Eastern Partnership Leaders for Change Alumni Event
Tbilisi, Georgia - November 2018
After two international forums in Kiev in 2017 and 2018 and 14 regional workshops in different Regions of Ukraine from 2016 until today, the European Partnership Leaders for Change (EPLC) format was taken to Georgia for an alumni event that brought together Ukrainian and Georgian Alumni of this successful project. The aim was to provide a three-day workshop with 15 Georgians and 15 Ukrainians in order to deepen the exchange on common challenges in the EU Integration process. Furthermore, this new format built new knowledge on political processes in Georgia (since previously the format was only held in Ukraine), it strengthened the participant's leadership skills and promoted the already existing network by giving the opportunity to meet again. The working language was only English (previously in this series it used to be English, Ukrainian and Russian). The original idea came up in a feedback round of the partners with Eduardo Frei Board members in March 2017. The KAS Kiev office was assisted by KAS Tbilisi with regard to contacts, venue, transport and accommodation. Participants were selected by KAS Kiev and the EPLC partners from alumni of the previous events in this format.
Eastern Partnership Leaders for Change Project background
The project started in 2016, with funding by the German Federal Foreign Office for promoting the Civil Society in EP countries. It is organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute for International Politics (UIIP) in partnership with the Eduardo Frei Foundation (EFF) from the Netherlands. The target group is young members of political parties and NGOs from the three Eastern Neighborhood countries with EU Association Agreements - Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. In a competitive selection process, about 120 participants are selected every year for regional seminars all over Ukraine, where they learn about the history of the European Unity and European Neighborhood Policy tools as well as leadership and social media skills. Furthermore, this project provides the stage for critical discussions on the three countries differences and common challenges in relation to the European Union rapprochement. Following the regional seminars, the most engaged and outstanding participants (approx. 50) are invited to the forum in the following year in Kyiv. There are now over 300 Alumni, who keep in touch through an online social media platform.