On December 5, a round table “Multi-level system of strategic planning of state policy: international experience and opportunities for Ukraine” was held in Kyiv, organized by the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with the support of the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development ”, UCORD, which is implemented with the support of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation by NIRAS Sweden AB.
The event was dedicated to discussing the formation of a modern model of strategic planning in Ukraine, taking into account the experience of policy planning at the national and subnational levels in EU countries. The roundtable was attended by offline and online representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, central executive bodies, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, regional development agencies, associations of local governments, international and Ukrainian experts.
To survive and win, we need to have an effective management system that involves planning. Our goal is to create an ideal model of strategic development. This is especially important in the context of the process of European integration and adaptation of our legislation to the norms of the European Union, – noted Oleg Voytovych, Deputy State Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Simone Troller, Deputy Head of the Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, emphasized that although Ukraine is currently going through a dramatic period and all levels of government are engaged in liquidation of emergency situations, it is important to jointly think about a long-term strategic vision and coordinate joint approaches to the development of a highly adaptive, vertically and horizontally coordinated model of strategic planning that would ensure the cohesive recovery and sustainable development of Ukraine.
The Deputy Head of the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Artem Yanchuk, highlighted that the system of multi-level strategic planning of state policy is definitely on the agenda and must be considered in conjunction with other elements of planning and forecasting. He also informed about planning processes in the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Review of the best international practices of strategic planning
The first panel discussion of the round table was devoted to an overview of the best international practices of strategic planning. Experts shared the experience of European countries, and also offered models that Ukraine can use to build its own planning ecosystem, which is especially important in the context of the processes of European integration, reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine’s economy. Summing up speakers’ presentations, the main recommendations of the experts are:
- The system should be simple and one that clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of all involved parties.
- Planning documents should be based exclusively on priorities.
- In the planning system, a single coordination center should be created at the national level, which will be responsible for the strategic planning process, coordination and involvment of all stakeholders in it.
- It is important to involve as many participants as possible in the planning process: authorities at all levels, local self-government, civil society, business, scientific community.
- A systematic approach of involving high-level politicians in the planning process should be initiated. It is not enough to present them with a ready-made document. And in general, for the successful implementation of all plans, there must be a political will, which must be taken into account during the planning process.
- Strategies and implementation plans should not be created in isolation from resource provision, primarily financial, otherwise they have no chance of implementation.
- Strategic planning is not so much about tools as it is about ensuring ongoing dialogue and discussion with all stakeholders.
- It is important to invest in training people and developing methodologies, as well as describing procedures and templates for different levels.
- The process of monitoring and evaluation is needed not to punish someone, but to correct mistakes in time and move on.
- In the process of creating a unified planning system, Ukraine should not copy others, but develop its own approach that will work both during the war and after it, in the process of recovery.
Regional development agencies are tools of multi-level management and strategic planning support
It is worth emphasizing the role of regional development agencies as tools of multi-level management and support for strategic planning. This was said by Roberta Dall’Olio, Director of the European Association of Regional Development Agencies (EURADA). According to her, the vast majority of regional and local development agencies of European countries support the strategic planning of territories. The agencies are the engines that at the regional level promote dialogue between civil servants, experts, the business environment, citizens and help shape their attitude to state building, that ensures the success of planning.
What should be the Ukrainian system of strategic planning: approaches, concepts, steps
The second panel discussion was going about the current state of affairs in the field of strategic policy planning in Ukraine. Also the speakers voiced various concepts of forming a system of planning documents. In particular, the concept proposed by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine was presented by Natalia Horshkova, Director of the Department of Strategic Planning and Macroeconomic Forecasting of this Ministry.
It is worth making a more rigid vertical system of documents, which will be clearly hierarchically related to each other. We offer a system that starts from goals and is oriented towards achieving these goals. There is a key document at the country level that defines the system of development goals. Next, a sectoral strategy is developed for each goal. Then we will understand what this goal is, how it will be implemented, what are the final indicators of its achievement, and form policies that are necessary for this.
The speaker also emphasized that it is worth distinguishing between the concepts of “strategy” and “policy”: “Strategy is a way to achieve a goal, not a way to implement policy. And politics is a tool used by one or another body to achieve a goal.”
The Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which was represented during the event by the Director General of the Directorate for Coordination of State Policies and Strategic Planning, Serhii Kotsurak, also has its own vision regarding the formation of a system of planning documents, which, in particular, takes into account European integration processes.
The main element of the system, which would link planning with budgeting, should be the National Development Plan drawn up for 7 years. Such a document is used in many EU countries and was mandatory for the Baltic countries during their accession to the EU. This plan should include target indicators and resources and allow for adjustments. Along with the general National Development Plan, the system should include sectoral documents, which must necessarily contain specific financial calculations, and not just a norm that says that this document will be implemented within the limits of the budget. What is also very important is the distribution of powers: everyone must understand who is responsible for what.
According to Serhii Soroka, Director of the Department of Strategic Planning and Regional Policy of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine, the strategic planning system in Ukraine is currently chaotic and unbalanced and needs to be streamlined. “The framework of state strategic planning should not be the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, but the specific Law “On State Strategic Planning”, which will establish a list of planning documents, their hierarchy, how they should be interconnected, how they should act and complement each other “, he believes.
Anatoly Tkachuk, Director of Science and Development of the Civil Society Institute, agrees with Serhiy Soroka, who also believes that there is no strategic planning system in Ukraine that would establish a clear hierarchy of strategic planning documents. And in order to regulate them, it is necessary to adopt the Law “On State Strategic Planning”. Also, in his opinion, it is necessary to bring the norms of the Laws “On the principles of state regional policy” and “On the regulation of urban planning activities” into conformity, as well as to introduce into the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine norms on assessing the impact of industry strategies, programs and plans on the development of specific territories. Regarding the general vision of the concept of “strategy”, Anatolii Tkachuk says the following:
“I am a supporter of the fact that strategy should paint the picture, not its elements. And everyone is looking for a resource that allows to achieve a better result with minimal costs for it.”
During the panel discussion, several interesting definitions of “vision” in general, and what the overall vision for Ukraine’s development should be, were shared.
Natalia Horshkova, Director of the Department of Strategic Planning and Macroeconomic Forecasting at the Ministry of Economy, defines vision as “The values we strive to achieve over a certain period of time. This also includes thinking about future generations: what opportunities we will create for their development in the future.” Here is Anatolii Tkachuk’s take on Ukraine’s overarching vision:
Ukraine is a place where people want to live, work, raise children, and where others aspire to come.
From theory to practice: at the end of the event, participants engaged in a “World Café” format discussion and developed recommendations on the following issues:
- How to plan the process of modernizing strategic management;
- How to ensure the implementation of national-level objectives at the regional level;
- What the architecture of planning documents should look like;
- How to align the processes of strategizing and financing, as well as ensure the feasibility of implementing adopted strategies.
The Swiss-Ukrainian project “Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development” (UCORD) is being implemented with the support of Switzerland via the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Swiss Development & Cooperation by NIRAS Sweden AB.
Links to the roundtable presentations.
