The defining feature of an active citizen is the desire to participate in public life. To do so, one must have special theoretical and practical knowledge. That is why the All-Ukrainian Initiative “Active Community” held a series of training sessions in the Active Community School created to raise the level of civic awareness and deep people’s knowledge in that area. The goal of the events is to increase the level of practical knowledge in the field of civic activism among the citizens who are tired of disorder in particular areas (provision of public amenities, ecology, logistics, settlement gardening, the functioning of kindergartens, schools, healthcare facilities, etc.) and want to take the initiative on the development of the community welfare.

The training sessions were held twice a week. The participants who had attended all five training sessions held in July 2020 were awarded certificates.

In these sessions, the participants:

  • Acquired practical knowledge of civic activism necessary to implement their own initiatives;
  • Got motivated and inspired to act;
  • Considered real initiatives that had worked;
  • Considered risks and difficult situations arising when one implements his or her own initiative;
  • Developed plans for the implementation of their own initiatives and got mentor support during and after the training.

We talked to the most active participants of the School and asked them to answer some questions.

1. Why did you decide to take part in the project?

Nataliia Otenko:Probably because I am a sociologist. When asked at events “Are you studying us here?” I say that I am not, I am simply the only field public sociologist in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Petriv: Because I feel the need to make changes in the community together with a team of like-minded people as a social activist.

2. What does the term “an active citizen” mean to you?

Nataliia Otenko: It is a person who, on the one hand, wants and tries to be law-abiding and exemplary, and, on the other hand, realises the necessity of changes.

Volodymyr Petriv: An active citizen is a conscious person who gathers like-minded people around him or her to perform joint public activities in a certain area for better governance of a community and its resources.

3. What did you like/ did not like?

Nataliia Otenko: Everything seemed to be relevant and interesting.

Volodymyr Petriv: I appreciated that the organisers showed such an initiative resulting in the training of local activists that should be extended and expanded with the involvement of a larger number of communities and, accordingly, active residents. Everything is OK!

4. What did you get from the training?

Nataliia Otenko: It clarified some things for me, but other things raised new questions: for example, what is the difference between active citizens who like to take an initiative and NGOs?

Volodymyr Petriv: A more systematic knowledge, interesting cases and experience, contacts.

5. How are you going to use the knowledge you obtained?

Nataliia Otenko: Some things can be applied in scientific activities, the others require advocacy. Thank you and good luck! 

Volodymyr Petriv: I will put the obtained knowledge into practice, communicating more actively with both like-minded people in initiative groups and local government bodies. I want to plan advocacy campaigns and implement them together with the others, want to form different initiative groups to resolve some or other local issues, and later I will try to combine them into a NGO to carry out public activities more professionally and to implement socially useful projects and initiatives.

Reference information. The Active Community School is supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) with funding from the United States Agency for International Development.

Note. The mission of Active Community Initiative: to achieve prosperity through the democratic development of Ukrainian communities. The goal set for 2025: to activate at least 1% of the citizens and to involve them in decision-making process and promotion of reforms in Ukraine on a systemic basis for prosperity of Ukrainian communities. This initiative was established as a part of the activities of the Institute Republica. We work to increase the conscious activity of citizens.