On 17 June 2025, as part of the Together We Can project, a blog café entitled ‘Engaging Young People in Community Activism’ was held. The event brought together active young people from Chernihiv region, student councils, youth initiatives, public figures and local government representatives to discuss new formats for youth participation in community life.

The trainer was Nikita Strelok, a third-year student majoring in the educational programme Philosophy. As part of the ‘Together We Can’ programme to expand opportunities for community leaders in Ukraine, he completed training at the ‘Social Cohesion through Youth Engagement’ training school, which took place in Kyiv on 1-5 July 2024. as part of the all-Ukrainian project ‘Voices of Youth for Social Cohesion and Peace in Communities’ by the Human Rights Foundation NGO.

Nikita is the project ambassador in the Chernihiv region and is implementing his pilot project ‘Active Youth – the Key to Community Development.’ The blog cafe ‘Engaging Youth in Civic Activism’ was an important step in its implementation, as it was aimed at strengthening the capacity of young people to participate in community recovery processes by teaching them tools for civic participation, dialogue, communication, and the inclusion of youth perspectives in community planning documents.

Participants in the event – community leaders from Chernihiv and Horodnia, representatives of student self-government, project participants and ambassadors, teachers and students of Chernihiv Polytechnic National University – explored factors that hinder youth activity, analysed barriers, and sought solutions through dialogue, teamwork and practical tasks.

Particular attention was paid to the creation of youth initiatives in the post-war period, the development of leadership and the formation of partnerships between civil society, youth and local authorities. In the final part, participants presented projects for their communities – from the idea to the budget and communication.

Such events are not just training, they are the formation of future leaders capable of influencing positive change.

Such events are not just training, they are the formation of future leaders capable of influencing positive change.

The project is being implemented in cooperation with the Human Rights Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, and is funded by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (IFA) with funds from the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In the Chernihiv region, the project is being implemented by the NGO ‘Centre for Gender Education’ in cooperation with the Chernihiv Polytechnic National University.

#ChePolytech

#ЦентрГендерноїОсвіти

#ФундаціяПравЛюдини

#АналітикаСуспільноПолітичнихПроцесів