Local governments play a key role in peacebuilding processes in terms of capacity, ownership, and democracy. The literature on peacebuilding emphasizes the need to turn to the local level recognising local governments and their citizens as resources and not mere recipients of support (Leonardsson & Rudd, 2015). The current situation in Ukraine calls for a better understanding on the role of local governments and local democracy for peacebuilding and a broader understanding on how they experience and cope with the war.
The Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) has supported local democracy in Ukraine through municipal partnerships, training and research. In this talk ICLD plans to have a conversation among scholars and local government officials in Ukraine to provide insights on:
- How are local governments affected by the current situation?
- How are local governments adapting to meet the needs of their citizens?
- What are the barriers and opportunities that they experience for peacebuilding from below?
This event is jointly organised by the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD), the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), and Malmö Association of Foreign Affairs.
Moderator: Tymofii Brik, PhD, assistant professor at Kyiv School of Economics and director of the Center for Sociological Research – Decentralization and Local development studies.
Panelists:
- Valentina Poltavets, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities
- Ulyana Pak, elected city councillor in Lviv
- Kristina Levyska, Deputy Director of Department of Humanitarian Policy, city of Kamjanets-Podilskyj
- Mariia Tyshchenko, PhD, Associate professor Kyiv National Economic University, director of the NGO “PORUCH” and mentor of ICLD training programme.
- Tomila Lankina, London School of Economics
- Yana Brovdiy, Officer, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
Final remarks: Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, Local Government Information Unit (LGIU)