Ukrainian Leaders continue to reinvent modern Ukrainian identity

As a platform for leader’s dialogue Aspen Institute Kyiv is implementing the “Reinventing Ukrainian Identity” Project. In the time of overcoming divisive national discourses, the seminar participants discuss the past, present, and future of Ukraine. On September 25, the sixth seminar took place. Four more are ahead.

Modern Ukrainian identity is a subject that needs rethinking. It is critically important in the context of overcoming divisive national discourses.

For the “Reinventing Ukrainian Identity” Project Seminars, Aspen Institute Kyiv invites high-level civil servants, politicians, business and local government leaders, and public intellectuals to a dialogue. Discussing the texts of modern Ukrainian thinkers, each subsequent group reveals the topics of the seminar from a different perspective.

– Aspen Institute Kyiv is a dialogue platform for leaders from various fields. As part of our seminars, we create a secure and openminded space  and freedom of thought. There are no forbidden topics and correct answers, – says Denis Poltavets, Director of Program Development at Aspen Institute Kyiv.

The dialogue, which took place on September 25, was based on the following issues:

• What determines the inclusiveness, openness of modern Ukrainian identity?
• What is the difference between how we perceive ourselves and how we are perceived by the international community?
• How has the pandemic and the need to provide citizens with the vaccine affected their attitudes towards the concept of the nation-state?
• How to present Ukrainian culture outside?

The seminar was moderated by Anton Drobovych, Chairman of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, and Volodymyr Fadeyev, Head of the Department at the Hryhorii Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy.

The Project was initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and is implementing with the financial support of the European Union