The "Consultants for Recovery and Development" 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 include people from NGOs, local self-government, and business initiatives who are already working at the local level and want to do so more systematically.
How It All Began
Larysa Vashchenko is the head and co-founder of the "Community Development Fund 'Future of Koropshchyna'" NGO, which helps communities in Chernihiv region attract resources, develop local initiatives, and build partnerships.
She came to the civil sector in 2016. At that time, Larysa was invited to head the HR department of the newly formed Korop community. She later founded a civil society organization together with colleagues, understanding that community development is impossible without attracting resources, training, and project work.
The impetus came from the first grant competition, which Larysa applied to as a private individual. The winning project — setting up a children's playground — marked the beginning of the organization's work.
The NGO went on to launch separate waste collection, create a youth space that grew into a 3D-modeling hub, and began helping communities attract resources and implement their own initiatives.
After the start of the full-scale war, one of the main areas of focus became supporting newly established civil society organizations.
The Korop community is located near the Russian border. It hosts people from border communities who are forced to leave their homes due to constant shelling. At the same time, according to Larysa, "conditions have not yet been created for internally displaced persons." Despite its proximity to the front line and regular Russian attacks, the civil sector continues to develop and implement local initiatives.
Why She Applied for the Program
Before joining the program, Larysa already had significant mentoring experience: she guided newly established civil society organizations from registration through to reporting, helped implement grant-funded projects, and advised local businesses.
She applied for the "Consultants for Recovery and Development" program in order to systematize her practical experience and gain new tools for working with communities. Filling out the application, she admits, wasn't difficult, but she wasn't particularly confident about her chances of success.
"Filling out the application wasn't hard. Honestly, I didn't expect to get in, because the competition was very large."
The format of the training fully matched her own approach to work. What Larysa liked most was that the program was built around practice rather than theory.
"I really liked it, because I love a lot of practice. When I run trainings myself for local civil society organizations, I try to explain everything through practice."
According to Larysa, this was the program's main advantage.
"There are all kinds of trainings, but when there's too much theory, it's very hard to absorb the information. Here there was a lot of practice, and that's what brought us together — it was easy for us to work together."
Life After the Training
As part of the program's practical component, Larysa conducted two trainings — in the Kobyliaky community in Poltava region and the Tupychiv community in Chernihiv region. The second training she ran together with Mykola Sylenko. One of the key topics was cooperation between local self-government bodies and the civil sector.
However, according to Larysa, the program's biggest impact was on the development of the fund itself. While still in training, the team prepared a grant application for a business development project in partnership with local self-government bodies — and won the funding. The project combined several areas at once: training for local businesses, development of 3D-modeling courses, and the launch of foreign language courses for children and adults.
"I'm not sure we would have won this project if it hadn't been for our participation in this program. It's a direct result of the training component, and we're very happy about it."
At the same time, the fund continued to scale its own initiatives. One of the most successful is the "Fruitful Path" ("Urozhainyi shliakh") project, implemented together with the National Network for the Development of Local Philanthropy. Through it, households receive financial support to develop their household plots. While the project initially operated in just a few communities, today it covers 12 communities across Chernihiv region.
"The project worked out so well for us that it scaled not because we went out seeking communities ourselves — communities started reaching out to us on their own."
This partnership also gave a boost to other areas of the fund's work, in particular the 3D-modeling courses. The team is also planning to launch foreign language courses soon, as demand for free educational opportunities keeps growing.
After completing the program, Larysa also expanded her consulting support for communities. Today she helps local self-government bodies and civil society organizations develop development strategies, prepare recovery projects, attract resources, and build partnerships.
"After the training, I felt that I now carry a wealth of practical experience that I simply have no right not to share, for the sake of the recovery, resilience, and capacity of our communities."
Advice for Those Who Are Hesitant
To those who are unsure whether to apply for the training, Larysa shares the words of her colleague Mykola Sylenko:
"If you don't try, you won't know. I always apply, even in cases where I'm not sure whether I'll get in or not. You have to try and keep learning constantly, so you can later pass your knowledge on to others. We work in order to scale our knowledge to others. But to share knowledge, you first have to gain it yourself."
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.
By Elia Serkozhaieva
