Keywords
volunteer movements
private-public initiatives
community partnership
post-war reconstruction
How to Cite
Abstract
In the post-war period, strategic planning for the reconstruction of territorial communities in Ukraine requires not only infrastructure and financial decisions, but also the mobilization of internal social resources. One of the key such resources is social capital, which ensures trust, cohesion, residents' participation in decision-making, and the community's ability to self-organize. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of social capital in the process of strategic planning for the post-war reconstruction of territorial communities in Ukraine. The methodological basis was: a structural-functional approach, a case method (for analyzing cooperation practices between communities, volunteers, business, and non-governmental organizations), content analysis (of scientific literature and sociological surveys), as well as elements of secondary data analysis (in particular, statistics of trust in government from KIIS research, analytical reports of the Renaissance Foundation and other institutions for 2022–202). The focus is on territorial communities in the southern and central regions of Ukraine that participated in reconstruction initiatives. The article analyzes modern ideas about social capital based on scientific works. The statistics of trust in different levels of government for 2022–2023 are analyzed (KIIS), which shows the stability of high trust in local self-government compared to the government and parliament. It is found that social capital is not a permanent given, but is formed through the experience of collective action and trust in local institutions. Based on practical cases from Mykolaiv, Kherson, Vinnytsia regions, etc., three key types of interaction are described: community partnership with NGOs in strategic planning, volunteer movements as a tool for reconstruction and unity, as well as private-public initiatives from business. It is established that involving citizens in decision-making and public discussion contributes to maintaining trust in government even in crisis conditions. An original interpretation of social capital as a critical resource for forming strategic decisions of communities in the post-war period is proposed. For the first time, examples of local horizontal networks in the context of reconstruction have been systematically analyzed, including their impact on institutional sustainability, expanding residents' participation in public governance, and increasing trust in government.
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