Sister cities victory for ICA-Ukraine

By Svitlana Salamatova

Ukraine-Minnesota exchange program participants taking part in a meeting with the governor of Kiev in May 2011.

The ICA-Ukraine team began work in 2011, thanks to Irina Fursman of ICA-USA. It is hard to believe that three years ago we could not pronounce the word "participatory facilitation" and hardly understood the ToP basics. And even today, not all of us can assess the effectiveness of a simple method that helps in self-awareness in about 40 countries.

Our immersion in the magic of facilitative leadership began with the "Civic Leadership Exchange Program Ukraine-Minnesota". Irina and Richard Fursman of Minnesota came up with the idea. With the help of Svitlana and Vladimir Salamatov of Ukraine, it became reality.

The first exchange program was held in 2011, with representatives of Minnesota local self-government visiting the city of Boryspil, Ukraine. The program, which used ToP methods, helped establish close friendships and business relationships between the two sides. A sister cities agreement between Boryspil and Hopkins, Minnesota, was signed. It included cooperation between two agricultural areas – one in Ukraine and one in Minnesota.  The Office of the Minnesota Governor proclaimed September 27 as the Day of Boryspil in Minnesota http://hopkins.patch.com/articles/long-distance-neighbors#video-7954102

Last year, the Minnesota team hosted a delegation of 18 students from Boryspil. The students met their American peers, and studied youth projects and the process of democracy.

The main result of the initial exchange program in 2011 was the establishment of the civic organization ICA-Ukraine in May 2012 by the Ukrainian delegation after returning from Minnesota.

Today, the exchange program is continuing and involves local government representatives. The young leaders are working on a youth self-governance project called "Cafe Depot - a place free from alcohol, tobacco and drug use", an idea they borrowed from Minnesota. In February this year, we were invited to the coastal City of Nikolaev, Ukraine, to conduct ToP methodology training. Ten Ukrainian civic organizations were exposed to the three ToP basic methods, and some of them took part a two-day course "The Basic ToP Group Facilitation Methods" in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, the following month. There are now nine facilitators familiar with the methods. The work in various fields - government, business, consulting, university education, and community organizations. The National Academy of Public Administration, which comes under the Office of the President of Ukraine, now has a course on strategic management based on participatory approach. Civil servants who took this course have been using the methods in several government bodies immediately after graduation.

In March this year, ICA-Ukraine began to publicising its activities over Internet television. It has set an example in Ukraine of how partnerships can be established with government and civic organizations using the ORID method. This year we also opened a virtual leadership school for teenagers on Facebook. ToP training in the project "Through volunteering to facilitative Leadership" is the next step in this initiative, which has the support of Mr Martin Gilbraith, president of ICA-International.

We are proud to be a part of the global ICA team. We believe that purity of intent and knowledge can help to make the world better, cleaner and kinder. It still underestimates the value of human life. As part of the ICA, we have a special responsibility to help people learn to live with a deep respect for the other person.

Kiev, Ukraine, April 2013

Svitlana Salamatova is Head of ICAUkraine