On 8 September, the Summer School for Regional Development Agencies in frontline regions kicked off in Uzhhorod. The event is organised by the Swiss-Ukrainian “Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development” (UCORD) Project in cooperation with the European Association for Development Agencies (EURADA).

The participants of the Summer School represent the Regional Development Agencies of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Odesa regions. The programme combines European case studies, the exchange of experiences, and practical work, which is intended to result in priorities and action plans for each agency for the next 12 months.

The first day was devoted to the strategic role of the Regional Development Agency (RDA). European experts and agency representatives from Italy, Romania, Portugal, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Croatia discussed regional policy, planning, investment, organisational models, and evaluation of results.

Regional policy begins with the needs of a specific territory

Katerina Ciampi Stancova and Maria-Varinia Michalun, experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, presented the evolution of EU regional policy over the last two decades.

The European cohesion policy aims to reduce economic, social, and territorial disparities. At the same time, it is based on the understanding that regions have different resources, challenges, and opportunities. Therefore, universal solutions do not work here: development has to be based on the specific characteristics of a given territory, its people, economy, institutions, research potential, and partnerships.

Smart specialisation is a key tool in this approach. It involves the analysis of regional assets and opportunities, engaging businesses, universities, public authorities and civil society in identifying promising areas for development, selecting the priorities most important to the region, and establishing mechanisms for their implementation.

In this work, Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) can act as coordinators: collecting and analysing data, bringing stakeholders together, helping to set priorities, preparing projects, seeking funding, and monitoring results.

For Ukraine’s frontline regions, this approach is even more important. The war is altering demographics, logistics, community needs, the state of infrastructure, and business opportunities. That means regional decisions have to take into account both the current security situation and future recovery.

How a strategy becomes a programme and an investment project

The representatives of the Marche region, the Trentino Sviluppo agency, and the North-East Regional Development Agency of Romania discussed the path from a regional strategy to specific programmes and projects.

Silvano Bertini, a representative of the Marche region, emphasised that strategic planning begins with a thorough assessment. It is necessary to assess the region’s socio-economic situation, the structure of its economy, demographic trends, human and financial resources, the state of its infrastructure, and institutional conditions. The next steps are: a SWOT analysis, defining objectives and expected outcomes, consultations with stakeholders, preparing an operational plan, and monitoring and evaluation.

Luca Capra presented the experience of the autonomous province of Trento. Its regional programme under the European Regional Development Fund covers competitiveness, research and innovation, digitalisation, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate adaptation, risk resilience, and affordable housing.

The “Trento 2040” strategy also focuses on the development of human capital, technological modernisation, business sustainability, and the role of the financial system in the development of the region. Trentino Sviluppo supports these areas through business services, science parks and innovation centres, investment attraction, start-up development, business support, and tools for the international promotion of the region.

Andreea-Raluca Leru, a representative of the North-East Regional Development Agency of Romania, spoke about the preparation of a new regional plan. Thematic and territorial working groups, as well as representatives from communities, business, education, the expert community, and civil society, are involved in this process.

Her key message is that the region should not adapt its needs to suit existing calls for proposals. First, the region should define what it wants to be for the people who live, work, or might return there. Funding is one of the tools to implement this vision. This approach helps to create not a disjointed list of applications, but holistic development mechanisms.

A clear mandate and a professional team

The participants in the Summer School also discussed what the functions, governance models, and funding arrangements for the RDA might look like.

Experience from different countries shows that whilst the legal form of agencies, the composition of their founders and their sources of funding may vary, several basic conditions are necessary for them to be effective. These include a clear mandate, operational stability, long-term funding, professional staff, the trust of the authorities, the business community and the public, as well as sufficient operational flexibility.

Theo Föllings, Programme Director at Oost NL, the economic development agency for the Eastern Netherlands, and President of EURADA, presented a model that combines three interlinked areas: business development, access to capital, and internationalisation.

Oost NL works with businesses, start-ups, investors, universities, and the authorities in the two provinces. The agency helps innovative companies develop business cases, secure funding, scale up, and enter foreign markets. It also supports foreign companies planning to operate in the region.

The role of the RDA in this model is to identify opportunities, forge partnerships, mitigate risks at an early stage of the project, prepare business cases, secure funding, and provide support throughout implementation. At the same time, the agency does not replace the public authorities responsible for making policy decisions, nor does it replace business associations. It enhances the region’s capacity to bring together different stakeholders around shared objectives.

Innovation is driven by people, networks, and trust

Adéla Hradilová presented the case study of the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre Ostrava. The centre develops the regional innovation ecosystem: it works with entrepreneurs, start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, universities, research institutions, and investors.

Its work ranges from entrepreneurial education, incubation and one-to-one mentoring to accelerator programmes, access to grants and venture capital, business digitalisation, and support for exports and international partnerships. Specific programmes are aimed at schoolchildren, university students, young entrepreneurs, and companies preparing to scale up.

This experience is vital for Ukrainian regions, where the development of innovation cannot be limited to infrastructure development. A systematic approach is needed, focusing on people, skills, technologies, entrepreneurial culture, and links between education and business.

The Alentejo Regional Development Agency in Portugal, whose experience was presented by Daniel Janeiro, operates in a large, sparsely populated region. To address the issue of geographical dispersion, it has established four decentralised offices and organises regular outreach consultations in communities.

The agency’s focus areas include: promoting the region internationally and attracting investment; supporting start-ups and small businesses; developing innovative infrastructure; the green transition; hydrogen energy; climate adaptation; and the circular economy. This is an example of how the Regional Development Agency can have a presence not only in the regional centre but also in communities where businesses and local authorities require expertise and partnerships.

Transformation requires consistency

Andreja Šeperac presented the experience of the Sisak-Moslavina County in Croatia, which has endured war, a prolonged decline in traditional industry, and the devastating earthquake of 2020.

The region has embarked on a transformation by creating new opportunities for young people and businesses. One focus has been the development of the games industry: educational programmes for children and adults, vocational training, new specialisms in schools, a business incubator, mentoring, and financial support for start-ups. The next stage was the creation of a gaming industry centre, combining education, student infrastructure, incubation, and acceleration.

In parallel, the region is developing centres for new skills, vocational education, a network of business incubators, and technologies in unmanned systems and artificial intelligence. The experience of Sisak-Moslavina County shows that a region’s new specialisation does not emerge within a single grant cycle. It is shaped through consistent work on education, human resources, entrepreneurs, infrastructure, and the market.

Recovery requires institutional capacity

Kornelija Mlinarević, Director of the Zagreb Development Agency, presented the agency’s work after the 2020 earthquakes, which caused significant damage to the city of Zagreb and Sisak-Moslavina County.

The agency became one of the bodies responsible for channelling financial support for the recovery effort. Its team verified documentation, procurement processes, the validity of expenditure and the progress of works at different sites. The work encompassed the restoration of schools, healthcare facilities, transport infrastructure, water supply systems, cultural heritage sites, and other critical facilities.

This case study revealed several challenges that are also typical for the future recovery of Ukraine: limited resources, a shortage of specialists and contractors, rising construction costs, a large number of projects, changes to regulatory requirements, and the need to make decisions quickly whilst maintaining the transparency of procedures.

For the RDA, this is yet another reminder that project capacity, financial management, procurement, risk management, and a professional workforce are just as important as having a strategic document.

Measure not only implementation, but also outcomes

The closing sessions of the first day focused on the strategic planning cycle and the evaluation of its effectiveness.

Ivona Mendeš Levak presented the experience of the Regional Development Agency Osjecko-Baranjska County in Croatia. Work on the development plan started with data collection and analysis, a survey of all municipalities, thematic studies, and a SWOT analysis. Regional authorities, the agency, the partner council, thematic working groups, experts, and representatives of local self-government participated in the preparation of the document.

The implementation of the strategy is accompanied by an assessment prior to its approval, an interim assessment during implementation, and a final impact analysis. The results of this analysis should be fed back into the next planning cycle.

Andreea-Raluca Leru pointed out the difference between output indicators and impact indicators. The number of start-ups created, events held, funds disbursed or facilities built is necessary for accountability purposes. However, these figures do not provide a complete picture of whether people’s opportunities, access to services, quality of life, the region’s competitiveness, and its resilience have improved.

Evaluation should help to make better decisions during programme implementation. This requires high-quality data, clear indicators, a willingness to adjust approaches, and an understanding of the interrelationships between different investments: in infrastructure, education, skills, innovation, digitalisation, employment and the functioning of institutions.

Lessons for Ukrainian Regional Development Agencies

The European experience does not offer a ready-made organisational model for Ukraine. However, it clearly highlights the areas in which Ukrainian RDAs need to strengthen their work now: work with data and regional analytics, have a clear mandate, build stable teams, develop partnerships with communities, businesses and universities, prepare projects to attract funding, and measure their real impact.

At present, the capabilities of Ukrainian agencies vary greatly. Some have limited budgets and staff resources, rely on short-term projects or focus primarily on seeking grants. But this is precisely why it is important to gradually transition to a broader role: to serve as a professional platform for the region, helping to identify shared community challenges, set priorities, build partnerships, and turn needs into well-founded solutions.

For frontline regions, this is not a question of an ideal institutional model at some point in the future. It is about the ability, right now, to prepare people, projects, data and partnerships, without which recovery risks remaining a collection of isolated, unconnected decisions.

The first day of the UCORD Summer School provided the participants with a framework for their future practical work. The subsequent sessions are dedicated to sharing the experiences of Ukrainian Regional Development Agencies, the work on developing small and medium-sized enterprises and investments, as well as setting the agencies’ priorities for the next 12 months.