Head of the University-City Cooperation Center, Zoriana Deryi, participated in the interregional conference “Local Economic Development: Crisis Response, Recovery, and Sustainable Growth” held on May 15–16. The event was organized by UNDP with the support of the Government of Sweden.

The conference served as a platform for dialogue between regions already participating in the Swedish-Ukrainian project “Enhanced Partnership for Sustainable Recovery” (EPSR) and those that have only recently joined the initiative.

The discussions and presentations throughout the conference focused on key priorities of the project’s new phase, which will run from 2025 to 2026, including:

• Local economic recovery
• Inclusion
• Support for local businesses
• Support for women, youth, and internally displaced persons (IDPs)

As part of the project, a series of trainings on local economic development tools, a grant competition, and the dissemination of best practices for localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also planned.