Welcome to the on-line course "Planning of an Inter-Municipal System of Solid Waste Management" which started on 14 April on the web platform of the Community of Local Self-Government Practices at http://udl.despro.org.ua/. Currently, there is a critical situation in Ukraine in terms of solid waste. It looks like only communities of large and medium-sized cities are capable of changing this situation for better by having arranged that the service provided is of proper quality. Economic and managerial capabilities of small cities and village communities are far from always allowing the implementation of the similar task. Because the powers granted to the local self-government bodies are not supported by financial resources in full; they lack professional knowledge and support to establish modern waste management systems. Also, significant investments, professional approach, and support on the part of the population are required. Therefore, the necessity of combining efforts by several communities around the common issue, on the terms of cooperation, is called by the present time. The project that has been continuing since 2011 in Tulchynskyi Rayon (District) of Vinnytsia Oblast (Region) with the assistance of the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Project (in the course of 2011 through 2012, the project was also supported by the UNDP's Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme) is one of the examples of cooperation of communities in the area of solid waste management. The essence of the project is the planning and subsequent arranging for the service of solid waste management in three neighbouring communities in Tulchynskyi target region. This course is based, first of all, on the achievements of the said project: characteristics of the methodological approaches are specified and planning stages are described in detail. The authors tried to develop the course so is be as practical as possible by providing the interested communities with work tools for the purposes of advancing qualitative positive changes in the solid waste management, and in terms of the concept, for improvement of the living environment. After having successfully completed the course, each participant will know how to develop a solid waste management strategic policy and which mechanisms to use for its implementation, will make an informed choice of the form of cooperation of communities, will have a clear understanding of how the planning process should take place and what should be the full-fledged plan of an inter-municipal solid waste management system. When enrolled, you may study "anywhere" and "at any time" and at a pace convenient for you. The course is without a tutor. The communication between the participants in the course takes place on the public forum where they may share their own knowledge, the experience that they have already gained, and look for the ways of cooperation. The course is open to all interested parties. The study is free of charge. The number of persons from one body of local self-government, executive power or a non-governmental organisation who may study is unlimited. Things required for study: you should have an electronic mail box and access to the Internet. To have individually registered on the web platform, please follow the link to the Community http://udl.despro.org.ua. Please click the "Logon" button in the upper right corner of this page and create a new account of the on-line community member. During the registration process, you will receive an information letter to your e-mail address with the request to confirm the registration. The letter contains a secure link to the web-page on which the user may confirm his/ her account. Subsequently, during the login process, the user's name and password are verified against their meanings in the system database. The access to the e-learning course, information resources, and communication without authorisation (identification of the user by the system) is impossible. If you are unable to register on the web platform by yourself, please contact the administrator at udlsystem@udl.org.ua.