Gdańsk Common Message

CCB • June 24, 2026

Gdańsk Common Message

Gdańsk (Poland), 24 June 2026 - Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) endorsed the Gdańsk Common Message published on the occasion of the Ukraine Recovery Conference. You can read the full Message below.


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At a defining moment for Ukraine’s future, civil society speaks with a united voice. The Gdańsk
Common Message sets out a shared contribution to the global conversation on Ukraine’s
recovery and European path, bringing together the perspectives and expertise of Ukrainian
and international civil society organisations. Developed ahead of the Ukraine Recovery
Conference 2026, it is addressed to Ukrainian national authorities, international partners, and
all those shaping recovery efforts. It serves as a benchmark for the Ukraine Donor Platform
and its members to track whether commitments are translated into real action.

We emphasise that Ukraine’s recovery must be people-centred, grounded in human
rights, and built as a genuine partnership in which civil society acts not just as a participant
but as a strategic partner. Throughout Russia’s war against Ukraine, civil society has been
at the forefront of the national response. It has mobilised billions of hryvnias in support for
defence and security, delivered immediate humanitarian assistance, strengthened local
resilience, and driven innovation in the most challenging conditions. Civil society organisations
have supported Ukraine’s EU integration and reform path by helping develop public policies
and providing independent expertise, piloted sustainable reconstruction initiatives and
developed tools that advance transparency and accountability. We call for accountability and
action that will remove barriers to further collaboration and true cross-sectoral partnership
for making the recovery deliver.

Gdańsk, with its legacy of solidarity, civic participation, and democratic transformation,
provides a powerful setting for this Message. It reminds us that lasting change is driven by
engaged citizens and shared responsibility. In this spirit, we call on all partners to ensure that
the principles of the Gdańsk Common Message guide decisions, investments, and actions
shaping Ukraine’s recovery trajectory.


Our Vision for Recovery


We envision a people-centred and rights-based recovery for Ukraine, grounded in security
and justice as indispensable preconditions for lasting peace in Europe. Recovery must
continue even amid ongoing hostilities, but it can only fully take root when Ukraine is safe
through a complete cessation of aggression, credible security guarantees, protection and
strengthened resilience for its people and infrastructure. A just and lasting peace is essential
and must include accountability for aggression, prosecution of war crimes, and legally
binding reparations by Russia. Without security and justice, recovery efforts will be fragile
and incomplete. Recovery must be inclusive, participatory, professionally delivered and locally
owned, with full participation of civil society as an equal partner at all stages.


Priority Actions


Delivering this vision will require changes not only in what recovery actors fund, but also in
how recovery decisions are made and implemented. The following actions identify practical
steps that the Government of Ukraine, international partners, and civil society can take to
translate these principles into lasting change.


We call on the Government of Ukraine and international partners to jointly ensure that:
• Civil society is recognised as a co-author of recovery, including through structured
mechanisms and formats for regular and meaningful engagement with the Ukraine
Donor Platform.
• Reform commitments for European integration are translated into action by
embedding human rights, anti-corruption safeguards, and the rule of law across all
stages of recovery.
• Humanitarian, early response, and development financing form coherent pathways
toward long-term resilience and recovery by aligning funding instruments to
support displaced populations and affected communities from emergency response to
sustainable economic development and social participation.
• Energy resilience is further strengthened through the development of decentralised,
renewable-based systems that enhance security, support recovery, and ensure reliable
access to critical services across communities.
• Long-term investments in people and essential social services are prioritised,
including dedicated financing for affordable housing, social infrastructure, healthcare,
education, workforce development, youth leadership, mental health services, and
rehabilitation that enables Ukrainians to live, return, and thrive in their communities.
• Coordinated frameworks for strengthening social cohesion and facilitating return,
(re)integration, and inclusion are developed to support veterans, displaced Ukrainians,
persons with disabilities, and other groups disproportionately affected, ensuring no one
is left behind.
• Structured partnerships connect Ukrainian and European institutions and
communities to support peer learning, project preparation, participatory planning, co-
financing, monitoring, public consultation, and alignment with EU standards.


Additionally, we call on the Government of Ukraine to ensure that:
• Integrated development strategies are created at all levels, ensuring that recovery
priorities are locally driven, informed by community needs, and designed in partnership
with civil society, local authorities, businesses, and affected populations.
• National and local institutions are equipped to lead recovery and EU integration by
advancing public administration reform, better coordinating technical assistance, and
developing measures to attract, retain, and empower qualified public servants.
• Mechanisms for participation are institutionalised across recovery governance,
including through implementation of the Law of Ukraine „On Public Consultations” and
regular engagement with civil society, communities, and affected groups.
• Culture and independent media are recognised as cross-cutting and essential
components of identity, social resilience and democratic participation, and their
durability is supported as part of recovery investments.
• Environmental safeguards are upheld across all the sectors of the economy through
implementation of EU-aligned policies, in particular environmental assessments,
monitoring, control and nature conservation, so that recovery accelerates accession
readiness and builds country’s resilience.


Additionally, we call on international partners and the Ukraine Donor Platform to ensure that:
• Direct, flexible, and multi-year financing is expanded for local recovery actors,
including civil society, community initiatives, and social enterprises, while simplifying
compliance requirements and reducing reliance on international intermediaries.
• Recovery moves beyond fragmented projects toward integrated, locally owned
approaches, including by reducing the disconnect between international donor
frameworks and community-level interventions that give communities greater decision-
making power and support a more coherent approach to building back better.
• Frameworks for social and economic inclusion are strengthened through
qualification recognition, skills development, psychosocial support, rehabilitation, and
(re)integration programmes for displaced Ukrainians, veterans, persons with disabilities,
and other affected groups, enabling their participation in the labour market and society.


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Gdańsk Common Message (English & Ukrainian, PDF).

In memoriam of Petro Hrytsyshyn

By CCB • August 20, 2026
It is with great sadness that the Coalition Clean Baltic shares the news of the passing of Petro Hrytsyshyn, a long-standing colleague, environmentalist and true friend of the CCB family. The hospitality and warmth with which he embraced each and every one of us in Lviv will always be an example of genuine and close relation and lasting, professional friendship. For many years, Petro was Director of the Western Centre of the Ukrainian Branch of the International Centre for Scientific Culture – World Laboratory, one of CCB’s oldest member organisations in Ukraine. But it is the role he played in our family of environmental NGOs in the Baltic Sea Region that we will remember him for. Petro was one of the people who helped build, connect and sustain the international environmental community of which CCB is a part. For decades, he worked across borders and disciplines, bringing together scientific knowledge, environmental organisations, local communities and international partners around a shared belief that environmental challenges can be met through cooperation, practical solutions and persistence. Within CCB, Petro was a familiar and valued presence at conferences, seminars and joint activities over many years, representing Ukraine and the Western Centre while also contributing his own knowledge and experience to the wider Baltic Sea community. He hosted numerous CCB activities in Lviv and shared his expertise on the issues closest to him: water protection, sustainable sanitation, ecological safety and sustainable agriculture. He also represented the Western Centre in international environmental processes, contributing to discussions on environmental protection, water management and sustainable development. What made Petro's contribution especially important was that he understood environmental protection not only as a matter of policy or science, but as something that had to work in practice, on the ground. His work on ecological sanitation and wastewater management, for example, sought practical ways of reducing pollution and protecting water resources in rural areas of Ukraine. He continued this work into recent years. In 2023, Petro was among the experts contributing to CCB's analysis of the Greatest Water Management Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region, bringing the Ukrainian perspective into a broader regional assessment. More recently, he contributed to the Green Recovery Plan for the Ukrainian part of the Vistula River Basin, including the Western Bug and Syan sub-basins – work that reflected the qualities of his whole career: international cooperation, practical environmental knowledge and a commitment to the future of Ukraine's rivers and communities. For those of us who worked with him, however, his legacy is not only projects, publications and meetings. In a network such as CCB, people are the foundation of cooperation, and Petro was one of those people who kept the connections alive through changing political circumstances, new environmental challenges and difficult times that Ukraine faces as a result of Russia’s unprecedented war of aggression. He represented a generation of environmental professionals and civil society activists who understood that lasting environmental progress depends on solidarity, openness and the willingness to work together across borders. His long commitment to cooperation between Ukrainian and European environmental organisations was an important part of that legacy. CCB is grateful for the many years of cooperation with Petro, for his knowledge and commitment, for his hospitality and friendship, and for the bridges he helped build between people and organisations working for a healthier environment. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues and all those who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. Petro Hrytsyshyn 1951–2026 May the memory of Petro Mykhaylovych remain with all of us who continue the work to which he devoted so much of his life.

CCB's submission on the European Ocean Act

By CCB • July 14, 2026
We support the Ocean Act objectives for improving coherence, coordination and effectiveness of EU ocean governance. However, we emphasize that the Act must deliver truly ecosystem-based management and that reaching Good Environmental Status (GES), as defined in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), should be established as a cornerstone of the Act.