After the collapse of the Soviet Union, our young state of Ukraine faced many complex and, at first glance, insurmountable problems. First of all, this was the lack of managerial personnel – young, promising, and most importantly, principled and patriotic people. Of course, such people existed, but they were not in power and did not even have the opportunity to penetrate there, because the Soviet nomenklatura had no intention of giving up its official seats or renouncing its enormous influence. Only after the victory of the democratic peaceful Orange Revolution was it possible to push it out, and as we can see, this took a very long time. Those who did this – young, strong-willed and strong-spirited people – awakened in Ukrainians a sense of responsibility, pride and faith in their country. \n \nToday they continue their activities. In Volyn, in the city of Lutsk, it was embodied in the project "Youth School of Municipal Management," initiated by the Volyn Oblast Youth Public Organization "Association of Young Reformers (AMoRe)" and the Student Trade Union of Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University with the support of the "Public Voice" Project. The goal of the organizers was to involve young people in participation in the management of state affairs at the local level, participation in decision-making at the city level, familiarization with the work of municipal bodies, and raising the level of civic-political culture and awareness. \n \nDuring September, information was provided to the city's youth about the project and applications-questionnaires from participants were accepted. Forty young people aged 18 to 23 were selected to participate in the project. Among them were both students and those already working, but each of them became interested in the principles and mechanisms of the activities of local self-government bodies and was ready to actively join their work. \n \nThe "Youth School of Municipal Management" began operating in early October 2007. At the first stage, young people learned about the nature and organizational-legal foundations of local self-government, the structure of the Lutsk City Council and its executive bodies, the composition of the council's deputy corps, the procedure for selecting personnel for city council subdivisions, and the mechanisms of public influence on the decisions of these bodies. Experts on these issues included a city council deputy, employees of the Lutsk city executive committee, and representatives of the city's public organizations. A meeting of the project participants with city mayor Bohdan Shyba also took place. He called on young people to confidently pursue their goals, not to stop halfway, to seriously prepare for the next stage – the internship stage – and assured that those participants who successfully complete the "School of Municipal Management" would be enrolled in the personnel reserve. The city mayor assured the young people of the openness of competitions for positions in the Lutsk City Council and invited them to participate in the competitions, and accordingly to work in the executive bodies of the city council. \n \nThe next stage of the "School" was the internship of participants in subdivisions of the executive bodies of the Lutsk City Council, which lasted two weeks. Here young people not only saw the daily work of local self-government officials, but also had the opportunity to feel like a full-fledged employee of the city council, to join in carrying out assignments and tasks, which contributed to gaining experience and practical skills of working in municipal government bodies. \n\nThe training concluded with testing of the project participants on the topics covered. The best graduates of the "School" were recommended to the deputies of the Lutsk City Council as public assistants, and those who successfully passed the test were awarded certificates of completion of the "Youth School of Municipal Management" on November 14, 2007, in the session hall of the Lutsk City Council. Vladyslav Stemkovskyi – deputy city mayor, manager of affairs of the city executive committee – took part in honoring the project participants, congratulating the initiators on bringing their idea to life and the participants on the successful completion of the project. He also expressed hope that this project would not be the last, and suggested that the project organizers apply for support next year to the Department of Family and Youth of the Lutsk City Council. \n