A woman passes in front of the Slaviansk sign, which is covered in bullet holes from clashes between the Ukrainian government and rebel groups, 3 April 2019. Photo by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images
3. Creating Resilience Dividends: Case Studies
Societal resilience tends to grow from smaller structural changes that initially strengthen local communities. In many cases, weak state institutions have driven civil society, volunteers and active citizens to show initiative and propose solutions to improve resilience. The state bureaucracy still tends to work on the Soviet-era principle that initiative could lead to trouble.
The following cases illustrate responses to social disruptions in Ukraine. They were effective because they demonstrate five key characteristics of resilience: awareness, an integrated approach, diversity, self-regulation and adaptation. These approaches also embraced partnership with the state as a way to scale up and sustain efforts.
These case studies show initiatives that make Ukraine more resilient to the Russian threat through building cognitive resilience, establishing a system for the reintegration of veterans or enabling communities in the south and east of Ukraine to rediscover their roots. They also demonstrate that the ongoing conflict provides an opportunity to generate resilience dividends for Ukraine.
IREX: Building cognitive resilience
Low levels of media literacy among Ukrainians leaves the country vulnerable to manipulation and disinformation. In this context, the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) has been implementing media literacy courses through the Learn to Discern in Schools programme since 2015.104
IREX works in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science to spread media literacy courses in secondary schools across the country.105 Courses target 8th and 9th grade students (13–15 year olds), and focus on critical thinking, information consumption skills and news media knowledge. They offer an integrated approach where new skills are embedded in the official curriculum in such subjects as history, Ukrainian language and literature, and art history.
The programme has so far had good results. Compared to control groups of students who did not attend training, IREX students were 18 per cent better at identifying fake news stories. They also showed more awareness about distinguishing between facts and opinion, message construction and detecting hate speech.106 The model is sustainable (train-the-trainer courses) and replicable (scalable across the country and easily adaptable to other countries), which are key for efforts to build up resilience. Currently IREX implements similar programmes in Jordan, Serbia and the US.
Nakipelo media group in Kharkiv: Giving voice to the local community
Participatory politics supported by local media is crucial to societal resilience against disinformation and information manipulation. The independent sociopolitical media group Nakipelo was founded, in Kharkiv in 2014, to reflect the views of citizens and civil society representatives on local events and the general situation in Ukraine. It is used as a platform to raise citizen concerns about local problems (notably corruption in the regional government, human rights abuses, lawlessness of public utilities, disability issues and LGBT rights) and voice them to the local administration. Nakipelo resources include a news website;107 a press centre for briefings, training and workshops; an information website;108 and social media channels.109
Nakipelo also focuses on raising awareness and building public initiatives to assist IDPs and veterans. It was instrumental in engaging the Kharkiv municipal administration to address the issue of IDPs in 2014 as well as building community-based organizations to support them. After the lacklustre response of local authorities to the IDP issue, Nakipelo corralled local volunteers and activists to help. It continues to serve as a platform for interaction and engagement between CSOs and the local administration to jointly address the issue of IDPs in Kharkiv.
After the lacklustre response of local authorities to the IDP issue, Nakipelo corralled local volunteers and activists to help.
Nakipelo has demonstrated key characteristics of resilience.110 The project started with citizen journalists and the structure became more professional over the years. Its media output is diverse, and it has built capacity in terms of production (infographics, multimedia content, training for journalists etc.) and outreach. It is highly integrated within the CSO community in Kharkiv and works closely with public organizations, especially the municipal anti-corruption centre. The project is self-regulating thanks to its small, horizontal structure for decision-making and coordination across departments. Finally, the structure is flexible and adaptive to new opportunities, which has allowed it to create an advertising department, and take part in fundraising and reputation-building.
In another example of the media’s role in resilience-building, the local newspaper in the city of Horodenka (around 9,000 inhabitants) went beyond its traditional function as an information source and used its Facebook page to launch public consultation processes. To date, the newspaper has facilitated discussions about education and healthcare reform with over 7,000 views online.111 According to Editor-in-Chief Ihor Terletsky, ‘People are very passive. We should engage them in the life of the community. So we will continue our interactive platform to discuss pressing issues.’112 As a result, the number of the paper’s followers on Facebook has increased to almost 10,000. Similar public consultations under the mentorship of the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers were successful in Troitske, Luhansk oblast. The local newspaper Selskaya Nov installed boxes in villages where citizens, mostly farmers and the elderly, could leave questions and provide feedback to their local council. These were later published in the newspaper.
Both initiatives increased the profile of local media and stirred the community to reflect on its own strengths and weaknesses and its connection to local governance. In short, they started building social cohesion. Having a non-digital component to these projects is particularly valuable as it helps to include marginalized people on the wrong side of the digital divide. Such simple interventions by local media are timely, meet a strong community demand and are key to successful decentralization.
The Legal Hundred: Defending those who defend Ukraine
The Legal Hundred (Yurydychna Sotnia)113 is a Ukrainian non-profit organization working on veteran affairs and issues related to defence and security since 2014. It evolved from an online group of pro bono lawyers during the Euromaidan to an extensive network of volunteers and a team of experts who provide legal aid to veterans, draft laws and advocate legislative reform. For one of the founders, the impetus to do something was an experience in a hospital where they witnessed desperate parents struggling to get social insurance and benefits for their wounded son.
A dysfunctional and chaotic maze of state bureaucracy left veterans and their families desperate for help. In an attempt to provide clear information and guidance on how to obtain state-guaranteed assistance, the Legal Hundred started by preparing explanatory materials and building awareness among veterans. Information is provided in print, via a hotline and on social media channels to about 1,000 veterans each month. Overall the organization has served over 40,000 veterans and active military personnel.
Since 2016, the organization has moved to focus on advocacy, as it understood that structural changes require legislative reform. The lawyers worked in partnership with members of parliament to pass nine laws, including draft law No. 6109 on gender equality in the military, a series of laws abolishing the illegal practice of military contracts without defined terms, and laws increasing social security provisions for wounded veterans.
With its strength coming from grassroots connections to veterans, the Legal Hundred has strong legitimacy among external actors. After it consistently advocated the establishment of a Ministry of Veterans Affairs in Ukraine in 2017, it was chosen to lead the project. This cooperation between the Legal Hundred and the parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans’ Rights developed concepts, policy papers and draft legislation for the new ministry.
The organization is playing a leading role in the process of reforming the legal framework that defines the status of veterans and conflict-affected civilians. This project is being carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and entails extended negotiations with different veteran groups across the country.
The Legal Hundred exemplifies five key characteristics of resilience. It is intimately aware of issues facing its stakeholders and its own capacity. Strong engagement with direct and indirect stakeholders allowed it to develop a comprehensive understanding of deficiencies in its processes and to predict challenges for its constituency. The Legal Hundred runs a legislative research and reform centre, where four lawyers work on a permanent basis, analysing current and new laws as well as drafting new legislative proposals. It monitors its strengths and weaknesses as an organization and holds annual strategic self-assessment sessions with facilitators. Critically important is its attempts to build wider awareness about veteran issues. The Legal Hundred publishes annual reports and engages stakeholders in public presentations.
An integrated and inclusive approach allowed the Legal Hundred to persevere in tackling systemic issues, rather than providing short-term quick fixes. As a non-partisan organization it works with a large number of stakeholders, including veterans, veteran organizations, members of parliament, government bodies, donors and international organizations. Early in its development the Legal Hundred accessed various government bodies through participation in public councils and advisory commissions. It ensured a much-needed feedback process by communicating the needs of the veteran and military community to policymakers and state agencies. It also engaged with the Western donor community to influence funding priorities and inform donors about the sector. To tackle the issues of tension within the veteran community, the Legal Hundred is now trying to shape a unified national policy through a new legal framework for veterans, conflict-affected citizens and those injured and killed during the Euromaidan protest.
The organization has a diverse network of paid staff and volunteers. At its core are 12 employees but more broadly the Legal Hundred engages lawyers, veterans, families of veterans, young volunteers, the private sector, law firms, local and national government officials, and experts from other NGOs.
The organization has a diverse network of paid staff and volunteers. At its core are 12 employees but more broadly the Legal Hundred engages lawyers, veterans, families of veterans, young volunteers, the private sector, law firms, local and national government officials, and experts from other NGOs. The Legal Hundred works with 99 pro bono lawyers. Most importantly, the organization has regional reach. Since the beginning of 2018, it has run six sustainable development courses for over 120 leaders of NGOs for veterans across Ukraine, which are strong partners in awareness-raising and legal aid. The offices of these NGOs in six regions were transformed into local representatives for the Legal Hundred.
The Legal Hundred self-regulates by frequently assessing its programming to ensure autonomy of different units (regional offices, legal teams, advocacy groups) while safeguarding internal cooperation and communication. When there is an opportunity to free up resources it transfers part of its services to the state system. In 2019, state legal aid centres started providing assistance to veterans free of charge. This allows a transfer of trust from civil society to state institutions, which is very important for Ukraine.
The organization constantly adapts to external needs and challenges. In less than six months in 2014 it went from a social media group of lawyers eager to help veterans to an officially registered non-profit organization with a small team of regular volunteers providing information and connecting clients with pro bono lawyers. Every year the Legal Hundred adds a new project to its portfolio.
Thanks to its flexibility, the Legal Hundred has become the go-to organization for veteran issues. It has substantially contributed to the institutionalization of veteran affairs and continues to do so. Better integration of veterans in civilian life is an important feature of social cohesion for Ukraine.
UCMC: Rediscovering local identity
In 2016, the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre (UCMC) engaged museums in small cities – including some cases close to the LoC as well as displaced museums from Donetsk and Luhansk – in a thought-provoking exercise about their own development and role in the community. The Museum is Open for Renovation project engaged a team of independent cultural consultants to work with 32 museums of differing size in 28 cities ranging from Mariupol (population: 400,000) to Novoaydar (population: 9,000).
UCMC is aware of the potential of culture to bring about change. Most museums in Ukraine were established in the 1960s and 1970s as Soviet propaganda tools and as places where the Communist Party engaged with the common people. Little has changed since and museums remain ossified structures. Their inaction at a time when Ukraine is shaping its new identity is a weakness. Identity is often a collective story citizens tell about their character and their origin. Since independence Ukraine has lived with various clashing narratives about itself.
The cultural infrastructure in Ukraine was quite extensive during the Soviet era but deteriorated after independence. A UCMC audit of cultural infrastructure in 75 decentralized communities showed that 50 per cent of libraries have closed down since independence, but that there are still around 500 cultural appreciation clubs, 19 museums, 32 art schools and 270 libraries. There is not a single cinema. The existing cultural places, if revived, have the capacity to gain new convening power and to energize communities. In most cases participation in the UCMC project made local museums aware of their unique cultural heritage, which was previously ignored and lacked proper public presentation. Druzhkivka city’s unique collection of porcelain is a striking example of this.114
Working with local historians, teachers and different levels of government, UCMC provided an inclusive format for all to contribute. This integrated approach created a space to develop new cultural products with the community rather than presenting them with ready-made solutions. UCMC asked communities to use museum artefacts to tell their stories. For example, in Novoaydar, Luhansk oblast, a reconceptualized textile exhibition was a trigger to create a cultural map that traces settlement in the region. The exhibition’s Lemko costumes were evidence of the punitive resettlement from the east of Poland following the Second World War. The map also traced the settlement of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians from central regions in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Suddenly, a new story started taking shape about the diversity of the region.
The project team ensured a wide range of voices were heard: local historians, history teachers, children and communities. It was a grassroots effort with the community contributing artefacts, such as textiles, costumes and local ceramics. In Druzhkivka museum staff surveyed citizens about famous people of the region that should be represented in the museum. As a result, they created a theatrical performance featuring famous composer Mykola Leontovych and his contemporaries.115 Local authorities see museum revival as a way to help tourism and to attract more funds from the national budget for cultural infrastructure.
The UCMC project has created a network of museums that use these new approaches and exchange best practices. This new professional community will tackle other issues of local identity in the future and support the region in writing the next chapter in its story.
UCMC managed to embed an adaptive approach from the very beginning. Museums were not viewed as closed spaces filled with objects. They were approached as institutions that should help the community with self-awareness and self-reflection, as safe and independent meeting spaces for citizens, and even as regional hubs. For this reason, most museums created a special public space for lectures and meetings and engagement with local schools.
Strong local ownership makes it likely that these cultural interventions will continue. A UCMC survey of project participants shows that 72 per cent say they wish to continue the project and 98 per cent say museums can play an important role in community life. There is hope that the network could be a useful resource in contributing to communities’ resilience against future threats.
104 IREX (2019), ‘Strengthening Media Literacy in the Ukrainian Education System’, https://www.irex.org/project/strengthening-media-literacy-
ukrainian-education-system (accessed 22 Apr. 2020).
105 Since early 2018, the project has been deployed in 50 secondary schools in Chernihiv, Ternopil, Mariupol and Dnipro.
106 IREX (2019), ‘Evaluation of Students’ Ability to Detect Disinformation After Learning Media Literacy Techniques in School’, https://www.irex.org/resource/evaluation-students-ability-detect-disinformation-after-learning-media-literacy-techniques (accessed 22 Apr. 2020).
109 This includes a Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/nakipelovo (accessed 22 Apr. 2020), and a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/nakipelovo/ (accessed 22 Apr. 2020).
110 Rodin (2015), The Resilience Dividend.
111 Redaktors’kyi Portal (2019), ‘Громади просять дискусій!’ [Communities demand discussions!], 24 May 2019, http://redactor.in.ua/2019/
05/24/громади-просять-дискусій/ (accessed 22 Apr. 2020).
112 Materials provided by the Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers.
114 See the new catalogue created as part of the project: Ukraine Crisis Media Center (2019), ‘Порцеляна з фондів музею’ [‘Porcelain from the museums’ collections’], https://issuu.com/leonidmarushchak/docs/_______-__________________________2 (accessed 22 Apr. 2020).
115 Mykola Leontovych is the author of the famous ‘Carol of the Bells’.