in Kyiv, Ukraine
The final conference 'Responsible leadership in Ukraine: start with yourself!' took place in Kyiv on 19 December 2009. It was a concluding part of the project 'Development of responsible democratic leadership in Ukraine' run from March till December 2009 by an International NGO 'Foundations for Freedom' and its old partnering organisation Center for Political Education. The project was supported by the Democracy Grants Program of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. 
The aim of
the conference was to bring together the participants of 4 courses on
Ethical Leadership for civil activists and representatives of youth
organisations from all regions of Ukraine, as well as to deepen the
knowledge and understanding of the main project topic.
There were
totally 34 participants, with 29 of those who took part in courses in
the Crimea, Lviv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv.
The
process has started with warm emotional greetings, sharing memories
and stories from after-the-course life of those who took part in same
seminars, and warm getting-to-knows with new people from other
seminars. The friendly atmosphere that appeared immediately was
transmitted to the semi-official introductions in the hall, followed
by interviews with three invited speakers.
Olena
Kruglova – a graduate and coordinator of Crimean initiative 'Club
for Young Leaders', and one of the leaders of 'School of New
Leadership – Step' has shared her understanding and vision of
leadership paying special attention to the point that a true ethical
leader should be a real example and be ready to act first so that
others can follow. She also spoke about social and ecological
projects, where issues of making ethical decisions based on human
values came up.
Second
speaker Svitlana Garashchenko is an ex-member of the Council of Youth
NGO 'Foundation of Regional Initiatives' in Kirovohrad region, a
coordinator of the project 'School of young politicians', an expert
on the issues of youth leadership, development of NGOs and gender
issues. She spoke about her experience in upbringing and educating
young politicians, which is focused mainly on the development of
professional qualities and 'love for power', and compared prosand cons of such approach. She also shared her personal
realisation that when some principles still remain with the old
generation of our politicians, among the new young generation,
striving towards big politics either directly or through NGOs, a
widely spread lack of moral values can be observed. Svitlana has also
expressed her hope for further cooperation with CPE and F4F in the
area of professional education for young politicians, where moral
education is its integral part.
Kostiantyn
Ploskyy is a founder of the Center for Political Education and its
head in 2000-2007, an initiator and coordinator of a series of
conferences 'Service, Responsibility and Leadership' (SRL) in Caux,
Switzerland between 2002 and 2007 in the Conference Centre of the
International NGO 'Initiatives of Change', and currently the head
consultant of the Main Department on issues of education, science and
innovations in the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine.
Kostiantyn has given some statistics about the development of
Ukraine, introduced his understanding on democracy and the role of
morals in the processes of leading a state. He has also shared his
personal experience and problems that can occur while making ethical
decisions that one meets nearly every day. The main point of his
speech was the necessity to define what is really important in the
life of each individual and the state, and to be 'open for life' in
the questions of right decision-making and lessons that one can learn
from the situations we face.
After a
very 'communicative' lunch-break, all participants went on to discuss
the topics they were interested in 'Open Space' format. Here are just
a few themes that were raised in the group:
- development
of social responsibility among youth;
- construction
of 'Foundations for Freedom' centre/house in Poltava region;
- the
role of Euro 2012 in Ukraine, and many others.
In the
closing ceremony of the conference all participants got together in a
warm circle and had an opportunity to share their discoveries and
impressions. Quite a few expressed comments about guest-speakers,
whose speeches have striked and touched with sincerity, depth and
practical approach. All participants have shared opinion about
friendly and open atmosphere during the conference and joy of meeting
each other. Below are a few examples of what was said:
'That
seminar has changed my life. Atmosphere that surrounds us here is
invisible, but influences each one'.
'I
was touched, surprised and inspired by the atmosphere both of the
seminar and here'.
'Only
one day passed by, and I have already started thinking in Ukrainian.
I want to cooperate and to think together'.
'There
are people from different parts of Ukraine here. I am surprised that
we have so much in common, and it inspires'.
'There
was no strict frame-work, structured form. And that was the
speciality of it. Each one could express oneself without any
uneasiness. Others could see and accept that there are people, who
think according to different measurements'.
'Just
by behaving in a certain way, you are already creating a model or a
template. You may not realize, but you are looked at. Some just see
you and take what they like. Others would join'.
'The
atmosphere of this conference is something very different from what I
face each day in my life. Openness and warmth are the things that
need to be taken care of and kept safe inside oneself'.
'I
was surprised here, and it has also became a proof that for the short
period of time people from different parts of Ukraine managed to work
together as one organism. Thank you for inspiration'.
'I
was touched by speeches. It is important when people of high ranks
can share something that is precious for them, and are not shy about
it'.
'I
even felt some sort of discomfort, when one of the guests was
speaking with such inspiration about his beliefs, about the God. I
understood, that the way I lead my life is not the only way'.
'A
man can open up in his readiness to help in small things, to make his
contribution'.
'You
see a new person, discover something new in him and wonder that each
one is so amazing'.
'Once
again I convinced myself that I need to stick to my moral values'.
'What
inspired me the most is the fact here you can receive something
special from each individual'.
'I
would be searching for a balance between global and something
specific, meaning not only doing something big for the state, but
more often to help a specific real person'.
'Think
globally, act locally'.
'I
see a necessity to think and to care about a specific person'.
'It's
a pleasure to experience that people from different regions can
communicate not only about politics'.
The conference has finished after it
got dark outside, however, the communication and planning of possible
cooperation projects didn’t stop. The participants who got to know
each other well took off to continue the banquet beyond officially
organised programme.
 See also:
| 
