Bridges of Trust — EU-Ukraine Municipal Twinning for Reconstruction

Bridges of Trust launched in 2021, led by CEMR together with the Association of Ukrainian Cities and supported by the U-LEAD with Europe programme (GIZ). Its 2023 phase paired 30 Ukrainian municipalities from 10 regions with 30 EU municipalities in Italy, France, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Latvia, Czechia and Sweden, facilitated through 10 national municipal associations.
Results: 30 study visits were conducted; 48 joint project proposals were co-developed, including 20 water-supply/wastewater facilities and 8 hospital or cultural-facility reconstructions; 80% of partnerships reached moderate-to-high interaction; 67% had formal agreements in place. CEMR reports more than 100 cumulative partnerships since 2021.
Caveats: no independent evaluation has been published; the figures are self-reported by CEMR. Wartime conditions were cited as limiting systematic institutionalisation of the partnerships, and there is no public data on how many of the 48 proposals were actually funded or built.

Read the full analysis: https://ccre-cemr.org/projects-programmes/bridges-of-trust/bridges-of-trust-ukraine