The Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 has wrapped up in Gdańsk. For two days, governments, donors and financial institutions worked on ways to support Ukraine's reconstruction and attract investment.
Local and regional development is, as ever, one of the conference's core themes. Because recovery is not only about large-scale infrastructure — above all, it is about hromadas: the ones that keep services running for people, plan ahead, and raise resources to develop their own territories. 
This is exactly the message of the joint statement by the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, established on the initiative of the European Committee of the Regions. Adopted following the Alliance's political meeting, it stresses that hromadas must take a full part in recovery, on an equal footing with the state, and that EU and donor support and funding should reach the local level directly.
This call is already taking shape: during the URC, hromadas signed concrete agreements with partners and donors — on infrastructure, services and investment. We value every such outcome, as it turns support into tangible projects on the ground.
Recovery is not only about rebuilding — it's about who makes the decisions. Through the Polaris Programme, we work so that hromadas lead their own recovery as partners and decision-makers, not just implementers. When decisions stay close to people, recovery becomes more inclusive and more durable," said Erik Faxgård, Programme Director at SALAR International.
For many years, Sweden has supported Ukraine at exactly this level — strengthening local self-government and the capacity of hromadas. Polaris is part of that support, helping hromadas and their associations become strong actors in recovery — both at home and on the international stage.
Polaris Programme "Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine" (2024-2028) is funded by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented by SALAR International.
