STRATEGIC CHANGE MANAGEMENT OF GREEN TRANSFORMATION OF TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES: GRANT VENTURE AND DESIGN THINKING AS INSTRUMENTS OF SOCIAL COHESION

Abstract

The article substantiates the author's original concept of strategic change management of green transformation of Ukrainian territorial communities in the context of simultaneous post-war recovery, green transition, and European integration. The study identifies a key methodological gap in current practice: communities receive grant funding, implement individual projects, yet systemic green transformation does not occur. This paradox is explained not by a shortage of resources but by the absence of a strategic change management logic capable of converting one-off projects into catalysts of sustainable institutional transformation. The article proposes to reconceptualise grant activity as a venture instrument for systemic change rather than one-time financial support. The grant venture logic implies a portfolio approach across three levels: micro-level pilot projects testing new green practices; meso-level interconnected grant clusters forming a critical mass of change; and macro-level grant portfolios guiding communities towards self-sustaining models of sustainable development. Design thinking is substantiated as a methodological bridge between change strategy and social cohesion, transforming residents from passive recipients into co-authors of green solutions through its five sequential stages: empathy, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing. Social cohesion is repositioned from an expected outcome of transformation to a measurable prerequisite for its effectiveness. The authors propose the Social Cohesion Index (SCI) as an integral indicator comprising four sub-indices: institutional trust, participatory engagement, local identity, and social inclusion. A calculation methodology is proposed and piloted on a conditional example of three communities with different levels of social capital. Results confirm an inverse relationship between the SCI level and the duration of the preparatory phase of a green project, supporting the hypothesis that social cohesion is an input parameter for strategic change management. The authors' Grant Venture Green Transformation (GVGT) model integrates these elements into a four-block cyclical operational framework aligned with Kotter's eight-step change model, offering local governments a practical instrument for evidence-based planning, grant portfolio structuring, and institutional scaling of successful green pilots.