Ukrainian Peacebuilding School - Time to Build the Roads and Repair the Bridges

Ukrainian Peacebuilding School

Time to Build the Roads

and Repair the Bridges

Glienicke Bridge aka the "Bridge of Spies" Berlin, 1962

“Bridge of spies” 2015

Road to Mariupol, Ukraine, 2015

53 years, 2123 km between the Borders

Iron Curtain Moves Eastward

Regions We Work At

We work at Ukrainian controlled territories only.

Bordering occupied territories, frozen conflict and past bloody conflict.

Centuries Old Fight for Independence of Ukraine…

…Turned into the Bloody War with Russia

“Forgive for everything. Moscow”

Photo by Vitaliy Ovcharenko. Debaltseve, February 2015

Why the Occupation Was Inevitable?

#1 Identity conflicts

Soviet Past

Ukrainian Present

European Future?

#2 Conflicts based on ethnicity or religion

Icon of Stalin, Russia

“Go Away, Moskali, from the Ukrainian land!”

#3 Conflicts of historical narratives

West East

#4 Conflicts of visions of the future

Country by the hands of kids

Graves of Protestants killed by occupants in 2014. Slovyansk

Conflictscould lead to divided society

Divided Societies. Israel

SimilarityRussia does not recognize the Ukrainian nation and the right to Ukrainian State

Divided Societies. Northern Ireland

Similarity Conflict with Russia is 350+ years old

Attempt to Divide Ukraine

Kharkiv. January 12, 2014

Attempt failed except in Donbas

Identity Conflicts are VirtualWhy?

Perception of Russian World is based on TV image made in Moscow and not real life experience

Soviet Union does not exist

Majority of Ukrainians never visited Europe and have no idea what it is

We do not want divided future for Ukraine!

Semenivka, near Slovyansk, 2014-2015

We Develop Strategies of Transformation and Prevention of Borderline Conflicts

Major Problems of Ukrainian Society We Detected

Bad Communications Inability to Plan the

Future Proactively Misunderstanding of

Security Absence of Common

Criteria of Evaluation of Realty What is the sense

of this fence?Bakhmut, 2015

Misunderstanding of Security

“Security is the absence of threats”Conclusion of 36 new Ukrainian leaders.

Leaders of Transformations School, November 2015

Ukraine is NOT Russia

War of symbols“We are Russia. We are not”

Kramatorsk, WWII fortification rebuilt in 2013.

Inability to Plan the Future Proactively

Why?

Genocidal History

Cult of Death Enforced by the Soviets

Ukrainians during the Great Famine of 1932-1933

Value of Life“I lived in a country where we were taught since our childhood to die.

We were taught the death.

We were told that the human exists to give themselves, to burn, to sacrifice themselves.”

Svetlana Alekseevich, Belarussian writer Nobel Lecture. December 7, 2015

Face of War.Every Life Counts!

Photo exhibition in Kramatorsk, August 2015

Bad CommunicationsBad Roads

Roads lead to nowhere

Broken or Fragile Bridges

Bridges connect wrong points

Bridges Still Broken

Bridges destroyed in 2014 are still broken.Donetsk oblast, North

Fragile Bridges

Temporary bridge in Kharkiv existed 53 years

Solid Secure Bridges

New bridge built in Kharkiv, 2011

Absence of Common Criteria of Evaluation of RealtyWhat is the purpose of this bridge?

Public Spaces Shaping Community

How to Build Sustainable Peace in Ukraine

1. Mental border with Russia as a state and Russian World as an ideology

2. Personal friendly contacts with people across the Ukrainian border

3. True multiculturalism and security aware tolerance. Open Peaceful Islam

4. Education of active adults on conflict studies, dialogue practices, social psychology, behavioral economic, human security.

“We have to have the conversations our governments can't”

“Bridge of spies” 2015

Common Future

Kharkiv. 24 May, 2014Heroes do not die!

Thank you for attention!

Nataliya Zubar, Kharkiv, Ukraine, @nataliezubar