An exhibition on the tools of local democracy opened in the lobby of the Vinnytsia City Council. The exhibition was created as part of the «Community in Action: Tools for Participation and Recovery» project. It serves as a visual highlight of a broader informational campaign aimed at making the mechanisms for resident participation in community life understandable and accessible. It is presented in the style of scribing — a technique that combines text, drawings, icons, and diagrams. Nine exhibits explain how key participatory tools work: citizen petitions, appeals to council members, local initiatives, public hearings, public consultations, participatory budgeting, and more. A separate display presents the essence of the project itself and the role of the Community Foundation «Podilska Hromada» as an organization that responds to the community’s needs and amplifies its voice.
Following the presentation at City Hall, the exhibition will tour public spaces throughout Vinnytsia. The next locations will be the «Kvadrat» Youth Center, the «Pobratym» Veterans’ Space, and the Hub «Misto Zmistiv». This format was chosen deliberately so that the exhibition can be seen by a diverse range of audiences — from officials and representatives of civil society organizations to young people, veterans, educators, and others.
«People rarely use participatory tools not because they don’t want to influence decisions, but because they don’t know exactly how it works. The exhibition and the entire campaign were created to bridge this gap — between residents’ right to be heard and actual action», comments project coordinator Myroslava Zhylina.
An awareness campaign was launched in conjunction with the exhibition. Nine billboards have been installed at public transportation stops in Vinnytsia, and 1,000 posters will be displayed inside trams, trolleybuses, and buses. They will highlight various tools for civic participation—from participatory budgeting to online petitions. The campaign’s goal is to remind Vinnytsia residents every day — as they commute to and from work — that their voice matters and that there are specific mechanisms for making it heard.
Overall, as part of the «Community in Action: Tools for Participation and Recovery» project, implemented by the the Community Foundation «Podilska Hromada», dialogue sessions have already taken place to foster interaction between government and the public, and a simulation card game has been developed, which teams from various institutions and organizations will soon have the opportunity to use. The project will culminate in a forum aimed not merely at presenting participatory tools, but at demonstrating the conditions under which residents will begin to use them.
The exhibition is organized by the the Community Foundation «Podilska Hromada» as part of the «Community in Action: Participation Tools for Recovery» project, with support from the «Phoenix: The Power of Communities» project, implemented by the Eastern Europe Foundation with funding from the European Union.
