Within the project "Initiating the Participatory National Dialogue in Ukraine" the International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) has launched a series of regional public discussions on "National Dialogue: Overcoming the Past, Living through the Present, Building the Future". The events will be organized in partnership with the ICPS's regional partners.

The participants will discuss a regional understanding of a historical context of the development of Ukraine as a state as well as the current conflict. In each region, the participants will be asked to brainstorm ideas and make proposals for the purpose of elaborating state policy of national unity and a relevant action plan. Also, the participants will discuss potential destabilizing factors as well as actors in social and political life of the country that may contribute to the destabilization of Ukrainian regions.

Regional Public Discussions Schedule*:

  • June 18, 2015: Ternopil
    NGO "Samopomich"
     
  • June 22, 2015: Khmelnytskyi
    NGO "Khmelnytskyi Initiative"
     
  • June 30, 2015: Kirovohrad 
    Institute of Socio-Cultural Management

The date and venue of round table discussions with representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts will be informed of later.

 

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The current conflict in the East of Ukraine arose from the destabilizing actions of external actors that played on the heterogeneity of Ukrainian society, inter alia, its regional identities and cultural heritage. At the same time, there is a considerable number of countries that are made up of inhomogeneous societies, but which are, nevertheless, joined together in a political union.

Throughout Ukraine's independence, neither the country's political elites nor government officials have managed to frame and implement the policy on national unity of Ukraine. Instead, they used regional identities and cultural heritage to gain the electoral advantages in specific constituencies. The historical past of the country has been used as an instrument of regional divisions, whereas the vision for the future development of Ukraine was missing altogether.

"Initiating the Participatory National Dialogue in Ukraine" project is aimed at collecting proposals from representatives of all Ukrainian regions regarding their vision for the future development of Ukraine as a united country and making recommendations for the state policy on national unity. 

*Please consider the possibility of schedule changes; updates on the timing and venue of regional public discussions will be published on the website . 

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