Regional development

Regional Development is an ongoing process of positive transformation within communities and regions, aimed at improving people’s quality of life, unlocking local potential, supporting civic initiatives, creating new prospects for residents, and ensuring the effective use of territorial resources. It relies on pooling the efforts of the community, civil society organizations, local self-government, business, and the state for sustainable local development.

Ukraine does not begin in Kyiv. It begins in every city, town, and village where people wake up, work, raise children, and decide every day whether to stay or leave, wait or act.

We do not want a country where the future holds a residency permit only in major cities. A strong state is not just a handful of prosperous centers set against a backdrop of slowly fading territory. It is a network of vibrant communities, each with a voice, opportunities, and confidence in its own strength.

For the NGO “FACE TO FACE”, regional development is about people who refuse to be just statistics on a map. It is about communities that have the right not merely to survive, but to thrive—creating jobs, attracting investment, and fueling entrepreneurship, education, culture, and social and civic initiatives.

We aim to back local projects, help communities secure resources, partners, and modern development tools, and foster the exchange of expertise and best practices.

Because a deserted community is more than a demographic statistic. It is a lost future.

We want a young person not to feel forced to move hundreds of kilometers away simply because there is no opportunity to fulfill their potential at home. We want an entrepreneur to build a business not in spite of the community, but together with it. We want local initiatives not to wither at the first mention of “no funding.”

Most importantly, we want people to stop waiting for someone to arrive and save their hometown.

A community should not wait for a hero. It must become the force itself.

We want to see Ukraine’s regions full of life: with thriving enterprises and job opportunities, schools and cultural centers, accessible environments, active residents, modern infrastructure, and respect for local history.

Because development is not concrete or statistics.

It is when a person looks at the place where they were born and says: “I want to live here. I want to work here. I want my children to grow up here.”

These are the communities we strive to help build.

Not subsidized. Not silent. Not condemned.

Capable. Self-sufficient. Full of life.

Because Ukraine will not be strong if strength resides only in the center.

Ukraine will be strong when that strength awakens in every community.