Post-war dialogues will be completely different than before the full-scale invasion of Russia. Exhausted by constant stress and search for funds, local self-government must rediscover how to listen to their municipality and respond to its needs. In turn, residents will have to see officials as human beings again and find the strength to understand the actions of the authorities and help in finding solutions.
“Laboratories of Creative Dialogue in Municipalities” is a project that engages the population in solving common problems at the local level. We want to increase this engagement. We want to showcase new practical approaches to interaction, support and mutual understanding in the course of the decision-making process,” said Pavlo Pushchenko, Executive Director of the Association of Public Initiatives of Ukraine.
120 municipalities from 12 oblasts of Ukraine were selected to participate. The project is implemented by the Association of Public Initiatives of Ukraine with the support of U-LEAD with Europe.
“Today they are faced with numerous challenges such as the recovery of the territories, integration of internally displaced persons, lack of funding and, in some places, a significant brain drain. We help local self-government and create new educational programmes, initiatives and projects, such as “Laboratories of Creative Dialogue”. You need to be able to talk to people, hear them out and understand them, especially nowadays,” said Iryna Kudryk, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Chernihiv oblast.
The first workshop — Practices of the Dialogue Approach in the Work of Local Self-Government Bodies — for participants from the Chernihiv oblast took place on Tuesday, March 14. Together with a dialogue facilitation trainer, Angela Starovoitova, the participants learned to build dialogue and use this skill in their work.
“I help the participants develop self-awareness and exercise self-care in dialogue. They will become a sort of “island of stability” for others, because having understood themselves, they will be able to understand others. Then the residents will see that it is hard for the authorities as well, that they are human too. This will make them ask, ‘How can I, a resident of my municipality, support it?’. Our objective is to create such a space of mutual understanding,” said Ms Starovoitova.
The participants moved from the theory of dialogue and the dialogue approach to its modelling as a talk show between opponents. Finally, models of using dialogues when working with the population were highlighted.
Olha Yevtushenko, Secretary of the Sukhopolova Village Council, believes in the importance of mastering communication and interaction skills.
“Ours is one of the largest rural municipalities in the oblast. It united 54 localities. We want to determine the priority points of development, involve the population in decision-making and work towards success. This takes dialogue. In addition, the process of renaming streets has begun. It involves discussing proposals, holding working groups and decision-making within the meetings. Participation in this project is very relevant. As part of it, we can get practical support in organising public discussions.”
Iryna Korohod, Deputy Village Head for the activities of the executive bodies of the Kipti Municipal Council, expressed her opinion on public outreach. Here, they strive for greater engagement of residents and their participation in daily life.
“We had more than 2,000 internally displaced persons (before the full-scale war, the municipality had a population of about 5,500). The invasion of the Russian Federation had a significant impact on the residents; their needs and interests changed. Today it is important to get feedback and apply it in the recovery and development of our territory,” she said.
The Chernihiv oblast is represented in the project by the municipalities of Bobrovytsia, Ichnia, Kipti, Lyubech, Mala Divytsia, Mena, Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske, Semenivka, Sukhopolova and Kholmy.