Deadline: 11-Jun-25
The International Renaissance Foundation is pleased to announce the Preparation for EU accession at the Community Level Competition to support communities in the process of Ukraine’s accession to the EU through civil society activities to raise awareness and capacity, assist in strategic development planning, apply EU standards and participate in EU programs.
Competition Priorities
- Raising awareness among community residents, civil society organizations, and local governments about the content of European policies and standards that must be implemented at the local level during the accession negotiations. Also, conducting expert assessments of the status of compliance with these standards at the community level in relevant areas – in particular, regarding the use of local budget funds (public procurement, including “green” procurement, assistance to business entities, etc.), infrastructure development, energy efficiency, renewable energy, ensuring water quality, nature protection, waste management, roads and transport, barrier-free environment, social integration, and other areas where local territorial communities have powers and there are norms of EU law that must be implemented in Ukraine in the process of preparing for accession to the European Union.
- Assistance to communities (public advocacy, preparation of documents, public consultations with the involvement of various interest groups) in developing new or updating and updating existing Territorial Community Development Strategies, other mandatory and regulatory documents on recovery and development, using public participation tools, actively involving residents of territorial communities and civil society organizations in this process and taking into account the principles of inclusive, participatory, transparent, green and sustainable recovery, as well as compliance with EU policies at the local level – attracting investment and increasing employment, promoting innovation, specialization and economic competitiveness, developing small and medium-sized businesses (in accordance with EU rules on state aid), improving the quality of services, the environment, developing infrastructure, etc.
- Training and other measures to develop the capacity of territorial communities to establish sustainable horizontal inter-municipal partnerships, join European networks, participate in EU programs and attract international funding from the EU and other donors in accordance with the strategic development goals of the relevant communities, and manage and implement international grant projects.
Funding Information
- The total budget of the competition is 26,000,000 hryvnias.
- The optimal grant size is 900,000 – 1,200,000 hryvnias.
- The maximum grant amount is 1,400,000 hryvnias.
Duration
- The project implementation period is up to 12 months. The planned start date of the projects is September 8, 2025.
Eligible Projects
- Additional preference will be given to projects that include:
- development of public participation tools in villages, towns and small towns;
- involving civil society institutions from the community(ies) in which the project activities are planned to be carried out as partners.
- carrying out activities in cooperation with local governments, associations of local governments, in coalition with other public organizations, think tanks, and experts (including from other administrative-territorial units of Ukraine).
- involving and taking into account the interests of such groups as people with disabilities, national minorities, and internally displaced persons.
- dissemination of experience in project implementation, including with EU support.
Eligibility Criteria
- Contest Participants: public organizations, public unions, charitable organizations. Contest participants can be registered in any region of Ukraine and must have at least two years of experience implementing projects in the area that is among the priorities of this contest, with the support of the IRF or other donors.
- Implementation of project activities in cooperation with local governments, associations of local governments, coalitions with other public organizations, think tanks, experts, and self-organization bodies of the population (including from other administrative-territorial units of Ukraine) is welcomed.
- The activity should cover at least 3-5 territorial communities. At the same time, project activities should be carried out exclusively within the territories controlled by the authorities of Ukraine.
For more information, visit International Renaissance Foundation.