Action plans for municipal strategies’ implementation: best practices of 2023

The purpose of the article is to provide an overview of best municipal practices in development and the implementation of action plans for socio-economic development strategies. The method of research is the organization of the competition of municipal strategies and the analysis of its materials. The results of the competition of municipal strategies on the topic “The Best Action Plan for Strategy Implementation,” held in 2023 as part of the Strategic Planning Leaders Forum of the regions and cities of Russia, are analyzed. A set of five parameters for the assessment of action plans is proposed: Coherence, Ambitiousness, Measurableness, Effectiveness, and Relevance. The expert evaluations conducted during the pre-screening and judging process for the face-to-face finals were analyzed. The adequacy of the scoring used was revealed. The practices of the winners, which are Khokholsky district of Voronezh region, Surgut district of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Irkutsk, are characterized. Difficulties in action plans’ use were identified: selection of target indicators that are less susceptible to falsification (“additions”) and their values’ calculation; lack of reliable data sources; formation of the content of events affecting the powers of regional and federal authorities; labor intensity of monitoring. Compliance with the main principles of effective management was noted. The activities are structured in accordance with the strategy, and plans are developed together with stakeholders. For each activity, implementation indicators and responsible executors are determined, and the subject and monitoring procedure are recorded. Event plans are detailed and integrated into the planning document system. In the practice of Irkutsk, significant progress can be observed: the establishment of roadmaps for implementing individual projects included in the action plan; the implementation of socio-economic and spatial planning through the creation of project passports for the growth of urban subcenters; and the synchronization of projects with municipal programs.