CUI has struck a new partnership with the University of Arkansas’ Clinton School of Public Service. This summer, students from the Clinton School’s Master of Public Service program will support CUI’s international programming efforts in Ukraine and the Philippines. This partnership aligns with CUI’s commitment to build the capacity of emerging young professionals to address the challenges facing urban regions in Canada and around the world.

In February St. Elizabeth Parish of Jamaica celebrated the start of its sustainable development planning process and the opening of the new office of the Parish Development Committee (PDC). This event marked the beginning of a new phase of CUI’s partnership programming in Jamaica funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In this phase of programming, St. Elizabeth will be the second parish to undertake local sustainable development planning (LSDP) based on the participatory model piloted in Manchester Parish through an earlier phase of CUI support.  The St. Elizabeth PDC is a citizen advisory group that is leading the planning process together with the St. Elizabeth Parish Council, the local government authority.

CUI has launched its next major initiative in Ukraine: a national training program on regional economic development (RED) for civil servants and community leaders. CUI President and CEO Fred Eisenberger (third from right) and CUI Board member Bob Onyschuk (second from left) are seen here with Kati Csaba from the Canadian Embasssy (third from left) at the February 23, 2011 launch conference entitled Strong Regions – Strong National Economy.Held in the capital city Kyiv, the event brought together top economic development practitioners from Canada, Ukraine and the EU with trainers from across the country to provide orientation on this innovative new program. Presenting at the event were also representatives from Ukraine’s Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, National Association of Regional Development Agencies, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Conference Board of Canada.

17 young Canadians have been working as interns with CUI’s international projects in Ethiopia, Jamaica, Philippines and Ukraine since October 2010. CUI’s interns have been supporting our international programming efforts in areas such as economic development, bioregional management, eco-tourism and community development. They are now blogging about their experiences working in the field. To read about their cultural encounters, professional lessons learned, and project -related news, please visit our Stories from the Field page.

CUI intern Olyana Grod has been awarded the prestigious Ukrainian Canadian Youth Leadership Award. The award was given by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in recognition of Olyana’s outstanding contribution to promoting Ukrainian heritage among children and youth in Canada. Olyana has been active in Canada’s Ukrainian community for many years.  She is currently the national president of the Ukrainian Youth Association  of Canada (CYM), an international youth organization that promotes Ukrainian language traditions and cultural activities.

During October and November 2010, 17 young Canadians are embarking on their first international professional experience. CUI’s next wave of youth interns gathered in Toronto on October 7th to meet Chief Executive Officer Michael Fenn (photo above) and to undergo their pre-departure orientation with CUI staff. Selected from nearly 200 applicants, the successful candidates hail from all corners of Canada – from Antigonish, Nova Scotia to Vancouver, British Columbia.

With CUI’s assistance, Ukraine now has a new policy tool to kick-start the country’s economic recovery. On July 26, 2010, Ukraine’s new Law on Public Private Partnerships (P3) was promulgated by President Yanukovych after being passed earlier by the national Parliament. The legislation will enter into force at the end of October 2010. The P3 Law is expected to create favourable conditions for attracting investments into Ukraine’s economy, which has been in slow recovery since the recent global economic downturn.

CUI recently received approval from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for participation in the 2010-2011 International Youth Internship Program (IYIP).  This year we were awarded a total of 17 internships, which will focus on the areas of planning, sustainable development, economic development, capacity building, knowledge management, gender and youth.  Interns will be placed in 4 countries: Ethiopia, Jamaica, Philippines and Ukraine. CUI has been incorporating interns into overseas development program for over 10 years, and has successfully placed 57 interns in 7 countries to date.

Update: we are no longer accepting applications for the 2010-2011 International Internship Program. 

On an annual basis, CUI’s Canada-Ukraine Regional Governance and Development Project (RGD) organizes forums in Ukraine that provide opportunities to reflect on recent achievements of national and regional partners, as well as share these with project stakeholders and beneficiaries.  This year, the 5th Regional Forum was held in Zakarpattya - one of the project’s pilot regions - on June 21, 2010.  The forum brought together heads of the Zakarpattya Oblast Administration, the Oblast Council, public officials, civil society and business sector representatives, as well as former participants of RGD’s practice-based training programs.

Ukraine held its fifth Presidential Election on January 17, 2010 and the runoff or second round on February 7, 2010. Building on its ongoing commitment and support to Ukraine’s democratic transformation, Canada played an important role in the international observation of this election. The Canadian Urban Institute’s Bob Onyschuk (Board of Directors), Ann Szyptur and Bohdan Wynnycky (associates), and Olga Semenovych (staff), were a part of Canada’s efforts.