Participants of the School of Active Citizenship in Dubno Implement Their First Ideas
The School of Active Citizenship in Dubno has yielded results more than once. This year’s training, organized by the Community Foundation of Dubno “Dobrobut” with the support of the Global Fund for Community Foundations, was no exception. Participants who attended the two-day seminar in June received funding opportunities for implementing their ideas.
“The School of Active Citizenship project in Dubno is not being held for the first time. The initial trial was in 2017. The idea proved successful. Several projects were also implemented then, and now their impact can be seen in Dubno.
This year, we are trying to repeat this successful history and previous experience. It is worth noting that such a project is a great opportunity to find interesting ideas from people, from city residents about what the city should be like—a successful city, a city for comfortable living. And it is very important to have a platform where people can meet, where active people can communicate and try to implement new projects,” explained Mykola Mandziuk, the head of the Community Foundation of Dubno “Dobrobut.”
As for why the School of Active Citizenship is important, trainers note the following:
“It is extremely important to hold such events, schools, and training regularly. Firstly, to bring in new people. Secondly, to support the initiatives of activists who are already working, to energize them, and to show them that their work has continuity. Accordingly, such schools and events help expand the circle of active people in the community. And this has a positive impact on the city’s development,” says community initiative development trainer Nadiia Artemieva.
“This project is extremely useful because, at present, our country does not yet have a sufficient number of active citizens, unfortunately. And the more people we can teach to be active and implement their ideas in life, the better it will be for our country,” adds Olga Nikolska, the head of philanthropy culture development at ISAR-Ednannia.
After the training, participants submitted project proposals with budgets for implementing their ideas. And on August 9, the youth project “Patriotic Mobile Game Workshop,” authored by Olga Chornobai, kicked off in Dubno. Youth councils from the Tarakaniv, Varkovytchi, and Dubno communities, as well as the Student Council of Dubno Pedagogical College, participated in it.
“The essence of the project is that the youth councils’ activists participate in a seminar-intensive, where they learn how to conduct the patriotic synergy game ‘A Unique Nation,'” said Olga Chornobai. “We decided to organize such a seminar-training-intensive to create opportunities for youth experience exchange. The goal is to provide them with practical resources that they can use in their activities, in youth council work, and in implementing youth policy in their community.”
The game covered 9 interesting topics, including the culture, history, traditions, and customs of our country, among others. Players, in addition to oratory contests, singing Ukrainian songs, identifying key individuals who made a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian statehood, also assessed their level of responsibility and opportunities for Ukraine’s development in the present stage.
“Today’s game brought us all a lot of positive emotions, because right now, especially in the current situation, organizing such youth events is incredibly important. It develops in us a sense of patriotic responsibility, a sense of national belonging to the Ukrainian people. We are more motivated to study our native history, art, traditions, to review what we have already learned and pass it on to the youth, to the next generation, transmitting experience from generation to generation,” shared participant Daria.
“I liked the live communication. Mostly because after the lockdown and the start of the war, when we were studying remotely, we didn’t have such live interaction. And this is what warms the soul the most, that we can gather again and simply enjoy live communication,” says another participant, Iryna. And their words about the good impressions from the game are complemented by Maksym:
“The impressions are very positive. What I liked most was the atmosphere and the team that gathered.”
The project will continue for two months, during August and September 2023. The task for the participants was to learn how to properly conduct the game, motivate potential players to join, and implement this synergy game within their youth community. The author of the social project believes that the start was successful.
“Today the game went very successfully. The participants showed high activity. They demonstrated that they are open to communication, that they have a strong desire to take action. And honestly, I really liked today’s project start. I sincerely hope that the continuation of the project will be prolonged and successful,” summarized Olga Chornobai.
Other projects prepared by the participants of the School are expected to launch soon. And the results will undoubtedly follow. The Community Foundation, for its part, plans to hold the School of Active Citizenship annually.
