The Center of European Projects is interested in cooperation with scientists and local governments of Prykarpattia. This was announced on May 8 during a joint meeting with the rector of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Igor Tsependa, teachers, students, representatives of local self-government bodies of the region, united territorial communities, chairmen of district councils and district state organizations, regional and district branches of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, representatives of European funds of the Center of European Projects – the director of the Center Leszek Buller and the expert of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Program Lolita Gedo. Educational project-management center The Agents of Changes of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University hosted the event.

The participants of the meeting got useful information on the specific mechanisms and ways to obtain European Union funds with an overview of existing competitions in Poland for higher education institutions, projects of the Cross-border Cooperation Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine until 2020.

«Today’s meeting is our joint initiative, it is a step to combining science with the tasks our local government faces. We want to implement the concept inherent in European universities – to be engaged not only in education and teaching, but also to help develop the regions we live in» –  said the rector Igor Tsependa during the meeting.

Leszek Buller, the director of the Center of European Projects, spoke in detail about the activities of the Center, implementation of programs and projects in the international cooperation direction. In particular, about the Cross-Border Cooperation Program Poland-Belarus-Ukraine, which has been operating for 15 years and is funded by the European Union under the Neighborhood Policy. He also expressed interest in cooperating with scientists and local governments.

Lolita Gedo, an expert of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Program, informed the participants of the meeting that the budget of the Program for 2014-2020 is 183 million euros and is built on four thematic goals. They are heritage, accessibility, security and borders. In this context, she drew attention to the financing of three types of projects: large infrastructure, regular and micro-projects. Regarding the latter, it should be noted that the competitive recruitment will start August 1 and finish October 31 in the current year. The expert also said that the largest amount to finance projects is 60 thousand euros, and the smallest – 20 thousand euros. Each of the applicants is given up to 12 months to implement the idea. The applicant receives 85% of the funds before the start of the project.

After giving all the theoretical information, Lolita Gedo also held a practical seminar for the participants on the submission of applications, registration of relevant applications, preparation and submission of documents for EU projects and grants for local and regional development.

Svitlana Kropelnytska, the director of the Project-Educational Center «Agents of Changes», associate professor of finance department of economics faculty in our university, called on all stakeholders to actively cooperate and stressed that the newly established educational institution will become a think tank and consolidate expertise for the development of our region.

During the meeting, the representatives of the united territorial communities stated the great benefits of such events and expressed hope for fruitful cooperation with the university and European funds. «We want to learn how to establish cross-border cooperation. Roads are the most important for us but we have many projects related to preschool educational institutions, schools, street lighting, etc. We try to do as much as possible for our community. We hope that such meetings will help us find partners» said Vira Pasichnyk, the head of the General Department of Volyn united territorial community.

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