2nd Report LSG meeting - Ukraine

On May 15, 2026, NGO “ Bureau of Research, Innovation and Technology” (BRIT) hosted the second Ukrainian Local Support Group (LSG) meeting for the Interreg Danube Region project, IMPACTA. Held online via Zoom, the co-creation consultation session brought together 12 key stakeholders, spanning public administration, sectoral support agencies, civil society, academia, and individual entrepreneurs.

Validating Needs & Addressing the Care Gap Under Wartime Realities

The first half of the session focused on the findings of BRIT's regional needs analysis, which prioritizes young mothers, rural women, women over 50, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Stakeholders strongly validated the identified barriers, particularly access to finance and psychological readiness.

The discussion highlighted a poignant reality for women establishing businesses during ongoing regional instability. Participants noted that standard assumptions about "starting a business from scratch" fail to account for the steep caregiving deficit faced by many women—amounting to dozens of extra hours per week dedicated entirely to childcare and family welfare under emergency or crisis conditions.

Feedback on the IMPACTA Training Framework

The group enthusiastically endorsed the Effectuation framework, the entrepreneurial principle of building with immediate, existing resources rather than waiting for perfect conditions. Experts agreed this approach is perfectly tailored to the adaptive, resilient mindset of IDPs and vulnerable target groups in Ukraine today.

Participants identified marketing, financial literacy (cash flow management), and grant writing as the three most critical, in-demand skill sets for the region. The Business Model Canvas was praised as a versatile intermediary tool that helps women structure their ideas before translating them into the varied application templates required by different local grant donors.

Pitching and public presentation emerged as high-demand skills. Crucially, mentors emphasized that for vulnerable cohorts, these training ecosystems serve a dual purpose: practical skill-building and psychological rehabilitation through community-building.

Key Recommendation: A Hybrid Modular Pathway

A major outcome of the meeting was the structural adaptation of the training delivery format. While the market for comprehensive, multi-module business programs is increasingly saturated, so a purely modular, pick-and-choose system can feel disorienting for absolute beginners and displaced women using entrepreneurship as economic adaptation.

The LSG converged on a hybrid recommendation: a modular system with clear, differentiated entry points. This enables experienced entrepreneurs to jump directly into specific technical workshops (like cash flow or marketing), while maintaining a structured, foundational pathway for those starting completely from zero.

Moving forward, BRIT will consolidate these insights to adapt the IMPACTA training methodology to the specific socioeconomic climate of Ukraine.