PARTICIPATION WITHOUT PARTICIPATION: how to real instead of phoney ivolvement of community?

Facilitators: Oleksandra Tselisheva, Maryana Zaviyska, Taras Tymchuk, Oleksandra Sladkova

 

Educational open air event

 

In the last couple of years the concept of participation (community involvement) in Ukraine became somewhat trendy.

 

It is proclaimed by the NGOs, local governments, and international organizations. But often those who are willing to use the advantages of community involvement in their work appear unprepared to fully accept the experience of participation.

 

At the same time, the discussion about difficulties and problems concerning implementation of the community involvement projects is basically nonexistent among activists and professionals: analysis of errors is hard to find in open sources, there is no practice to share the stories of failures.  A failure is perceived as a sign of unprofessionalism, but not as a part of development.

 

The openspace.works team had prepared an open air event. For three days it will allow to voice, discuss, and analyze in a safe environment the stories of failures and mistakes in the community involvement projects. During the workshop the participants will live through the personal experience of self-organization and participation, as well as reflect on their readiness and abilities to create a space for the community involvement.