Participants create the game

Thirty civic activists attended the seminar on development of Local Peace Committees in a war situation in Ukraine on December 4-6 in Lutsk, aiming to process the themes of organizing and functioning of peacebuilding structures, increase the level of awareness, and master new, modern tools of peacebuilding.

The first day was filled with positive emotions and active work, where, by good tradition, participants had the opportunity to get to know each other, develop rules for further work, form their expectations from the seminar, and take part in the World Café "Peacemaking and Peacebuilding. Different Approaches: To Regulate, Resolve, or Transform Conflict".

The second day of the seminar was no less intense: discussions covered manifestations of violence, including hate speech, discrimination, gender inequality, and positional conflicts. Some participants noted that hate speech, as one manifestation of violence, is quite common nowadays, especially in the form of images, videos, songs, etc., in language, writing, or behavior that expresses aggression, using derogatory or discriminatory expressions about a person or a group simply based on who they are.

One of the vivid impressions for the participants during the second training day was the game "Peace on the Island in Post-War Times". During the game, participants had the chance to apply their knowledge in practice to establish communication and peaceful resolution of issues, reducing the level of conflict in hypothetical communities. During the final round of reflections, some participants shared the thought that the game is created by the participants themselves, who set the pace, determine directions, and actually control it, which also resonates with social life.

The final day of the seminar was dedicated to summarizing and conducting activities, in particular, a brainstorming session "Action Plan for Peace Committees", where each participant could imagine and answer the question: "How can I influence the development of peace?".

The event was held in the frames of the "Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Ukraine – Step Forward" project, implemented with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Funding programme zivik.