Our Project:

Intercultural Diplomacy, National Communities, and Higher Learning:

Networking for Effective Education

of Future Peacebuilders

Eastern Europe (especially the region of the Black Sea) is a multinational, multiethnic, and multicultural area. Mutual understanding among its nations and ethnic entities is absolutely paramount for peace and stability in this part of the world.

We believe that the representatives of Ukraine’s national minorities and indigenous peoples may play a key role in the cultural bridge-building among the region’s communities. In equal measure, they can be resourceful contributors to the resolution of the ongoing conflicts and to the institutional integration of our country with the commonwealth of transatlantic democracies.

At present, however, the involvement of the aforementioned groups in the all-Ukrainian social discourses (including higher education, career planning, and foreign policy) remains unsatisfactory.

Another pressing problem we are to address concerns the necessity of the up-to-date education for the future international and intercultural communicators. The latter, after their relevant studies, are to be able to counteract those threats of our time that are caused by politically engineered xenophobia, intolerance, and identity conflicts.

 

With the support of

the Black Sea Trust

of the German Marshall Fund (USA)

and the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany),

we are pursuing the endeavor to tackle the said challenges.

In this

connection,

our GOALS are:

• to introduce the adequate studies of Intercultural Communication / Intercultural Diplomacy into the curriculum of Ukrainian universities and the training programs for early career individuals in corresponding professions;
• to ensure a sustainable dialogue with the young representatives of Ukraine’s numerous national communities with regard to the prospects of receiving higher education, particularly in the fields related to intercultural communication, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution.
• to create relevant mechanisms for the engagement of national minorities and indigenous peoples into the construction of intercultural ties both in Ukraine and in the world.

These are

the OUTCOMES

we aim at:

 

 

1.

The creation and functioning of a wide

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK

that is to embrace the following

PARTICIPANTS:

• a group of Ukraine’s higher education institutions offering undergraduate studies in international relations and intercultural communication;
• universities from the Black Sea region, the US, other member states of NATO and the EU countries;
• diplomatic representations of the states of the Black Sea region, the EU, NATO, their member states in Ukraine; the representations of international organizations (the UN, the CoE, and the OSCE);
• organizations that represent Ukraine’s national minorities and indigenous peoples;
• high schools teaching the languages of national minorities and indigenous peoples;
• experts on intercultural dialogue, multicultural societies, tolerance, and multiethnic harmony from the countries of the Black Sea region, the US, the EU, and Ukraine;
• local authorities (the departments dealing with education, culture, and the rights of national minorities/indigenous peoples); governmental agencies working with these matters; relevant NGOs and media.

 

2.

The SUSTAINABLE FUNCTIONING

of this format in THREE main DIMENSIONS:

• higher education: the modernization of the curricula at those universities that are specializing in IR, intercultural communication, and conflict resolution;
• training young members of various national communities of Ukraine (and eventually of the entire Black Sea region): to prepare them for entering universities and participating in intercultural bridge-building;
• ensuring effective communication among national communities in Ukraine and the region, Ukraine’s governmental institutions and local authorities, institutions of higher learning and secondary schools, international organizations, diplomatic missions, as well as the capitals of foreign states in the Black Sea region and far beyond.

 

3.

The introduction of

INTERCULTURAL DIPLOMACY STUDIES

 into the curricula of the universities and early career training programs

in Ukraine and the Black Sea region:

These steps, we believe, will lead to the subsequent growth of the community of qualified experts capable to counteract xenophobia, identity conflicts, intolerance, populism, and other threats for Europe and the world.

 

 

The Beneficiaries

of the project

include:

 

• Researchers, scholars, and teaching staff of Ukrainian universities and the institutions of higher learning in the region; Members of international academic and expert community.

The benefits:

– the evolution of the studies in Intercultural Communication / Intercultural Diplomacy

– with more students taking these disciplines as majors and minors.

• National minorities and indigenous peoples of Ukraine, in particular, young members of 7 national groups of Ukraine (high school students aged 14-17), high schools teaching the young members of the national communities engaged in the project; civil society organizations that represent national minorities and indigenous peoples.

The benefits:

– much more active communication among the country’s national groups and other socio-political players;

– the soon-to-be high school graduates in Ukraine’s national communities will be better informed about the prospects of receiving good higher education, incl. such majors and minors that prepare students for mastering various professions in international relations, intercultural communication, public or cultural diplomacy, and conflict resolution or settlement;

– the creation of additional social channels for informing the state and non-governmental institutions in Ukraine and abroad about the cultural and educational needs of the communities engaged in the project.

• MFA of Ukraine, other governmental agencies engaged in the process of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration; Institutions engaged in Ukraine’s public diplomacy and intercultural communication.

The benefits:

– greater numbers of prospective professionals in intercultural communication, public or cultural diplomacy, conflict settlement, and other ares of international relations;

– higher quality of these experts’ education.

 

The institutions

with which we WORK

or intend to form PARTNERSHIPS:

 

Ukrainian institutions of HIGHER EDUCATION:

• Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Kyiv);
• the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyiv);
• the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv);
• I. Mechnikov Odesa National University (Odesa);
• Mariupol State University (Mariupol;)
• Ivan Franko National University of L’viv (L’viv);
• Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University (Chernivtsi);
• Uzhhorod National University (Uzhhorod);
• Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University (Mykolaiv);
• Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University (Vinnytsia).

Organizations that represent Ukraine’s

NATIONAL MINORITIES and INDIGENOUS PEOPLES:

• the Crimean Tatar Resource Center (Kyiv);
• the Crimean Institute of Strategic Studies (Kyiv);
• the All-Ukrainian Assembly of Ukraine’s Bulgarians (Odesa);
• the Bulgarian People’s Assembly of Ukraine (Odesa);
• the Federation of Greek Associations of Ukraine (Mariupol);
• the Mariopol Greek Association (Mariupol);
• the Association of the Teachers-Polonists of Ukraine (L’viv);
• the Mihai Eminescu Chernivtsi Association of Romanian Culture (Chernivtsi);
• the Zakarpattia Center of National Minorities (Uzhhorod);
• Matica slovenská in Ukraine (Uzhhorod),
• the Association of Hungarian Culture of Zakarpattia (Uzhhorod).

 

In collaboration with our partners,

we build the lines of communication with local authorities, governmental agencies, diplomatic missions, representations of international organizations,

as well as with the universities

from the Black Sea region

and beyond.

We will be honored and extremely delighted

to welcome new participants

of this project.

 

If you or your organization

might be interested in the development of the studies in

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

and INTERCULTURAL DIPLOMACY,

please share your views

with us.

 

It will be our pleasure

to provide all the updates on our progress

and the evolution of the network

we set out to form.