From Skanderborg to Ukrainian Communities: How European Experience Is Helping Develop “Project Navigator”

Can small Ukrainian communities become full-fledged partners for international businesses in the green economy? RCerbs believes they can. That is why we are developing the “Project Navigator” digital platform, which has already brought together 120 communities across Ukraine. The experience of the European Net Zero SMEs project also helps us better understand how to put such cooperation into practice.

What Skanderborg Taught Us

In April 2026, an RCerbs representative took part in an international workshop of the Net Zero SMEs project, implemented under the Interreg Europe programme. Held in the Danish town of Skanderborg, the event brought together representatives of European municipalities, experts and partner organisations.

The central question was how local authorities can help small and medium-sized enterprises transition to a climate-neutral economy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using energy and natural resources more efficiently.

One distinguishing feature of the Danish approach is that environmental policy is not treated separately from economic development. Waste management, energy, urban infrastructure and business support are seen as parts of an integrated system.

Our visit to RenoSyd was particularly illustrative. This waste management system uses modern technologies and digital solutions to organise services for residents and make more efficient use of resources.

But RCerbs was most interested not in Denmark’s technological infrastructure itself, but in the way municipalities cooperate with businesses.

Even the best environmental strategy will fail to deliver results unless it is backed by concrete projects, businesses, technologies and financial resources.

Ukrainian Communities Have Plans. The Next Challenge Is Finding Partners to Implement Them

In recent years, RCerbs has helped many Ukrainian communities prepare municipal energy plans, environmental security and climate change adaptation strategies, local waste management plans and other strategic development documents.

This work matters. It enables communities to assess their resources, identify challenges and set development priorities.

But that raises a natural question: what comes next?

For example, a community may plan to modernise its district heating system, install solar power plants, establish a modern waste management system or upgrade its water supply infrastructure.

Turning these plans into reality requires more than public funding. It calls for technological solutions, investment-ready projects, qualified contractors and partners willing to help finance them.

These challenges are especially difficult for smaller communities. They often lack the staff and financial resources to access international technology and investment markets independently.

This is exactly the problem we aim to address through “Project Navigator”.

120 Communities - the Foundation for a New Model of Cooperation

To date, 120 Ukrainian communities have joined the “Project Navigator” digital platform.

The platform helps communities organise project ideas, conduct preliminary assessments and build portfolios of investment projects.

But our ambition goes much further.

We want “Project Navigator” to gradually become a shared digital space where the needs of Ukrainian communities meet the opportunities offered by international businesses.

Communities will be able to present their investment projects, technology companies to offer solutions, and international partners and donors to identify promising initiatives for cooperation.

This cooperation must go beyond individual presentations or conferences. We want to create a systematic mechanism accessible not only to major cities, but also to small territorial communities.

This is where the Net Zero SMEs experience can be particularly valuable. It shows how important it is to engage businesses in local development at the project design stage, rather than waiting until it is time to find contractors.

Warsaw - the First Practical Step

In November 2026, an international workshop is planned in Warsaw with support from Bankwatch Network. It will be the first practical step towards implementing this model.

We want to move beyond discussing European experience and start working directly on projects from Ukrainian communities.

The focus will be on concrete investment initiatives in energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management and local infrastructure development.

Our task is to help communities present their needs in a format that international partners can readily understand, obtain expert recommendations and identify possible avenues for further cooperation.

We see Warsaw not as a one-off event, but as the beginning of a longer process of building connections among Ukrainian communities, international experts, technology companies and potential investors.

Going forward, “Project Navigator” should help maintain and develop these connections.

From European Experience to Ukrainian Solutions

Ukraine faces exceptional circumstances today. Its communities must simultaneously rebuild damaged infrastructure, strengthen energy resilience, comply with new legal requirements and find resources for development.

Yet these very challenges create a need for new models of cooperation.

Our experience in Skanderborg showed us how local authorities and businesses can work together to address climate and economic challenges.

The experience of Ukrainian communities shows how important it is to make such mechanisms accessible even where budgets are limited and dedicated project teams are small or absent.

Our goal is for a small Ukrainian community to be able to find an international technology partner or potential investor not through a chance encounter, but through a clear, open and systematic process.

For RCerbs, developing “Project Navigator” is one way to achieve this goal.

And if Skanderborg helped us gain a better understanding of European experience, Warsaw should be the first step towards applying it in practice together with Ukrainian communities.