Aspen Institute Kyiv Holds the 30th “Responsible Leadership” Seminar

From 14 to 20 March 2026, Aspen Institute Kyiv held the 30th “Responsible Leadership” seminar in the Carpathian Mountains. Over six days, participants embarked on a shared journey of reading and dialogue, engaging with questions that have no easy answers but invite an honest search for meaning.

Aspen Institute Kyiv brought together representatives from the business, public, education, cultural, media, civil society, and military sectors in an open dialogue. Within this group, diverse experiences and perspectives were not reduced to a common denominator but became the foundation for a deeper understanding of ourselves and one another.

Throughout the seminar, participants read and discussed works by Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hannah Arendt, Alexis de Tocqueville, Hryhorii Skovoroda, Václav Havel, and other thinkers. Discussions explored the nature of the individual, rights and freedoms, justice, property, contemporary challenges, and responsibility. Through these texts, one central question gradually emerged: what does responsible leadership mean today, and what is each person’s role in it?

“Responsible Leadership was the first Aspen seminar ever held in Ukraine. We are deeply pleased that, for many years, this platform has brought leaders together as a space for open exchange and a laboratory of ideas. It is especially meaningful that we are now marking the 30th anniversary seminar, and that nearly 720 Ukrainian leaders have taken part in the programme over the years,” said Alina Shkliaruk, Director of Seminar Programs at Aspen Institute Kyiv.

As always, one of the defining moments of the seminar was the group’s collaborative production of Sophocles’ Antigone—an opportunity to experience the tensions between duty, freedom, and humanity not only as philosophical ideas but as lived experience.

The seminar was moderated by Anton Drobovych and Denys Poltavets, who guided the group through thoughtful discussions and a carefully facilitated dialogue. The programme was organised and coordinated by Alina Shkliaruk, Director of Seminar Programs, together with the Aspen Institute Kyiv team.