The Aspen Institute Kyiv Held a Seminar”Equality for All: Animal Rights in the Modern World” for the “UAnimals” Team

On July 13-14, 2024, the Aspen Institute Kyiv held an “Equality for All: Animal Rights in the Modern World” seminar for the “UAnimals” team.

Increasingly, our society is facing challenges that differ from the known algorithms. For example, with the onset of the full-scale invasion, the “UAnimals” team and concerned citizens began to requalify to provide assistance to animals, not just engage in legal protection of their rights. The importance of dialogue in determining how we should act in new conditions is exceptionally high.

Most similar seminars for teams from various organizations arise thanks to initiatives from the Institute alums. Oleksandr Todorchuk, a graduate of the seminar “Values and Society” (6th session) and founder of the “UAnimals” movement, initiated the seminar for the team to discuss value orientations and find new solutions.

Using texts compiled by the Institute into a special reader, the “UAnimals” team discussed the basic principles of animal rights protection, the complexity of ensuring the safety of wild, domestic, and farm animals during the war, and the need for legislative changes. 

Representatives from different cities participated in the seminar, allowing them to meet in person and “synchronize their watches” regarding the organization’s values, mission, and current growth points.

Andriy Kulakov, Program Coordinator of the Aspen Institute Kyiv Community, and Volodymyr Fadieiev, Head of the Department of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, moderated the seminar.

Tetiana Lymar, Administrative Coordinator of the Aspen Institute Kyiv, coordinated the seminar.