Transparent Cities program has not made traditional Transparency Ranking this year because of the war challenges and temporary occupation of some Ukrainian cities. Instead, to assess the transparency of city councils during the full-scale invasion, we have conducted an adapted study. 

According to the results, only three city councils managed to get the status of “absolutely transparent.” However, our team wants to improve the transparency of cities, help them overcome the challenges of war and unite communities — this is the only way we can persistently fight back against the enemy and survive.

We regularly advise local governments, analyze current legislation, and adapt recommendations to the requirements of martial law. Based on the results of an adapted study, our experts provided recommendations to representatives of city councils of Stryi, Sumy, and Drohobych. We individually examined the outcomes for each of these cities, offering current suggestions for incorporating transparency practices as initially outlined by the Transparent Cities program team.

Now another city is next in line — Shostka, in Sumy Oblast. Is that city transparent? What practices should the city council implement to do better? Kindly review this material to found out.

During March-December 2022, out of 40 indicators, Shostka City Council: 

• 12 — fully implemented, in particular, an option of online submission to admit children to schools or kindergartens or apply for better housing conditions; 
• 4 – partially implemented;
• 22 – not implemented;
• It is impossible to identify the implementation of 2 indicators (which did not affect the city's ranking).

As a result, the city received the status of “non-transparent.” You may find more details on study indicator performance in this Table.

Recommendations for increasing transparency

First, we recommend Shostka City Council to implement indicators related to the operation of the council itself and its bodies:

• Publish draft agendas of each meeting of the executive committee of the city council.
• Post the minutes of all meetings of the Standing Committees of the City Council on their website.
• Update information about current regulatory acts of the city council and its executive bodies on the Open Data Portal. 

Shostka, like other cities, has a number of registered municipal property items and land plots. Often, transparency in those areas is required by current regulatory legal acts. Therefore, we recommend performing the following indicators:

• Include in the draft agenda of city council meetings an exact list of land decisions with details about land plots and stakeholders. Avoid the wording “Regulation of land relations” — provide more details about each land matter instead.
• Publish and update information about major and ongoing repairs, construction, reconstruction, and landscaping. The information must be in machine-readable format on the Open Data Portal or city portal.
• Update information about available development plots that can be sold at e-auctions, on the Open Data Portal, or on their website. 
• Publish up-to-date information about advertising tools and structures on the Open Data Portal or the council website.
• Add information about community-owned housing as of 2023 and the number of available dorm rooms. Moreover, there's a need to refresh the accessible data regarding vacant residential spaces at intervals of no longer than six months. 
• Post information about the current apartment queue on the city council's website. 

Democratic development is impossible if residents do not have access to decision-making and policy-making. Here is what Shostka City Council should do to encourage more residents to participate:

• Regularly broadcast online all meetings of the city council, executive committee, and standing committees on Youtube/Facebook. 
• Continue to announce sessions of all city council bodies on their website and add a draft agenda/list of matters for consideration, a link to the broadcast.

Digital tools simplify obtaining services and reduce corruption risks which often occur offline due to human factor. We advise the Shostka City Council to work on the implementation of the following indicators: 

• Consider petitions that have not received enough votes and respond to them as a simple request. 
• Provide residents with the opportunity to leave complaints/appeals, in particular regarding the work of the housing and utilities, through a special online form or a special platform (for example, Open City). 

As of March 2023, about 4,000 internally displaced persons lived in Shostka. The city should work on the integration of displaced persons, as well as support the citizens who sheltered them. Transparent Cities experts recommend to:

• Create a website section, a channel in social media, or an app where IDPs will receive information about housing, registration, humanitarian aid, employment, and so on. 
• Inform residents about how to get compensation for temporary placement of IDPs on the city council's website. For example, post document templates and an application section.

How do you bring those recommendations to life?

Before taking action, we advise Shostka and all other City Councils to develop an action plan. This helps to stay on the right track and break down a big workload into smaller chunks. Transparent Cities experts are ready to review the developed plan and advise on its improvement upon request.

We strive to make all Ukrainian cities as transparent as possible. Therefore, the program is open to cooperation with Ukrainian municipalities. Representatives of cities can contact us at transparent-cities@ti-ukraine.org