Registration for the free online course “Decentralisation: from paternalism to responsible development”, starting on 31 October, has begun on the Prometheus platform. The course is completely free.

"Decentralisation: from paternalism to responsible development" is a new course on the organisation of local self-government, which tells about the combination of theory with practice, real stories of innovative decisions that emerged in different hromadas in the process of the reform.

Course tutor Anatoliy Tkachuk, Director in Research and Development of the Civil Society Institute, will talk about the modern paradigm of hromada management, consider the issues of self-sufficient local policy-making, decision-making, benefits or losses for the whole hromada. The course participants will gain knowledge that will help to shape the hromada responsible for its life.

Main topics of the course:

• Decentralisation in Ukraine: from idea to implementation
• Constitutional basis of administrative and territorial structure and local self-government in Ukraine, basic legislation and peculiarities of its application in the conditions of changes
• Powers and methods of activity of local self-government bodies and officials
• Local hromada policy-making
• Local identity
• Cooperation of hromadas, opportunities and features
• The prospect of completing the reform

Each part of the course consists of several video lectures. There are also self-test tasks. To deepen your knowledge you can use the course notes, read publications on these topics. After successfully mastering all the topics and passing the tests, you will receive a certificate of completion. However, the main thing is not a certificate, but systemic knowledge that will come in handy.

The course is designed for local council deputies, employees of local self-government bodies, local activists, politically active citizens who plan to run for deputies of local councils in the next elections, students of higher educational institutions, who plan to work in local self-government bodies.

This is the second online course created within the communication component of the USAID DOBRE programme and initiated by the Ukrainian Crisis Media Centre. The first online course "Decentralisation in Ukraine – Theory and Practice" was covered by over 7,000 students simultaneously.

The first course can be watched at this link