Launch of the project “Vinnytsia’s Green Course: From Strategy to Practice”

To promote the green recovery and transformation of Vinnytsia by achieving the goals of the Green Deal, — this is the goal set by the Synergy Sustainable Development Agency and the Society and Environment Resource and Analytical Center in cooperation with the Vinnytsia City Council as part of the joint project “Vinnytsia’s Green Deal: From Strategy to Practice.”

The systematic shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has created a need to decentralize the energy system and transition to renewable energy sources (RES). The Vinnytsia community is one of the first to fully recognize the importance of the “green” transition and has identified the need to adapt local policies in line with global trends. Thus, in 2022, Vinnytsia became the first city in Ukraine to proclaim the “Vinnytsia Green Course.”

Decarbonizing the energy system, transitioning to renewable energy sources, and promoting energy efficiency are critical to achieving the community’s climate goals. Given global trends, one of the most effective ways to transition to renewable energy is the creation of green energy communities. Their activities will help accelerate and scale up local citizen initiatives to implement distributed renewable energy generation projects and create “green” jobs in the Vinnytsia region.

Currently, the status of “green” energy communities is not clearly defined in national legislation, which hinders their development in Ukraine. Therefore, it is important to enshrine the concept of establishing energy communities in local strategic and programmatic documents.

You can learn more about the concept of “green” energy communities here

As part of the project “Vinnytsia’s Green Course: From Strategy to Practice,” the following is planned:

• conduct a mid-term analysis of the implementation of the Vinnytsia Green Course Roadmap and provide recommendations for improving and developing a detailed action plan through 2030, as the current Roadmap for implementing the Vinnytsia Green Course includes an active set of measures only through 2024;
• develop analytical and recommendation documents that will facilitate the successful implementation of the Vinnytsia Green Course and the integration of the concept of creating “green” energy communities into the strategic and programmatic documents of the Vinnytsia City Council.

Along with increasing the community’s energy independence and self-sufficiency, this will provide an opportunity to stimulate local investment and help attract international technical assistance projects to the community.

The project “Vinnytsia’s Green Course: From Strategy to Practice” is being implemented with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.