Ukrainian Peacebuilding School™ is a project that is active since September 2014.
The objective of Ukrainian Peacebuilding School is to organize cooperation between the civil society organizations, local and central government authorities, business, Ukrainian and international experts for conflict management and human development in local communities of Ukraine. Ukrainian Peacebuilding School encourages development of expert potential in local communities.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School organizes cooperation of target groups for:
- Development of the vision of the future
- Expansion of citizens’ participation in local governance.
- Expansion of citizens’ access to resources
- Strengthening community resilience to threats and violent conflicts.
In 2019 Ukrainian Peacebuilding School project works for local communities of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts, and on demand from local communities of other regions of Ukraine.
Theory of changes of Ukrainian Peacebuilding School project:
IF the actors we work with are empowered to participate in decision-making processes with authorities and we build their capacities, THEN the culture of decision-making will change, beginning at the level of local communities and associations, BECAUSE actors have experienced alternatives to current non inclusive models of decision-making; they know success stories of more efficient models and the process will be inclusive of the positions of different groups.
In 2016 Ukrainian Peacebuilding School had developed 6 framework strategies of conflict prevention and transformation in Ukraine by joint taskforces of local activists and local authorities.
- Strategy of development of common visions of local governance models for local communities
- Framework strategy of information and communication security of Ukraine
- Framework strategy of peacebuilding education in Ukraine
- Truth does not harm. Strategy of overcoming the divided and traumatic past
- Strategy of integration of national minorities into the polycultural society
- Strategic propositions about the integration of victims of war into local
Framework strategies were piloted during the field activities of the project in 2016-2019.
Since 2014 Ukrainian Peacebuilding School focuses at creation and institutionalization of a new profession – social intermediary.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School defines social intermediary as an expert on preparation and organization of inclusive multistakeholder social dialogues in local communities of Ukraine.
Since 2015 Social Intermediaries School trained 115 certified practitioners on conflicts prevention and transformation in Ukraine.
In 2014-2016 we trained 125 people in Peacebuilding Journalism School and 135 people in Leaders of Changes School.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding school had developed and since 2017 implements new method or organization of dialogues and express diagnosis – social modelling games. In 2018 we trained 10 game managers that are implementing the games in their communities.
Alumni of different educational programs of Ukrainian Peacebuilding School form a vibrant network, communicate between themselves and with trainers, organize joint activities. Ukrainian Peacebuilding School network us active in 48 locations of Ukraine (map is here https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GaBjqM2dqlsHdaJYKtsO8BauNMY&usp=sharing )
Since 2018 Ukrainian Peacebuilding School performs human security monitoring in select local communities using original methodology.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School continuously develops and improves the methods of common decision making and organization of dialogues.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School methods are based on our own original development and on adaptation of European and other international methods of conflict analysis, project evaluation (Do No Harm), project management and monitoring, social dialogue, shared decision making and consensus decision making. Together with Supreme Audit Bureau of Poland NIK.gov.pl we developed and implemented integrative dialogues for public servants, law enforcement officers and civic activists.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School alumni share these methods and develop their own projects based on these methods.
The methods of Ukrainian Peacebuilding School are implemented in educational courses of the following universities:
- Luhansk National Agrarian University (displaced, based in Kharkiv)
- East Ukrainian Volodymyr Dahl National University (displaced, based in Severodonetsk)
- Donetsk State University of Management (displaced, based in Mariupol)
- Odesa regional department of National Academy for Public Administration under the President of Ukraine (Odesa)
- Kharkiv State Academy of Culture (Kharkiv)
- Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University (Kharkiv)
Together with Donetsk State University of Management Ukrainian Peacebuilding School started scientific studies of practical peacebuilding in Ukraine, there were two scientific conferences held in Mariupol.
Local and central government authorities request the services of Ukrainian Peacebuilding School alumni in Kramatorsk, Severodonetsk, Mariupol, Kherson, Prymorsk and Chaplynka.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School alumni created the public spaces or hubs in Kramatorsk, Severodonetsk, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Berdyansk, Prymorsk, which use our methods in their public activities.
Target groups of Ukrainian Peacebuilding School are the civil society organizations, local authorities, central government authorities, Ukrainian and international experts, educators, alumni of Social Intermediaries School and other educational programs of Ukrainian Peacebuilding School.
What motivates the target groups to participate in Ukrainian Peacebuilding School project?
- Obtaining new knowledge and methods.
- The need of new methods of human resources management.
- The need of self-realization
- Involvement in local policies and access to resources.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School project is coordinated by two Ukrainian civil society organizations – Association for Middle East Studies (AMES) and Maidan Monitoring Information Center.
—- Previous version of this text. 2016 —-
Ukrainian borderlands conflicts resolution and prevention strategies developed and sampled by joint task-forces of local activists and local authorities.
Ukrainian Peacebuilding School’s mission: prevention and transformation of violent conflicts in Ukraine.
The project objective: develop strategic frameworks for implementation and policies at national, international and local levels.
The project is operating from September 3, 2014.
Peacebuilding education goal: conflict management by means of supporting the formation and development of local communities, which includes a number of interrelated tasks:
- selecting and training community activists;
- developing programs and training materials, presenting and promoting success stories. Developing peacebuilding education standards for CSOs and journalists, and acquiring necessary skills;
- monitoring and supporting local initiatives advanced by the participants of the education process;
- establishing peacebuilders network for cross-sectoral, cross-regional and international cooperation.
Civic peacebuilding: a set of actions aimed at the prevention and transformation of violent conflicts by CSOs.
Why you should be with us and not with others: inclusive project, which ensures interaction between state institutions and civil society organizations, and builds up expert community both at the national and international levels.
Our work is based on field experience.
Main types of conflicts that we study:
1. identity conflicts;
2. ethnic or religious conflicts;
3. conflicts of historical narratives; and
4. conflicting visions of common future
The project operates on the free territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Kherson region (new borderlands with Crimea), Odesa region (Southern Bessarabia, the border with Transnistria), and Azov coastal area. We also study conflicts in Zakarpattya and Bukovyna. The project work in Volyn has been completed.
Nice leaflets on our project are available in Ukrainian and English.
Based on networked efforts of these activists, experts and journalists we plan to develop detailed set of strategic frameworks to deal with the issues, experienced by Ukrainian society, which are the key to building sustainable peace in Ukraine:
- A strategic framework for the integration of internally displaced persons, victims of war and military into local communities
- A strategic framework for the development of wide area public communications to resist an “infowar” and the atomization of society
- A strategic framework for the development of peacebuilding education
- A strategic framework for dealing with traumatic and divided past
- A strategic framework for building a common vision of community specific models of local governance
- A strategic framework for enhancing the social capital and inclusiveness of female peacebuilders and peacebuilders representing ethnic minorities
See also Ukrainian Peacebuilding School. Major Problems Detected and Solutions Proposed