As part of the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE project, “Decentralization for the Development of Democratic Education,” a regional dialogue platform on career guidance for children and adolescents, titled “The Future We Choose,” was held on June 19, 2026.
The event marked the conclusion of the pilot phase of the national career guidance system for children and adolescents, which had been underway since 2025, bringing together career coordinators from the region’s territorial communities, school career counselors, representatives of local self-government bodies and the business sector, as well as administrators and teachers from pilot educational institutions.
Participants were welcomed by Oleksandr Shevchenko, chair of the regional coordination group and deputy head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, and Yana Brusentsova, a national expert on local self-government for the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE project.
Regional coordinators and project mentors presented the results of a regional survey on the effectiveness of career guidance work in the territorial communities of Donetsk Oblast, the seven steps for collaboration among education, government, and employers—which laid the foundation for systematic cooperation among all stakeholders in developing an effective career guidance model for children and adolescents—and the specifics of implementing the “Professions” course.
Career coordinators, counselors, business representatives, and heads of pilot educational institutions also joined the discussion of the project’s results, offering their perspectives on the initiative’s future development.
The event featured a presentation of the draft Plan for Implementing a Career Guidance System for Children and Adolescents in the Donetsk Region for 2026/2027, which calls for the development of a partnership network between educational institutions and businesses, as well as the expansion of practice-oriented career guidance work with students.
As a reminder, the DECIDE project is being implemented by the NGO DOCCU and PHZH International Projects in Education, in collaboration with the Zurich University of Teacher Education (Switzerland), with the support of the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is a partner in the implementation of this initiative.