Conventional security discourses did not predict the magnitude and endurance of resistance efforts in Ukraine, considering the asymmetry between Russia and Ukraine in terms of military capacity. Based on our own research on local democracy in Ukraine, we propose that sweeping decentralization reforms combined with widespread multipronged democratic innovations, including a digital transformation of the state, in recent years has significantly contributed to Ukraine’s resilience. The purpose of the event is to revisit the state of Ukrainian local democracy before the war and discuss how this has contributed to the resilience and problem-solving capacity that we see today.
In this event, we aim to identify major underlying factors that account for the support for and engagement with the state, civil society, and business in Ukraine, with a specific eye to previous achievements and practices on the local level of governance, much of which has continued to function even through the war.
Yuliya Bidenko, Karazin Kharkiv National University
Marcia Grimes, University of Gothenburg
Mariana Vershynina, Deputy of the city council of Ivano-Frankivsk
Oksana Huss, Bologna University
Oleksandra Keudel, Kyiv School of Economics
The panellists, drawing on interviews with local government officials and a survey of over 200 civil society organizations, along with first-hand experience, will explore the following topics:
In the second part of the event, we will provide facilitated space for the participants to join group discussions on the directions/principles for the support to the state, civil society, and business in Ukraine. The breakout rooms will consist of round table discussions by the participants.