Aspen Institute Kyiv Holds the 29th “Responsible Leadership” Seminar in the Carpathian Mountains
From 18 to 24 October 2025, Aspen Institute Kyiv held the 29th “Responsible Leadership” seminar in the Carpathian Mountains. Over the course of the week, participants embarked on a shared journey of reflection and dialogue about the forces shaping our present and our future.
Aspen Institute Kyiv brought together participants from the business, public, education, cultural, media, civil society, and military sectors, creating a space for dialogue across different worldviews, professions, and life experiences.
Throughout the seminar, participants read and discussed works by Aristotle, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hryhorii Skovoroda, Alexis de Tocqueville, Niccolò Machiavelli, Václav Havel, and other thinkers. Together, they explored how our understanding of the individual and the community evolves, how inner freedom can be reconciled with moral choice and civic action, and how leadership can become a form of service and responsibility to others and to the future.
A particularly memorable part of the seminar was the group’s performance of Sophocles’ Antigone, which invited participants to explore the enduring tensions between duty, freedom, and humanity through theatre and collaborative creativity.
Our sincere thanks go to the seminar moderators, Serhii Rohol and Andrii Kulakov, for fostering thoughtful discussions, intellectual depth, and an atmosphere of trust throughout the seminar. The programme was coordinated by Alina Shkliaruk, Director of Seminar Programs at Aspen Institute Kyiv.
The Aspen Institute Kyiv team warmly congratulates the new “Responsible Leadership” seminar group on completing this shared journey. We hope that the experience, new perspectives, and ideas gained throughout the seminar will continue to serve as a source of strength in both leadership and everyday decision-making.
