Essence and structure of project management in territorial communities

The article examines the essence, structure, and key directions of project management implementation in the public administration system of territorial communities of Ukraine in the context of decentralization, digital transformation, and the growing responsibility of local self-government bodies for socio-economic development. It is argued that traditional administrative management models are reaching their limits in a complex and changing environment. At the same time, the project approach ensures the effectiveness, goal orientation, and adaptability of management decisions. Project management is an integrated management system combining planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of initiatives to create public value. The institutional, managerial, financial, resource, and information and communication components of the community’s project management system are identified, and their functional content is characterized. Factors contributing to the uneven development of project management in communities have been analyzed, including human resource constraints, a weak project culture, and a lack of digital tools. The importance of cross-sectoral partnerships, project activities’ institutionalization, and modern digital platforms to automate management processes has been emphasized. The prospects for using Business Intelligence technologies, GIS systems, and open data to improve project management efficiency are considered. A conceptual approach is proposed to implement project management as a system-forming element of community development management. It is argued that the digitalization of project management is a key factor in increasing the investment attractiveness of communities and building an inclusive management model. It is concluded that there is a need for systematic integration of the project approach into strategic community development planning to achieve sustainable socio-economic effects. Keywords: project management, territorial communities, public administration, decentralization, digital transformation, strategic planning, institutional capacity, sustainable development.