On 14 October 2026, an international event entitled “Shoulder to Shoulder”, dedicated to strengthening cohesion, partnerships and Ukraine’s recovery, took place in Brussels as part of the European Week of Regions. The event was co-organised by ALDA – the European Association for Local Democracy and the Ministry for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport of Ukraine.
The meeting brought together representatives of Ukrainian authorities, European institutions, local and regional governments, international organisations and partnership networks. Participants explored opportunities to expand intermunicipal and interregional cooperation, as well as mechanisms to support Ukrainian communities with limited resources for establishing international partnerships.
Particular attention was paid to the development of Ukraine’s “Shoulder to Shoulder: Cohesive Communities” programme, the international dimension of this initiative, and the presentation of the CURA – Catalonia for Ukraine project, implemented with the support of the Government of Catalonia.
Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA and member of the Board of the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), took part in the opening session. She emphasised that ALDA promotes an approach in which international cooperation contributes not only to mobilising resources for recovery, but also to strengthening local democracy, the institutional capacities of communities and long-term partnerships between territories.
An important step in this direction was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ALDA and the Ukrainian ministry responsible for territorial development during the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) in Gdańsk. The cooperation envisages drawing on ALDA’s experience in decentralised cooperation, particularly through the network of Local Democracy Agencies and partnerships between Ukrainian and European local authorities.
During the opening session, particular attention was also paid to the Bridges of Trust initiative, which facilitates the establishment of partnerships between communities and enhances their visibility internationally, including with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe programme. The initiative was presented in greater detail by Durmish Guri, Director of Projects and Programmes at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).
The central thematic session of the event focused on the role of the “Shoulder to Shoulder” programme in Ukraine’s reconstruction. The keynote contribution in this part of the programme was scheduled to be delivered by Oleksii Riyabikin, Deputy Minister for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport of Ukraine.
The “Shoulder to Shoulder: Cohesive Communities” programme was launched in 2025 to strengthen cooperation between frontline “outpost communities” and partner communities in Ukraine’s rear regions. Since the initiative began, more than 1,100 partnerships have been established between communities across Ukraine. For ALDA, the “Shoulder to Shoulder” programme creates additional opportunities to engage European municipalities and regions in supporting Ukrainian communities.
An important part of the event was the presentation of the CURA – Catalonia for Ukraine project, aimed at supporting Ukrainian regional authorities.
The project was presented by Jaume Duch, Minister for European Union and Foreign Action of the Government of Catalonia. The Government of Catalonia has experience in developing decentralised cooperation and has decided to strengthen its support for Ukrainian regional authorities.
This initiative aligns with ALDA’s activities under the “Shoulder to Shoulder” programme, which aims to establish partnerships between Ukrainian local and regional authorities and European partners. The presentation of CURA formed a distinct part of the discussion on opportunities for international cooperation to support recovery and strengthen local democracy in Ukraine.
The event was attended by Oleksii Selin, Deputy Head of the Mission of Ukraine to the European Union; Elena Visnar Malinovska, Head of Unit for Reconstruction and Accession of the Ukraine Service at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST), who represented the institutional dimension linking Ukraine’s recovery with its European integration. Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko, Chair of the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils and Chair of the Kharkiv Regional Council, also took part in the opening session. The European Committee of the Regions was represented by Gudrun Niedorf, Deputy Head of Unit for the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX). The participation of the representative of the Committee of the Regions reflected the importance of the local and regional dimension of European support for Ukraine.
The concluding part of the event was devoted to an open discussion on how European partners can contribute to supporting Ukrainian communities.