Participatory governance in rural development : evidence from Ukraine / by Vasyl Kvartiuk

Abstract

This study deals with the current challenges of participatory governance and community-driven development (CDD) in the transition countries of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Despite the fact that these approaches were developed in the early 90s major development agencies initiated their implementation in the FSU transition countries over a decade later. Until now there have been no major studies examining the impact of participatory and community-based approaches in this context. Particular features of the FSU transition countries including centralized governance systems along with the specificity of the population's beliefs and mental models may introduce additional challenges in the participatory governance arrangements and implementation of the CDD projects. It is, thus, of an imperative importance to understand the scope of the newly created governance arrangements within these frameworks and evaluate their impact on local development goals ...