On 10 July, the Cross-Border Leadership Academy Program was launched in the Jánosi district of Beregszász with the participation of senior officials of Hungarian and Ukrainian municipalities: mayors, deputy mayors, heads of departments, heads of institutions.
Organizers of the program are Tisza European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (Tisza EGTC) in partnership with the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives (CESCI). The event was sponsored by the Council of Europe and the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The main objective of the project is to improve cross-border cooperation between local authorities in Hungary and Ukraine. The program provides training for local leaders three times, two trainings in Ukraine and one in Hungary. The participants will be 12 leaders of local government in Ukraine and 12 leaders of local government in Hungary, as well as experts from the Ministry of Regional Development, Architecture and Public Utilities of Ukraine.
Participants of the opening ceremony: Oszkár Seszták Chairman of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Council, Chairman of the Tisza EGTC, Rivis Mikhailo Chairman of the Transcarpathian Council, Co-Chairman of the Tisza EGTC, Alina Tatarenko Head of Local Government Reform, Council of Europe Gyula Ocskay is the Secretary General of the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives (CESCI), Kibza Jevheniya is the Deputy Head of the Transcarpathian Regional Council, Andrea,Szabóné Cap the Director of Tisza EGTC and Judit Jevcsák Deputy Director.
The training was conducted by qualified trainers of the Council of Europe. Daniele Del Bianco, Director of the International Institute of Sociology from Gorizia, Italy, and Ramona Velea, Research Fellow at the International Institute of Sociology, Katalin Pallai, Austria, expert and instructor in the development of public service integrity and leadership; Program Specialist, represented by Popiuk Ruslan, Ministry of Regional Development, Architecture and Public Utilities of Ukraine.
The two chairmen, Oszkár Seszták and Mikhailo Rivis, emphasized in their speeches that during the training the experts of the Council of Europe shared their experiences in Western Europe in order to provide comprehensive information on the administrative, legal, financial and managerial methods of successful cross-border cooperation.
As stated at the opening, the training introduced the modern thinking of good governance to the participants in an interactive way, using a number of innovative training techniques. Participants will look at the challenges facing cross-border municipalities and learn how good leadership can address these challenges by strengthening the institutional capacity of the municipality through effective cooperation with local population and organizations; developing the personal awareness, knowledge, skills and attitudes that approve good leadership. In addition, participants will learn how to use the legal and capacity building tools of the Council of Europe, such as barriers to cross-border cooperation and the EDEN online platform.
The second phase of the training will take place in August in Hungary and the final phase in September in Ukraine.