Preparing the communities for reconstruction and European integration is increasingly shifting from the adoption of regulations to the development of practical ability to work under new rules.

Presentation of the practical guidebook for communities to implement the eRecovery governmental program has become one of the milestones on this path. The documents contains recommendations for local commissions reviewing the compensation applications for the destroyed or damaged properties, decision-making algorithms, and clarification of court practice and typical legal issues. The guidebook has been complied following the hands-on workshops participated by about 470 representatives of communities.

Simultaneously, the Polaris program focused on another aspect of community preparation, which is readiness to fulfill future requirements of the European integration. The material emphasizes that a successful integration will depend not only on the harmonization of laws but also on whether the communities will have sufficient institutional capacity to exercise new authorities. It covers development of managerial competencies, project preparation, strategic planning, and formation of professional teams.

Despite different topics, both initiatives demonstrate a common trend. While earlier the main accent was put on creating new support programs and mechanisms, today more and more attentional is being paid to how well the communities can put them into practice.

The Interstate Consultants Engineers Guild points out that it is the institutional capacity building in communities that becomes one of the key factors of the successful recovery. Growing amounts of international support, new programs, and European standards naturally increase the requirements for the quality of project preparation, process organization, risk management, and professional support of project implementation.

That is why development of the project owner’s competencies, use of modern approaches to the project management, and application of the professional expertise is becoming a component of the effective reconstruction and future integration of Ukraine in the European space.