Can you dream? Not just fantasizing and creating pictures that will never become a reality, but seeing your own future, which is worth moving towards in real life. We are sure that this is not an easy task, but it is the dreamers who manage to change their lives. From the outside, Borys Pakholyuk, director of the Zhytomyr City Council City Development Agency, gives the impression of a very serious and structured person. But it seemed to us that he is a dreamer who knows the secrets that help to realize their own dreams and change our city for the better

«When I was in the eighth grade, I first came to Zhytomyr to compete in athletics. On the way to the hydropark, we passed the Zhytomyr Technological University (ed. – now the State University «Zhytomyr Polytechnic»), and I saw a fountain where stone and water beat. I saw the university from afar and thought: «This is such a beautiful area, I want to study here». Probably, then I gave a message to space that I will study at this university. Some time passed, and I successfully passed the exams for study at Zhytomyr State Technological University»

«I have my own life story… When I was studying, I understood that someone aims to make big money, to develop a powerful business. And I had thoughts on how to change my life. I remember well the 90’s, when everyone was, to put it mildly, not sweet. Our family was also going through difficult times. I have heard a lot from my parents that the government does nothing for people. And I thought that it would be good to become the government that will be different and work for the people. I had an inner desire to go to work in government agencies, bodies to improve life in communities… And after graduation I went to work in the Zhytomyr City Council in the Department of Economic Development»

«Back at university, my friends and I created a public organization. Nobody made money then, we tried to look for some sponsors, patrons and implemented initiatives on our own. That is, in fact, I began to engage in public activities during my student years in high school and at the same time looking for a job in government. I thought that in this way I could change people’s lives for the better»

«Many people say that officials are lazy or those who do not want to do anything. But I had a different understanding. I thought this was the place where I could be useful by making an effort. It seems to me that I realized my main dream: when I started working in local government, I realized that this is where my knowledge and skills are needed»

«Looking for a job was not easy. How I remember how much time and effort I spent! He submitted the documents for the first time and did not pass the competition. The second time he submitted the documents, but was not even invited to the competition. And three more times I went to the competition in the city council. Roughly speaking, I applied five times to get the job of my dreams. Well, I’m probably persistent or stubborn (Laughs)»

«The Zhytomyr City Council City Development Agency needs a municipal institution – someone has to work with international partners. Analyzing the experience of working with international programs that work in Ukraine and fund projects at the community level, we saw that in Ukraine there is a lot of money that can go to the implementation of local initiatives. To attract such programs, there must be people who do it professionally: have the appropriate skills, are motivated and want to work. At that time, there was no structure in the city that would be professionally engaged in project management and what is called the buzzword «fundraising». We did this work with the Economic Development Department, but at some point it became clear that it was not enough. First, there was a shortage of people, and second, more flexible management tools were needed. We came to the conclusion that there should be a municipal institution that will cooperate with international programs, attract extra-budgetary resources for the needs and initiatives, the implementation of which will contribute to the implementation of the city’s development strategy. That is why they proposed to form a separate institution. Today we exist to seek, to attract extra-budgetary resources for the implementation of local project initiatives that are designed to make life in Zhytomyr better. That’s why the city needs us»

«Zhytomyr now has a large investment portfolio – the number of software projects that work to develop local infrastructure. Only some cities can boast of this, for example, Kyiv or Lviv, but if we compare their number of inhabitants and ours, we have one of the highest indicators of attracted funds per unit of population»

«Today, I don’t spend much time on community service because I spend 120% of my time on my main job. The only thing I can help now is to give a part of my income to friends who are engaged in public activities, to help implement their initiatives. It seems to me that in Zhytomyr there are a number of public organizations that are active. Of course, compared to the number of registered, it’s not even a handful, but a crumb. I want there to be many more active people, but so far we have what we have»

«How to teach people to be active? I don’t know, I’m not an expert on educating young people. But it seems to me that you need to be an example for others. I am very familiar with the words of Charles Louis De Montesquieu, a French writer: «The best way to instill in children a love for the Fatherland is for their parents to have that love». You need to show this activity yourself and show by your example how you can change the life around you, take responsibility. It seems to me that the biggest problem is that people are afraid to take responsibility. This is our chronic problem. Even among my acquaintances there are many people who are simply not ready to do so. Probably, such an attitude should be nurtured from childhood, from school, moving in small steps. It is necessary to feed children with a spoon with this responsibility from kindergarten and to tell that they have to make important decisions for themselves, the result depends on them. Do you want to change something in your life, in your environment? Take it and do it, don’t wait for someone else to do it for you»

«I have never had problems with motivation: I am lucky – I love my job. I always go to work to finish what I didn’t have time for yesterday (Laughs). As for motives, I always have what I want to prove to myself. First, I do not like to do the same thing several times, that is, I want to implement new ideas, new projects. And this is the beauty of project management: none of the initiatives is like the other, they are all different. On the one hand, it is a challenge, and on the other hand, it gives a drive. Every time you have to face new tasks, constantly do something new, and it’s interesting. Doing routine work every day is boring, and performing various tasks gives you the understanding that you are constantly growing above yourself, inventing something new, forcing your brain to work. And it adds some confidence that you are getting better today than you were yesterday. This is probably my main motive: to constantly grow above myself, do something new and prove to myself and others that you can change yourself, and at the same time a part of the world around you»

«Criticism definitely makes you better, you just have to draw the right conclusions. If a person is not ready to accept criticism, he will not be able to change. If you listen and draw conclusions, there is a high probability and a high chance that you will be able to rise above yourself tomorrow. Everyone is criticized, and so are we. Sometimes it hurts: you do everything well, you make 120% of your efforts, you put your soul into what you do, but there is someone who says that everything is wrong and needs to be done differently. Of course, it hurts sometimes to hear this, but where to go. Everyone has the right to their opinion, and this should be taken into account. Indeed, maybe somewhere did not look, did not communicate enough. In fact, criticism is always good, because it allows you to learn from your mistakes: either it is better to communicate with people, or plan the results, or predict risks. But criticism must be constructive. Another thing is the distortion of facts and manipulation of information. It is most annoying when citizens’ minds are manipulated, figures, data, information are taken out of context, and it is distorted. This is how people are misled, and it always upsets me a lot»

«Project management is a thing that no one sees. In fact, it’s a huge amount of work that you do every day, albeit unnoticed by others. The result comes in half a year or a year, and sometimes more, when the city receives funding and construction work begins. And even when it all starts, there is also a huge amount of administrative work that is not visible, but it needs to be done to have access to funding… We work on projects every day, and I think people need to be told about that too. I had thoughts to make our work more visible. For example, launch a You Tube channel, where at least once a week (ideally every day) to talk about what we do, what plans we have, what are our next steps. But it is also extra time, resources. If you finish work at eight or ten in the evening, you don’t want to record anything, there is simply no physical time for it»

«We are currently working on two major projects in the energy efficiency sector: one for the insulation of educational buildings, the other for the development of transport infrastructure. In addition, there is ongoing administrative work with ongoing projects. This is what we are working on every day now»

«If you need to unload, the road helps a lot. It doesn’t matter where you go. Just when you move in a car, bus, train, plane, the brain is unloaded. Now there are fewer working trips, so when I need to rest, I just go to my parents in my small homeland, in Novohrad-Volynskyi… Where I dreamed of visiting since childhood, I have already visited. In general, I love the sea, which is indifferent to the sea, fish and sun. That’s enough for me for a wonderful holiday»

«Maybe I’m not a professional dreamer, and I need to dream of something sublime, but I really want the city to have bike paths, and better full-fledged cycling infrastructure. I want the airport to work and from Zhytomyr to fly to other countries, other cities of Ukraine. I dream a lot: some are very personal, others are more down-to-earth – I dream about what I do. Today, my dream is to finally start and complete the restoration of the water tower, to preserve the architectural monument and open a modern cultural and artistic space in the city»