The Third Session of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies 2016

On September 22-25, the third session of the XI enrolment of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies was held in Lviv.

The session was opened by Svitlana MATVIENKO, Chairwoman of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, who held a short conversation about trust. Everyone had a chance to tell about their experience during teamwork on creation of a national idea, which was the task of the III Session.

First Day of the School meeting continued in the Lviv City Council with Andrii Sadovyi, Lviv City Mayor. Mr. Sadovyi told about the Lviv 2020 Project, answering questions of participants regarding the burning problems of the city, in particular the issue of landfills.

The second day of the third USPS session began with the lecture on the role of women in politics, delivered by Lana AKAR, Gender Adviser of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The participants had an opportunity to learn about how gender affects achievement in politics and the specifics of gender stratification in the world in general and in Ukraine in particular.

Yaroslav HRYTSAK, Director of the Institute for Historical Research at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, professor of the Ukrainian Catholic University, Dr. of History, and a long-time lecturer at the School, gave a lecture on “How Can We Overcome History?” Mr. Hrytsak reiterated that for the construction of a successful Ukraine we lacked political will.

An important part of the curriculum of the Lviv session was the lecture on myths about the Ukrainian liberation movement, delivered by Ihor DEREVYANYI, historian, senior researcher of the National Memorial Museum ‘Prison at Łąckiego’.

The next day, the participants had a chance to present the tasks they had worked upon in teams, namely creation of a national idea. Their work was evaluated by Taras VOZNYAK, editor of “Ї” journal and culture expert, who also gave a lecture entitled “Looking for the National Idea”.

The third day of the Session continued with a lecture by Oleh PETRENKO, Deputy General Director for Strategic Development of ISIDA Clinic, USPS alumnus of 2006. Mr. Petrenko spoke about his vision of the healthcare reform, which he has been working on for many years.

Yevhen BYSTRYTSKYI, Head of the Department of Philosophy of Culture, Ethics and Aesthetics of the Institute of Philosophy of the NAS of Ukraine, PhD, in his lecture on “Morality and Politics” made the participants reflect on the principles they are guided by in assessing socio-political events.

The Ukrainian School of Political Studies keeps up with the times; therefore, some lectures are delivered via videoconferencing, such as the lecture by Myroslav MARYNOVYCH, Vice-Rector for University Mission, Ukrainian Catholic University, on “Morality of the Political Process”.

This year the invited foreign lecturer was Vladislav INOZEMTSEV, Director of the Centre for Research on Post-Industrial Societies, who gave the lecture “European Ukraine in 2030: Optimal Form and Realistic Results of EU Integration”.

Ihor KOHUT, Honorary Director of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, summed up the last training session.

The next time the participants will meet in Strasbourg on a visit to the Council of Europe during the World Forum for Democracy.

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