CoM East Held a Regional Seminar on Local Energy Planning in Zhytomyr

On January 16, 2025, a regional seminar titled “Local Energy Planning: Regional and Municipal Level” took place in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, supported by the EU-funded Covenant of Mayors Eastern Partnership initiative (CoM East) and the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration. The event gathered representatives from territorial communities in the Zhytomyr region, all involved in sustainable energy development and climate policy within their communities.

Nataliia Ostapchenko, First Deputy Head of the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration, and Svitlana Olshanska, First Deputy Mayor for the Executive Bodies of the Zhytomyr City Council opened the event highlighting the importance of local energy planning for the sustainable development of regions, noting that such measures enable communities to use resources more efficiently while achieving ambitious energy and climate objectives.

Liubava Radiychuk, Senior Expert at the Reforms Delivery Office, Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, delivered a presentation on the specifics of developing energy plans. She emphasized the need for using digital tools to generate benchmarking indicators and advised a balanced approach to creating strategic documents at both local and regional levels, applying both optimistic and realistic scenarios.

CoM East national experts Oksana Kysil and Vitaliy Volkov elaborated on the sources of information that communities can use when developing strategic documents. Their session focused on data collection and analysis, a topic that sparked significant interest among attendees, as accurate data is crucial for building effective policies.

A key highlight of the seminar was a session on the key requirements for local energy plans, particularly in terms of integrating them into broader community development strategies. Participants gained valuable insights into how to structure these documents, prioritise actions, and identify funding sources to turn ideas into tangible projects.

The seminar concluded with a productive discussion where participants shared recommendations for improving energy planning processes. This event marked an important step in strengthening communication between national, regional, and local stakeholders, providing critical support to communities in the Zhytomyr region as they work towards more sustainable energy practices.

This seminar underscores the ongoing commitment of the Covenant of Mayors East initiative to assist local communities in developing effective energy and climate strategies, paving the way for a more sustainable future across Ukraine.