail. Trainers discuss what worked well, which topics proved challenging, and what needs to be explained differently or expanded.

“For example, when developing the core module, I drew on many years of my previous work. Later, during the first delivery of the core module, we analysed participants’ feedback: what was missing, what needed to be added to the curriculum, and so on. We then made adjustments for the next cohort,” Alona explains.

The training programme covers a wide range of topics. One of the biggest challenges was teaching future consultants how to build partnerships between local authorities and civil society.

“In some communities, we saw confrontation between local authorities and civil society. Our task was to explain to the consultants that this paradigm needs to change. Local authorities are representatives of the community, and everyone — local authorities and civil society alike — lives and works in the same community. Community development and recovery happen through joint efforts.”

Building effective interaction starts with communication. That is why a significant part of the training focuses on communication skills, facilitation, and working with people.

“The ability to communicate is probably one of the most important competencies for a consultant.”

There are many topics and tasks, but for Alona, the best indicator of the effectiveness of each training is not limited to participants’ ratings in feedback forms.

“Every training is, first and foremost, about bringing people together, motivating them to continue their personal development and self-improvement. If we have managed to inspire people, help them come together, and encourage them to start doing something afterwards — that is a huge success for us.”

People-Centred Approach at the Core

The “Dobra Dolia” team continues working with programme graduates after they complete their training. An informal community of trainers has been established, where graduates regularly meet, share their experiences, learn new tools, and can always turn to one another for professional advice.

For Alona, the programme’s primary objective is not to issue certificates, but to build a community of people who will help their communities recover and develop.

“For me, what matters is that, several years from now, Recovery and Development Consultants will be working for the people in these communities. That they will be people-centred, open, and motivated to help. If we can do more than simply provide knowledge and skills — if we can also help our consultants work on the ground for their own communities — that will be a huge success.”

The programme is implemented within the framework of the EU Unity4Community project, funded by the European Union. 

This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ISAR Ednannia  and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Rebuilding the Country Together: The Experience of an NGO from Kirovohrad Region Teaching Communities to Drive Change

The "Recovery and Development Consultants" program is a training initiative by ISAR Ednannia, implemented with support from the European Union. It prepares specialists who help communities recover and develop, build partnerships between authorities and citizens, launch local change projects, and attract funding. Participants are people from NGOs, local government, and business initiatives who are already working at the local level and want to do so more systematically.

From a University Department to the Civil Society Sector

Serhii Tkachenko works at the NGO "Sustainable Development Agency 'Khmarochos'" in Kropyvnytskyi. His path into the civil society sector began in 2011, when he was still teaching at the Department of Publishing and Editing at the local pedagogical university.

At the time, he joined a community of lecturers and students who felt confined by university classrooms. They wanted to do something useful for the city's youth — organizing cultural, artistic, and educational initiatives. For five years they worked as an initiative group, and in 2017 they officially registered the organization.

Today, the "Sustainable Development Agency 'Khmarochos'" NGO works with civil society organizations and youth, supports youth councils and centers, develops a security-focused area of work, and helps initiative groups in local communities become institutionalized and turn into drivers of change. The team also helped establish a regional association of NGOs, which now includes around 30 organizations.

"In many communities, especially rural ones, NGOs are still seen as something exotic. We want to change that attitude and help as many different organizations as possible appear in communities — from animal rights groups to youth organizations. This is a normal mechanism that helps people unite and act together," says Serhii.

Training to Help Communities

Interest in the "Recovery and Development Consultants" program grew directly out of his work with communities. Serhii wanted to learn an approach and methodology that could later be shared through the regional association — reaching proactive representatives of the civil society sector who live in small communities and often simply don't know where to look for such opportunities. So he applied for the training-of-trainers program.

Before joining the program, he already had experience in facilitation, training, and strategic sessions, but lacked knowledge of the legislative aspects of recovery — legal innovations that are only just emerging in Ukraine.

"We all need to understand these legislative mechanisms, regardless of whether we work in the civil society sector, local government, or business. We have to rebuild the country together," he explains.

Training You Can Apply Right Away

Serhii describes the five days of in-person training as a great opportunity to immerse himself in a concentrated intellectual environment. The group was diverse — ranging from local government officials to experienced trainers and facilitators.

What impressed him most was how well-organized the training was — everything had a clear structure and was thought through down to the smallest detail.

"It's such a luxury to have material that's already fully developed. You just take it, adapt it to your training group's specifics, and deliver it," he says.

Half of the training was hands-on practice: participants prepared in teams and delivered modules to the whole group, while the program developers gave real-time feedback.

Life After the Training

Serhii delivered his own training under the program together with his colleague Inna Khmelnytska in two communities in Khmelnytskyi region — Volochysk and Shepetivka. Both sessions focused on strengthening community resilience by increasing resident participation in recovery processes.

Although the topic was the same, the two trainings unfolded quite differently. In Volochysk, representatives of both local authorities and the civil society sector trained together. In Shepetivka, only local government employees involved in recovery took part.

"We chose this format deliberately, to get experience working with different audiences. Where it's a 50/50 mix, you get a different dynamic and a broader discussion. Where the group is more homogeneous, it's simply different — but not worse."

After the training, Serhii shared his experience with the team — a standard practice at the organization, where members regularly gather to share the knowledge and insights gained from trainings they've attended.

Serhii is now working to apply methodological approaches from the program — particularly around inclusive decision-making as a key to effective recovery — both in his team's work and in the educational content they develop.

But the bigger plan is more ambitious. There are 49 communities in the region, and Serhii believes it would be worthwhile to have at least one recovery and development consultant in each of them. In the near future, the organization plans to hold training for representatives of the regional association.

"Not everyone in a small community can afford to travel to Kyiv to study. But if someone comes to them instead, joining such training becomes far more realistic. I think it's an entirely achievable goal."

At the same time, the organization is running several other active projects. Together with the British Council in Ukraine, they are implementing the Youth Connect for Ukraine program — five-day leadership trainings for young people from different communities, with the opportunity to receive a micro-grant for their own initiative.

There is also the "Youth Connect EU – Ukraine (YOU)" project, involving Ukraine, Poland, Czechia, and Romania, which supports young people and those who work with them. Soon, with support from the "eMistechko – Third Places" program, another initiative will launch to create "third places" in cultural institutions — open spaces where community residents can meet, communicate, learn, and carry out joint initiatives.

One area of focus will be preserving memory. In particular, the team is preparing an audiovisual performance based on letters from World War II camp prisoners that never reached their intended recipients.

"We want these voices to finally be heard. And we want this to give us the courage to make sense of what we're living through now — so as not to leave behind yet another scar that keeps our country from spreading its wings."

"If You Don't Apply — There's No Chance"

To those hesitating about whether to apply for the "Recovery and Development Consultants" program, Serhii says:

"If you don't apply, there's no chance. If you do apply, there's always a chance. How big a chance depends on how many people applied and how well you put together your application."

According to him, the program is open to a wide range of people — no specialized education or particular requirements are needed. To start, it's enough to want to learn something new, to genuinely believe in your community, and to want to contribute to its development.

"Even if, after the training, all you do is join your community's advisory public council and start voicing these ideas at meetings — that's already a far bigger impact than not taking the training at all. Apply."

The programme is implemented within the framework of the EU Unity4Community project, funded by the European Union. 

This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ISAR Ednannia  and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Career Guidance Training Launched for Youth Window Pilot Communities

A three-day Career Management Training: “Youth Career Guidance” has concluded in the Kyiv region. Over the course of the training, 34 participants from 15 pilot communities of the Youth Window programme gained the knowledge and practical skills needed to provide career guidance services for young people.

The training marks the starting point for introducing career guidance services through local youth centres.

The training programme was jointly developed by the Ukrainian Career Management Association, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, and UNICEF Ukraine.

Together, the partners created a comprehensive training programme that combines modern approaches to career counselling, coaching, and career development psychology with practical tools for working with young people in local communities.

During the training, participants from the Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, and Chernihiv regions learned how to provide career counselling and guidance, support young people in making career choices, preparing for employment, developing their careers, returning to education or work, and designing their own educational and professional pathways.

The training became one of the key milestones of the Youth Window programme, preparing career guidance specialists who will introduce these new services in their communities.

We believe that this training programme will serve not only as the foundation for implementing the Youth Window programme but also as a model that can be scaled up across Ukraine. In the future, it can be used to train youth career guidance specialists in youth centres and other organisations nationwide.