Ukrainian summit crafts a peace plan

By Larry Philbrook and Svitlana Salamatova

Ukraine’s mass media is filled with talk about the need to decentralise power to bring peace and stability. This was also the subject of a recent public forum in Kiev organised by ICA Ukraine. The Public Engagement And Civic Empowerment (PEACE) summit was held at the Hilton Kiev on July 4-5. Its goal was to promote peace through a dialogue on decentralization involving stakeholders from across the regions, and to outline a plan of action.

The idea of holding such a discussion using the Institute of Cultural Affairs’ ToP (Technology of Participation) techniques was raised by ToP facilitators Richard and Irina Fursman from Minnesota, US. This was supported by the ICA Ukraine team and other ToP facilitators such as Larry Philbrook (ICA Taiwan), Martin Gilbraith (ICA UK), Lorraine Margherita (France), Michael Pannwitz (ICA Germany), Judith van den Boogert and Simon Koolwijk (the Netherlands) and others.

The summit format provided opportunities for personal dialogue, sectoral conversations and regional work on options and strategies. It culminated in an action plan drafted by individuals committed to implementing it.

Experienced ToP facilitators from Europe, US, Taiwan and Ukraine led the sessions. These were in small and large groups so that all could have the opportunity to express their ideas and help create a vision and a framework for implementing the decentralization process. ToP methods were also used to help stakeholders reach a consensus during the discussions.

There were five sessions to the summit:
• The first session began with presentations. Then participants shared their experiences on three topics with others at their table. They discussed stories about what they valued while growing up; the people they admired and their qualities; and what energized them their after work hours. Each table was then asked to select the key values that would help Ukraine work towards peace and decentralization. The key words from their responses were displayed in a “word cloud”, its size representing the number of times each word was mentioned. The following were the top five words:

The second session shared experiences from the US and Poland of effective decentralisation and its value. This was followed by conversations at each table on what effective decentralization might look like in Ukraine. The final step was for each table to share how it would explain decentralization to a 12-year-old.

The third session involved a consensus workshop by sectors: Government, Private, Civil Society and Education. Each workshop had to answer the same question – How would you define our key principles to guide Decentralization

Their answers were shared among the groups to see the areas of agreement and diversity. ? At the fourth session, regional groups each held a workshop on strategic actions. Their focus question was: What can we do in our region through the process of decentralization to meet our values and principles? Each group had to identify strategic issues and areas of growth for the prosperity of society. These were to be in alignment with shared values. They had to be for both the region and Ukraine. They also had to promote clear and transparent management practices to overcome corruption.

The final session gave each group or individual the opportunity to select actions that they wanted to implement and to draft an action plan. Many teams were formed and worked into the afternoon on implementation.

At the end of the summit, recommendations were made for local and national actions driven by those who had developed the action plans. They also included a recommendation to amend the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

Comments about the summit:
Irina and Richard Fursman: “The summit was a historic event for us. We are extremely pleased that we could be part of it. In a healthy democracy – a consideration of polar interests, opinions, beliefs and world views of the citizens regarding fateful decisions for the country is critical. The summit was the area where we learn to listen, to respect each one irispective of age or employment."

Vladimir Salamatov, ICA Ukraine: “The focus of the summit – unity through decentralization. The first is to demonstrate that we must first get together, and the second, to model how we can effectively pursue the interests of local communities as a way to strengthen the whole of Ukraine. A world without war – a transpare nt and effective decentralization to reform state and local governments place in Ukraine.”

Martin Gilbraith, ICA: UK: “It really was a pleasure and a privilege to be able to support the summit even in a small way – I was very impressed by the courage, spirit and respect shown by all, and the commitment to peaceful dialogue and collaboration.”

Natalia Netovkina, chairman of the Cherkasy region’s civic movement: “The Peace summit considers the decentralization of power, and a step on the path to prosperity. I am happy to take part in the summit, because I believe that each Ukrainian citizen must care for the welfare and prosperous future of the Ukrainian people. This summit represents their right to express their position internationally with the idea of accelerated development of the country and the shortest path to European integration. Only we and our participation in the development of Ukraine can make it better.”


Kharkiv Oblast Yevgeny Zuk, Borovskyi District Council, Ukrainian Local Authorities Association: “This Peace summit will provide an opportunity for representatives of central, regional and local authorities, businesses and the public to share their views and experience success, develop a governance model that will support regional and national identity, and define steps for its implementation in the regions of Ukraine.“

Additional information on the summit will be published on www.peacesummit.org.ua and on https://www.facebook.com/ PeaceSummit?ref_type=bookmark For more information, please contact Irina Fursman: tel – (763) 232 – 2338, email – irinafursman@gmail.com

This article by Larry Philbrook and Svitlana Salamatova includes contributions from Irina Fursman, Volodymyr Salamatov, Judith van den Boogert and Martin Gilbraith.