The Civil Society Development Forum NGO is preparing a methodology that enables any community to draw up a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development program from its own data rather than templated assumptions. Expected release: October 2026.
Ukraine has recommendations on what an SME development program should look like and who approves it. There is no methodology on where to get its content for a specific community and how to prove to the council that this content is correct. D4SME fills this gap.
“Evidence-Based SME Development Program: from community data to council decision” (D4SME) is a set of methodological recommendations and a toolkit for forming an SME development program based on objective data and participation. The methodology is part of the DIY4Change scientific method ecosystem.
Four layers of data and cross-cutting participation
The program is built from four layers of community data:
- strategic planning documents — strategy, action plan, goal tree, indicators;
- financial data — budget, single tax, personal income tax, target programs;
- economic base and competitive advantages — SME entities, infrastructure, ports, land, parks;
- institutional and legal data — current programs, council decisions, orders, institutions.
Cross-cutting — proposals from residents, local businesses, youth, veterans and internally displaced persons (IDPs), embedded in the community strategy. The methodology closes five gaps in existing approaches: data, analysis, decision, argument and verification. The output is three scenarios, three models by competitive advantage and an argument for the council session: what percentage of expenditures on education, healthcare and social protection is covered by SME revenues.
What the package will include
- a model SME program — typical text for a draft council decision;
- a checklist of community readiness to adopt the program;
- a checklist of business readiness for European integration and responsible business conduct;
- a community fact card and an SME revenue accounting form;
- a catalog of state support instruments;
- a digital dashboard.
What the methodology is based on
The methodology was tested in 2026 in five communities of Odesa region — Artsyz, Berezivka, Bolhrad, Rozdilna and Chornomorsk city territorial communities — within the project “European Path of Ukrainian Communities: Through Cohesion to Inclusive Recovery and Sustainable Development”. 259 documents and 203 local target programs were analyzed, five analytical briefs and a consolidated report on SME development scenarios were prepared.
Who it is for
- community heads and deputy commissions on economy and budget;
- economic development and investment departments of local self-government bodies;
- business councils, local development agencies, entrepreneurship support funds;
- consultants on strategic planning and local economic development.
Leave a contact on the methodology page — we will send a link as soon as the methodology and toolkit are published.
The methodology was developed by the NGO “Civil Society Development Forum” based on the results of the project “European Path of Ukrainian Communities: Through Cohesion to Inclusive Recovery and Sustainable Development”, implemented with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the joint initiative “Moving forward together”. The content is the sole responsibility of CSDF and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the International Renaissance Foundation.