Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine had made significant progress in implementing ambitious regional development and decentralisation reforms. These reforms resulted in the creation of 1 469 amalgamated municipalities, the establishment of an elaborate multi-level regional development planning framework, as well as a significant increase in local public service delivery, and public funding for regional and local development. However, the reforms faced a number of challenges, many of which have been significantly exacerbated by Russia's war against Ukraine. These challenges include increasing regional economic, demographic and well-being disparities, a fragmented regional development funding framework, as well as marked discrepancies in municipal administrative, human resource and fiscal capacity. This report presents an in-depth analysis of Ukraine's progress in implementing its multi-level governance reforms and explores the role of subnational governments in disaster management. From there, it recommends how Ukraine, together with international partners, can use multi-level governance, regional development and decentralisation to support subnational reconstruction and recovery to address urgent humanitarian needs, rebuild local economies and communities, and strengthen their resilience.

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine had made significant progress in implementing ambitious regional development and decentralisation reforms. These reforms resulted in the creation of 1 469 amalgamated municipalities, the establishment of an elaborate multi-level regional development planning framework, as well as a significant increase in local public service delivery, and public funding for regional and local development.

This policy response highlights how Ukraine's regional development and decentralisation reforms, adopted after the 2014 Maidan Revolution, have contributed to the resilience of the country's regions and municipalities following Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Based on the OECD report Rebuilding Ukraine by Reinforcing Regional and Municipal Governance, it also sets forth how the achievements of Ukraine's post-2014 multi-level governance reforms can provide the stepping stones for an effective subnational reconstruction and recovery. Finally, it presents concrete recommendations on how policymakers can leverage local expertise and further build subnational capacities to design and implement reconstruction projects and track progress, as well as contribute to longer-term sustainable regional and local development.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 has not only caused immense suffering inside the country, and among its people, it has shifted the political landscape in Russia for the worse, altered the strategic map of Europe, and created division and economic pain in the rest of the world. In this volume, a group of internationally acclaimed academics – many originally from Ukraine or Russia – examine the deep causes of Putin’s war, the role played by other actors such as China and the United States, the severe consequences for the many millions of Ukrainians displaced from their home and country, the impact on the West and the Global South and the challenges confronting Ukraine when the war finally comes to an end. Part of the LSE Public Policy Review Series, Ukraine: Russia’s War and the Future of the Global Order offers a rigorous intellectual response to this extreme humanitarian crisis and considers the implications for the future of Ukraine and the transformed global order.

This report assesses the extent to which Croatia’s multi-level governance system is supporting its regional development objectives. In particular, it provides an overview of the country’s regional development performance on several demographic, economic and well-being indicators. From there, it considers how the regional development reforms adopted since 2014 affect the ability of national and subnational governments to design, implement, fund, monitor and evaluate place-based regional development plans.

Digital technologies not only offer a vast potential to enhance firm productivity, they can also help enhance resilience and support economic recovery in times of war. The government has made significant strides in accelerating the digital transformation and has reinforced support for digitalisation since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. While digital technologies have brought significant benefits to the country, Ukraine’s SMEs are yet to fully tap into the potential of digitalisation. Beyond war-related challenges, lack of awareness, digital skills shortages, sectoral specificities, and financial constraints complicate their digital development. The government aims to further promote SME digitalisation and is currently preparing its SME Strategy 2024-27. Throughout 2023, the OECD provided guidance to Ukraine on how to help SMEs leverage digitalisation for productivity, resilience, and recovery. This report presents an overview of the findings, looking at i) ways to strengthen the national and subnational institutional and policy framework for SME digitalisation; ii) avenues for targeted digitalisation support services for SMEs, building on the OECD’s blueprint; and iii) specific ways digitalisation can help SMEs weather war-related challenges.

This report synthesises the regional development and innovation challenges facing Romania’s RDAs and potential activities to overcome these in three areas – strategic planning and performance measurement, finance and implementation, and communication and stakeholder engagement.