Authors: Frede Danborg, Anna Topp-Gustavsen and Nadiia Bridnia

 

Bridges of Trust initiative of U-LEAD with Europe (BoT) brings together more than 150 partnerships across more than 10 European countries, and one Danish-Ukrainian municipal partnership stands out among them. Most people know bilateral and even trilateral partnerships, but this one is unique, since a so-called “cluster approach” has been applied by U-LEAD. It began in the year 2021 as a cooperation among ten partners, nine Ukrainian municipalities and one Danish, namely the Guldborgsund municipality. Years of joint work, interrupted by a pandemic and a full-scale war, have turned it from a project into a lasting friendship and cooperation that is still growing.

From Ten Partners to a Shared Agenda – A Cluster Approach

Guldborgsund municipality lies in the south of Denmark, on the islands of Lolland and Falster. Although it is a rural municipality with a population of 60.000 people, it has extensive experience in international cooperation, local development and democracy, green energy and agriculture, and it was ready to share that experience with its Ukrainian counterparts. Interest in international cooperation among Ukrainian municipalities was already strong. In 2021, nine partners from three regions, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia, were selected to join the project. Those municipalities were Dolynna, Horodenka, Halych, Khotyn, Novoselytsia, Hlyboka, Yasinia, Svaliava, and Horinchivo.

The project started in December 2020 and was initiated and funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Neighbourhood Programme. It was built around three interrelated components, all aimed at strengthening municipal dialogue with citizens, businesses and other municipalities through practical exchange and peer learning.

The first component focused on dialogue with citizens and introduced participatory approaches to planning and governance. Through seminars and a study visit to Guldborgsund, participants explored how citizen involvement can improve strategic planning, service delivery and energy efficiency measures, making local policies more responsive and effective.

The second component addressed dialogue with business. It brought together municipal representatives, Danish experts and private sector actors to build structured communication with local companies and create a more supportive environment for economic development, while also taking into account what businesses need and expect from their municipalities.

The third component focused on dialogue between municipalities and highlighted the value of inter-municipal cooperation for better public services. Danish experience showed how partnerships between neighbouring municipalities can support joint projects in areas such as waste management, culture and infrastructure, increasing both efficiency and service quality.

Cooperation Through Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly disrupted the plans. Meetings, study tours and technical assistance visits, which were meant to bring the partners face to face, were postponed or shifted online. Even so, the municipalities' determination to cooperate did not waver.

In spring 2021, the plan for the coming years was presented to the mayors and specialists of the partner municipalities at an online meeting. Activities began in June 2021 but were suspended indefinitely after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. In that difficult moment, the partnership proved to be more than a project. In 2022, Guldborgsund sent humanitarian aid to all nine Ukrainian partner municipalities. Thanks to the dedication of both sides, the project activities resumed in summer 2022, starting with online seminars on dialogue and cooperation with citizens for local governance and democracy.

In cooperation with U-LEAD, in the following years, Guldborgsund municipality continued to implement the project, keeping its main focus on civic engagement, business development, inter-municipal cooperation and joint municipal projects. As the situation in Ukraine changed, so did the project. After intense consultations with the Ukrainian partners, a new topic was added: green decentralised energy management, which proved very useful for the Ukrainian municipalities.

A More Focused Partnership

In 2025, the partnership entered a new phase supported by the Ukraine – Denmark Twinning Programme, and shifting towards more targeted support for a smaller group of Ukrainian municipalities. The number of Ukrainian partners was reduced from nine to three – Dolyna, Novoselytsia and Yasinia – allowing Guldborgsund to focus more closely on their individual needs and develop practical solutions tailored to their local contexts.

The cooperation centred on two thematic areas: green decentralised energy planning and rural development. The aim was not quick results but solid groundwork, with plans and strategies that prepare the ground for future fundraising and investment, which is the usual first step before pilot projects and larger funding.

The energy planning component focused on identifying and realising energy-saving potential and on selecting decentralised energy solutions suited to each municipality. The Ukrainian municipalities also learned from Guldborgsund’s years of data-based energy management in public buildings. This was a natural fit, since all four municipalities have trained energy managers who could share real experience. The Danish Energy Agency and external advisers joined the planning meetings and study tours, and the partners worked toward business plans, investment analyses and decisions on the next steps for choosing decentralised energy sources.

The rural development component helped the Ukrainian municipalities plan together with citizens, drawing on Guldborgsund’s experience in this area accumulated since the municipality was established in 2007.

Each Ukrainian municipality chose a rural area or a rural process to work on, and Yasinia chose to work with cheese farmers in several high mountain areas. The municipalities began by mapping local resources, ideas and wishes. Later on, they involved citizens in public discussions, so that people could help shape a shared vision. Finally, each municipality set up a local steering group of citizens, businesses, institutions and municipal staff and prepared a roadmap for the area.

Throughout the process, representatives of all four municipalities learned side by side through online seminars and study visits. When Guldborgsund staff and City Council members visited their Ukrainian counterparts in Ukraine in 2024, 2025 and 2026, they saw local needs and conditions first-hand. Over time, the Ukrainian municipalities gained the knowledge and skills to adapt proven Danish approaches to their own realities, from finding energy-saving potential and choosing decentralised energy solutions to planning and implementing rural development initiatives.

Looking Ahead: Two Projects for 2026-2027

The cooperation between Guldborgsund and the three Ukrainian municipalities does not end here. From 1 March 2026 to 31 December 2027, the partnership will continue through two new projects in Dolyna, Novoselytsia and Yasinia: Energy Saving, Planning and Fundraising, and the Youth Innovation and Local Development Framework.

The first project directly builds on the work in the energy sector initiated in 2025. Its goal is to cut energy use in public buildings and make local energy supply more reliable by developing the municipal skills to manage, plan and invest in energy. Each municipality will draw up a strategic plan for renovating and managing its buildings, which will help to identify where investment can generate the greatest savings. They will also prepare a plan for their local energy supply, weighing sustainable sources by energy security, cost and emissions. Plans alone do not pay for renovations, so the project will also provide a fundraising toolbox with standardised applications, municipal data and an investment pipeline linked to local and regional energy plans. With these tools, the municipalities can approach EU programmes and international or private funds with confidence. The foundation is laid for lasting energy efficiency, resilience and sustainable local development.

The second project takes the partnership in a new direction: youth engagement. In all three municipalities, youth and cultural centres already bring young people together. The project builds on that and aims to give municipalities a simple, repeatable way of working with young people on developing and testing ideas, using accessible methods that encourage participation, social innovation and early entrepreneurship. A Youth Innovation Framework will combine easy-to-use co-creation methods with a Youth Innovation Hub concept adapted to each local centre and simple ways of testing ideas through micro-prototypes. In practice, this means municipal staff and young people can move from an idea to a visible result within a short time, which strengthens engagement and community spirit.

The project impacts not only the participants. Young people and local communities will gain real opportunities to take part and learn, while municipal staff, youth workers and local partners will build their own skills. Online sessions, local workshops and exchanges will provide practical training in co-creation, facilitation and idea development, and will lay the foundation for a sustainable, low-cost approach to youth engagement.

Successful Cooperation Based on Mutual Trust

When ten municipalities started working together in early 2021, nobody could have predicted what lay ahead. A pandemic, a full-scale war and changing needs on the ground tested the partnership, and each time the partners found a way forward together. What started as dialogue with citizens, businesses and neighbouring municipalities grew into energy planning and rural development. Today this cooperation also covers energy investment and youth innovation.

What made the difference was trust. It was clear in 2022, when Guldborgsund sent humanitarian aid to all nine Ukrainian partners. And it is clear in the way the municipalities work as equals, sharing everyday experience rather than handing down advice. The result is more than a list of projects: skills, plans and relationships that last. Their story is a good example of continuous cooperation which shows what Bridges of Trust stands for. A municipal partnership can start as a project and become a friendship that benefits both sides.

 

 

This article has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and its member states Germany, Denmark, France, Austria, Poland and Slovenia. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not necessarily represent the views of U-LEAD with Europe, the European Union and its member states Germany, Denmark, France, Austria, Poland and Slovenia.

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Dr. Frede Danborg has been International Coordinator in Guldborgsund Municipality for nearly 20 years. He has been involved in dozens of EU co-funded projects involving most EU countries, and since 2020 he has also been co-project manager for the Ukraine-Guldborgsund Twinning Cooperation. Before joining Guldborgsund Municipality, he was Research Associate at the Agricultural University in Copenhagen and international project adviser and manager based in countries like Vietnam, Nepal, Lativa, and Slovakia.

Ms. Anna Topp-Gustavsen has been International Coordinator in Guldborgsund Municipality for nearly nine years. She has been involved in numerous EU co-funded projects and, since 2020, has served as co-project manager of the Ukraine-Guldborgsund Twinning Cooperation. Before joining Guldborgsund Municipality, she worked at Copenhagen Business School as a Research Advisor, supporting researchers in securing national and international research funding and developing collaborative research projects.

Nadiia Bridnia is an International Partnerships Advisor at GIZ Ukraine’s U-LEAD with Europe Programme. She has over five years of experience in Ukraine’s decentralisation and local governance sector, including more than four years supporting U-LEAD with Europe and its Bridges of Trust initiative. Her work focuses on strengthening international municipal partnerships, facilitating cooperation between Ukrainian municipalities and their European counterparts, and coordinating knowledge exchange and capacity-development activities.