The Third Seminar of the Moderated Dialogues Series Aspen Teens: Fight for UA Dream: How young people represent Ukraine in the world

On March 24-25, the Third Seminar of the Moderated Dialogues Series Aspen Teens: Fight for UA Dream, took place. The project was held in partnership between Aspen Institute Kyiv and the Klitschko Foundation.

One of the organizers’ ideas was to involve young people living in Ukraine and those forced to live abroad due to the full-scale war in the dialogue. Similar to the classic Aspen Institute Kyiv seminars, one of the distinctive features of such discussions is the opportunity to enrich each other with different experiences and thoughts.

The young participants shared their reflections, drawing upon classical and contemporary texts, such as Vakhtang Kebuladze, Yaroslav Hrytsak, and Timothy Snyder. The focus of the discussion was on the history and future of Ukraine, our country’s place in the world, and the role that today’s teenagers can play in post-war recovery in Ukraine.

In addition to discussing texts, the participants proposed their ideas for countering Russian narratives. They also discussed the topics that Ukrainians should communicate on the international level.

Nataliya Kryvda, a professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Academic Director of the MBA programs at Edinburgh Business School in Ukraine, and Volodymyr Fadeyev, the head of the Department of Philosophy at Hryhorii Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine moderated the seminar.

The mission of the “Aspen Teens: Fight for UA Dream” project is to create a community of teenagers where they can express their thoughts, engage in discussions, find like-minded individuals, and shape their vision for the future of Ukraine. During the dialogues, young people analyze texts by renowned thinkers and provide their assessment of the relevance of various ideas.

The Institute invites registration for the participation of young people aged 14-17 in the seminars.