Three months of intensive planning, networking and promoting have already passed since Ukrainian Vibes 2022 - European Public Sphere project began in April. Last Saturday, our four Ukrainian and German team members finally kicked off the tour in Cologne! Right at the heart of the city, the Europe Dome was open to all for two dialogues on democratic values in Ukraine and Europe spanning Ukraine’s difficult history, public remembrance and human rights during wartime. The event last Saturday was the starting point of the Ukrainian Vibes event series. After Cologne, the Europe Dome will welcome Ukrainian and local communities in Berlin, Wroclaw and Krzyzowa under its roof and bring citizens together in four online discussions.
This year’s Ukrainian Vibes team faced some challenges in the planning of the project. As the tour should have taken place in Ukraine under normal circumstances, the rescheduling and selection of, now, war-related topics had to be carefully prepared. Questions popped up about the new tour stops, the focus group in these events, how to include Ukrainians in the project, the language which will be spoken and many more. Luckily the project takes place and will still include Ukrainians in Europe and with the online events even in Ukraine. Due to that, it is all the more gratifying to see that the first event in Cologne went smoothly and that people were interested and supportive.
On Saturday, 25th June, Democracy International’s Ukrainian Vibes team and seiSTARK e.V. turned Roncalliplatz into an idea lab on Ukraine and Europe in general. As is the plan with all the offline events, the event in Cologne was split into two parts. The first discussion focused on the difficult history of Ukraine, strategies for historical reappraisal, and the role of civic participation in connecting remembrance and our common future. The second part of the event dealt with the humanitarian consequences of the war and related issues of gender inequality. The team offered assistance with translations into Ukrainian, English and German. Interesting discussions and resulting ideas evolved in our event in Cologne that will soon be published on our website. Stay tuned!
Also, for the other offline events, the first part will always cover the topic of difficult history and civic participation, whereas the second topic will be different in Berlin and Wroclaw. There, participants will explore the environmental consequences of the war, including toxic international dependencies and the question of how to answer environmental crimes.
Following the offline tour, our four online events will take place every Thursday evening in August. Here, the Ukrainian Vibes team will cover each of the four topics separately - Difficult History, Civic Participation, Environmental and Humanitarian Consequences of the War - and will bring together citizens experts across Europe. To get a closer look at the selected topics and get more specific information about the content of the events, articles are linked below, written by the Ukrainian Vibes team.
You’re interested in joining our on- and offline events? You can now register for all upcoming events and single topics here.
Berlin (17.07.22): Part 1 (12 pm) - Difficult History and Civic Participation
Part 2 (2:30 pm) - Environmental Consequences of the war
Krzyzowa (20.07.22): Part 1 (12 pm) - Difficult History and Civic Participation
Part 2 (2:30 pm) - Humanitarian Consequences of the war
Wroclaw (23.07.22): Part 1 (12 pm) - Difficult History and Civic Participation
Part 2 (2:30 pm) - Environmental Consequences of the war
Online (04.08.22): Difficult History of Ukraine (6-8 pm CET)
Online (11.08.22): Civic Participation with an expert from the Young European Ambassadors
(6-8 pm CET)
Online (18.08.22): Environmental Consequences of the war (6-8 pm CET)
Online (25.08.22): Humanitarian Consequences of the war (6-8 pm CET)
