Representatives of the DESPRO project and young mayors from Eastern European countries discussed the current trends of urban development during the seminar titled "Urban Development in Eastern Europe" held on 24-25 February 2011 in Vinnytsya.

The event was attended by over 15 city mayors from Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Croatia and from several Ukrainian cities. Leading experts in urban studies and urban development from the UK and Switzerland shared their experiences with the participants. The main goal of the workshop was to establish cooperation between young leaders who apply new approaches and effectively solve the problems in the cities led by them.

The seminar agenda encompassed four thematic sessions, and each of them was delivered by the high profile international experts. The young mayors, together with the facilitators of the seminar, discussed the current urban development strategies, taking into account the decentralisation tendencies, resolution of infrastructural renovation issues using the techniques that encourage sustainable development of communities, and discussed the effectiveness of involving local communities in the creative solution of urban problems.

The event was organized by the British Council in Ukraine and the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support in Ukraine Project (DESPRO) together with Vinnytsya City Development Institute. The seminar in Vinnytsya was initiated by Volodymyr Groysman, Vinnytsya City Mayor. During the seminar, the Swiss Cooperation Office was represented by Manuel Etter, its Director in Ukraine, the DESPRO Project was represented by Oksana Garnets, Project Manager in Ukraine, and Oksana Gryn, Chief of Finance and Administration in the Project.