From 5 to 9 May, representatives of the UCORD pilot RDAs took part in the Project Management Internship Programme in the Romanian city of Piatra Nămţi.
The training was jointly organised by UCORD and ARD Nord-Est, the regional development agency for Romania’s largest North-Eastern region.
The curriculum included trainings on project design, project management, project management under European Union programmes, such as Interreg Europe and Horizon Europe Programme, and much more.
“In the current situation, it is especially important for Regional Development Agencies to be able to set priorities, generate relevant project ideas, and find effective partnerships and funding. At the same time, understanding how to make a project competitive, efficient and effective remains key – so that it really contributes to the development of the region and improves the quality of life of its residents. That is why project management training for RDA specialists is part of the institutional support provided by the UCORD project to its pilot agencies,” said Maryna Bryl, UCORD Project Manager.
For a week, participants from the pilot RDAs studied:
- Modern approaches to project management,
- the basics of effective project planning and project management,
- work with various project design tools and methodologies,
- peculiarities of participation in large European programmes (Interreg Europe, Horizon Europe, etc.),
- practical aspects of application preparation, partner search and funding.
A special feature of the Project Management Internship Programme was the availability of practical workshops, during which participants were able to improve their skills in project management, communications, risk management, etc.
The UCORD project partner in organising this training programme is ARD Nord-Est. This agency has made an impressive journey from a small office with 4 employees to a powerful organisation with 250 employees and managing projects and programmes with budgets of billions of dollars.
In addition, ARD Nord-Est has its own training centre, the Norht-East Regional Studies Centre, which was established in response to the rapid development of the Romanian economic environment and the desire to meet the training needs of the organisations and partners with which the agency cooperates. Norht-East Regional Studies Centre experts are involved in the training programme as trainers.
We are confident that this week in Romania will be a powerful impetus for strengthening the institutional capacity of Ukrainian RDAs and will contribute to the implementation of high-quality, large-scale projects for the development of Ukrainian regions.
The Swiss-Ukrainian project ‘Cohesion and Regional Development of Ukraine’, UCORD is implemented with the support of Switzerland via the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation by NIRAS Sweden AB.