Our city has been chosen to host a key forum aimed at healing cultural differences across Ukraine.
Kharkiv and Lviv will be launching an inter-regional forum called Uniting Ukraine: historical and cultural understanding taking into account the experience of Europe, reported organizers.
The first meeting will be held in Lyviv on February 26, with a follow up in Kharkiv around March 10. A total of six events will be held between now and April to help residents of both regions to establish joint dialogue.
The initial sessions will discuss the European experience of overcoming inter-regional conflicts.
Organizers said: “Today there are certain differences between the various regions of our country: the cultural, linguistic, historical. Often these differences cause conflicts between residents.”
This project will aim at attracting various members of society, especially young people, to debunk negative stereotypes of each other based on the European experience of solving such issues, in particular Germany and Poland.
The second stage will consist visits of Kharkiv citizens to Lviv and vice versa to get acquainted with another region’s life, habits and traditions and seek ways to better understanding through dialogue.
Twenty young activists from each region will be chosen and in mid-March, Lviv residents will stay in Kharkiv for two days and will then host Kharkivens. Final sessions will enable participants to celebrate the achievements of the project.
The February 26 meeting at Lviv City Hall will enable students of Lviv universities, activists, culture and history lovers and everyone to listen to the project’s speakers.
