Within the framework of the program „Expansion of Civil Society cooperation in the countries of the Eastern Partnership”, this seminar promoted the exchange and interconnectedness of civil society engagement in Armenia and Ukraine and provided not only knowledge sharing and the discussion of common challenges in implementing social projects, but furthermore taught the participants professional skills in project management, social media and leadership.

On the first day, the participants discussed the regional and political background of Kherson, where the seminar took place. It is a mid-size town (approx. 300 000 inhabitants) located at the Dnepr river delta, only about 100 km north of Crimea. Therefore, local NGOs focus on the conflict of the occupation of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, as well as minority’s rights and socio-economic problems in the region. For the Ukrainian participants, who often have never been to the area before this was a new perspective, as well as when the Armenian participants presented the characteristics of NGO work in their country.

Furthermore, in different workshops the mostly young participants were taught the basics how to introduce their civil initiatives’ into the political processes in cities and regional governments, and how to succeed in project planning, implementation and promotion in media and social platforms. On the last day, the NGO and KAS partner ”SOS Crimea” presented their work and the cooperation of NGOs, international donors and aid organizations on the occupation of Crimea.

The participants pointed out, that the exchange within the different regions of Ukraine and between those countries is underdeveloped and that they hope to establish similar formats on a regular basis. The new knowledge and international as well as interregional network holds many options for cooperation and a more professionalized work of the civil society organizations. The young age of participants also shows their intention to establish a professional future in the NGO sector. Therefore the seminar gave the 24 participants from all over Ukraine (Chernivtsi, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kherson, Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Vinnytsia) and from Armenia a new network and skills kit to improve their own projects and to build a basis for a peaceful coexistence of the two countries.