Ukraine–Italy International Forum of Local Government

Congress31 October 2025#Associations #Main events

20–21 September 2025, Trapani, Sicily (Italy)

The association “Sostieni Ucraina”, chaired by Mr Mario Fontana, in cooperation with the Department of International Cooperation of the National Congress of Ukrainian Associations in Italy (CNAUI), organised the Ukraine–Italy International Forum of Local Government.

The event was held with the participation of the Municipality of Trapani, led by Mayor Giacomo Tranchida, the NGO “Dobrobat” and the international partnership foundation “Friends of Ukraine”.

Aims of the forum:

to develop cooperation between Ukrainian and Italian municipalities;
to share experience in local government, social policy and integration;
to support war-affected Ukrainian communities through partnership projects;
to create new platforms for dialogue, cultural exchange and joint initiatives.

The forum was an important occasion for strengthening ties between Ukraine and Italy at the level of local communities, fostering new forms of solidarity and partnership.

The Ukrainian delegation that travelled to Sicily included representatives of eight Ukrainian cities and territorial communities.

During the forum, partnership agreements were signed between Ukrainian communities (Bakhmach, Novhorod-Siverskyi, Pryluky, Staryi Sambir, Hatne, Varva, Borzna, Kholmy, Sribne) and municipalities of the province of Trapani.

These agreements lay the foundations for long-term cooperation in reconstruction, education, culture and youth programmes.

The forum followed a “Ukraine + Italy + EU” format, thanks to the active involvement of Dr Marta Ferrantelli, head of Europe Direct Trapani Sicilia, who co-organised the event.

The participation of mayors and local government representatives from the province of Trapani was made possible by the political support for Ukraine shown by the Mayor of Trapani, Giacomo Tranchida. From the very start of the full-scale invasion he opened the city to Ukrainian refugees and, together with the president of the association “Sostieni Ucraina”, Mario Fontana, arranged for children from a Mariupol orphanage to stay in Trapani.

It was thanks to their initiative that the first partnership agreements were signed on the sidelines of URC 2025 in Rome: between Trapani and Nizhyn, and between Erice (province of Trapani) and Truskavets.

The events in Trapani and Erice were a natural continuation of the earlier Italy–Ukraine Local Government Forums, held in Rome on 7–8 March and 9 July 2025 at the initiative of CNAUI.

The international forum in Trapani and Erice marked a further step in strengthening local partnership between Ukraine and Italy, turning solidarity into real joint action for peace, development and reconstruction.

Between June and September 2025, as part of its “people’s diplomacy”, CNAUI helped to establish new partnerships: