Results of the International Summer School “Peacebuilding and Social Justice”

The International Summer School “Peacebuilding and Social Justice” brought together active young people from all over Ukraine and abroad: Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernivtsi, Lutsk, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Vinnitsa, Ternopol, as well as Romania, Germany, Italy and Brazil.

From the Ukrainian Academy of Banking the school was attended by four active students: Ruslana Bondarenko, Anna Pedych, Marina But and Alexander Polishchuk.

The organizing committee of the school included Serhiy Khvostov, Head of the Department of International Relations and Work with Foreign Students of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking.

The school became a good opportunity for learning, exploring the cultural peculiarities of regions, companionship and discussion of projects by the participants.

The Summer School participants had an opportunity to attend the lectures of:

Angelico Kroterat, Professor of the Social work department of Darmstadt University (Germany) on the topics:

• “Constracting a Culture of Peace and Dialogue: Introduction (and knowing each other through dialogue)”;
• “Peace-building and Peace Education. Their application as tools for change”.

Roberto Catalano, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical University of Urbaniana (Italy) on the topic:

• “Interreligious & Intercultural Dialogue: An Introductory Remark”;
• “Interreligious & Intercultural Dialogue: The Gaps Between Policy Papers and Policy Reality”;
• “The role of religious actors in conflict and peacebuilding”;
• “Interreligious Peacebuilding in Specific Post-Conflict Situations”.

Fedir Kyrylyuk, Professor of Political Sciences of the Kiev National University (Ukraine) on the topic:

• “Peace and reconciliation: Global challenges for Ukraine”;
• “Traumatic experience of communism in Eastern Europe: Understanding and overcoming.”

Yuriy Petrushenko, Ph.D., Head of the Department of International Economics of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking of National Bank of Ukraine (Ukraine) on the topic:

• “War and Peace. The experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina to restore peace in the Ukrainian society.”

Maxim Yakovlev, Candidate of Political Sciences, Head of the German-Ukrainian master program “The German and European Studies” at the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (Ukraine) on the topic:

• “War and peace in journalism – does the devil have the best stories?”.

Magdalena Kirshtein, University of Darmstadt (Germany) on the topic:

• “Political Refugees from Syria and the accomodation culture in the European Context: The cases of Italy and Germany. Situations and Perspectives”

In addition to lectures interesting trainings were also organized:

Angelico Kroterat, Professor of the Social work department of Darmstadt University (Germany) on the topic “Skills of Peacebuilding”;

Maxim Yakovlev, Candidate of Political Sciences, Head of the German-Ukrainian master program “The German and European Studies” at the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (Ukraine) on the topic: “Role of Media in Peacebuilding & Conflict Transformation”;

Oksana Zamora, Ph.D., Professor of SNAU (Ukraine) on the topic: “Community Integrity Building – Role of the Youth”;

Yuriy Petrushenko, Ph.D., Head of the Department of International Economics of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking of National Bank of Ukraine (Ukraine) on the topic:

“Life in the community: the policy of prevention and conflict resolution”;

Eugenia Reznichenko, media expert, President of the Free Development Agency on the topic “Media in Conflict: Challenges, Choises, Responsibility”.

The final event of the school was a panel discussion on “Economic Conflicts and Wars: prevention and ways of reconciliation” which was attended by the following experts:

• Yuri Druk, Ph.D. in state management, Director of EXIM Bank in Ivano-Frankivsk;
• Martin Reuter, Head of the European office at the Chamber of Commerce and Trade of Ukraine (Kyiv), chairman of the board of trustees of the NGO “MultiKultiUA”, DAAD Lecturer in Kharkiv. (2009-2013.);
• Prof. Fedir Kyrylyuk, Professor of Political Science at the Kyiv National University (Kyiv).

Very interesting and entertaining was a cultural program of the school, which included walking the climbing of mountains, the learning of foreign participants with the Ukrainian culture, an event “Peace, Justice & Unity”, which was held by the participants from Brazil: Antonio Mendoca Da Silva Junior, Alan Romano Rosa Da Silva, Lucas Gomes Alves.

The School coordinator, Natalia Marchuk noted that “the promotion of the culture of peace and dialogue between students from all regions of Ukraine is extremely important in modern Ukrainian realities. The building of peace is a common challenge for all humanity”.

Michael Miller, Head of the Ukrainian Social Academy, summed up the conclusions of the school:

“Peace is not just the absence of war or a stable balance between the warring parties. Peace is a basis for the understanding of human beings in accordance with the principles of justice and mercy.

Peace could flourish only when everyone recognizes ones responsibility. In order to prevent conflict and violence, it is necessary that every human heart sprouts the twigs of peace. In this way, peace will spread from families of different social groups until it covers the whole political community. In the atmosphere of harmony and respect for justice a true culture of peace can grow…”

The organizers are confident that the goal of the Summer School was successfully achieved: during the practical lessons the participants developed possible ways of building peace and social justice and developed scenarios for the process of reconciliation in Ukraine.

Students suggested their own vision of how to achieve peace in Ukraine and developed their own projects, which included interregional youth exchanges, art picnics, media projects to promote a culture of peace, as well as educational programs and flash mobs and campaigns in social networks.

The participants of the International Summer School “Peacebuilding and Social Justice” received certificates.