On the first day of the Summer School, a thematic panel ‘Modern European Trends in Professional Development of Public Servants’ was held.

It is the modern European trends in the professional development of public servants that play an important role in the formation of an effective, transparent and citizen-oriented public service. The professional activities of Ukrainian civil servants in the current environment must be in line with European good governance practices. In addition, they must possess the necessary professional competencies to work effectively in the international environment and cooperate with European partners, quickly adapt to changes, and acquire new knowledge and skills.

Representatives of European schools of public administration Marek Tabor, Head of Education at the College of Europe in Natolin, Kirsti Vakevainen, Director of the Finnish Institute of Public Administration (HAUS), and Halyna Smirnova, Senior Specialist of the Council of Europe’s HELP (Human Rights Education for Lawyers) Project for Ukraine, including during the war, shared their successful experience with the participants.

Modern European trends are aimed at introducing innovative approaches to governance, improving the efficiency of public authorities and optimising the provision of public services. Therefore, the study of international experience allows us to adopt best practices, avoid mistakes and accelerate the process of European integration and post-war recovery of Ukraine.

It should be noted that the Summer School was launched by the High School to create a professional team of trainers for professional development programmes who will share their professional experience on a peer-to-peer basis.

The event is held on the joint initiative of the High School and the NAUCS and with the support of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy, international projects of UNDP in Ukraine, the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine, UN Women in Ukraine, the EU Project ‘Support to Comprehensive Public Administration Reform in Ukraine’, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Council of Europe Project ‘HELP’ (Human Rights Education for Lawyers) for Ukraine, and the NGO ‘UA Experts’.