Helping the media in Ukraine bloom

In these days a fundamental change of values and a social growth inside the Ukrainian society take place. Civil engagement and political participation are in the focus of all generations. Commissioned and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chosen employees of the Arbeitskreis Ostviertel e.V., the supporting association of Citizen Center Bennohaus Münster, travelled to Kiev in the past weeks to support the democratic change in the Ukrainian society.

In cooperation with the Forum of Ukrainian Journalists, the Institute for Journalism, the Tara-Schewtschenko University of Kiev, the Open Channel Ludwigshafen, the Bundesverband Bürger- und Ausbildungsmedien (Federal association of Citizen and Education Media) and the international Network association European Youth4Media journalists and students will be qualified within the new project “Citizen Media for Intercultural and Political Dialogue”. The aim is to educate them to be multipliers in the subject area of new media. Further aims of the program are the construction of a civil infrastructure and a network of citizen centers and non-governmental organisations based on the model of the Bennohaus. 

The first part of the project, from 19th to 25th June, started with an opening conference at the University of Kiev where it was presented to 80 media representatives. The project is divided into three parts,

Afterwards 20 selected journalists and students from the west and the east of Ukraine took part in a modularly structured seminar and got educated in crossmedial journalism. The results of the first part of the program were two film productions about “Citizen Media in Ukraine”, a project documentation and a web-appearance which were developeded to a web-TV-platform in a later part of the project. During the time of the project the trainers and participants also got to know the culture and the life of the people in Ukraine.

The conference, the seminar and the results of the project raised a strong interest of the Ukrainian media. The project manager and chairman of the Bennohaus, Dr. Joachim Musholt, and his cooperation partner, Dr. Wolfgang Ressmann from the Open Channel Ludwigshafen, gave information about the aims of the project to different national and regional television channels.

Technical equipment was given to the Ukrainian partners before the departure to create additional video productions. The results will be presented in October in Münster and Ludwigshafen where the second part of the project starts. In this part of the program ten selected Ukrainian multipliers will be trained to become mediatrainers. In November a final seminar and a conference will take place in Kiev. All results of the project will be presented and media centres will open in Kiev and Lutsk. More information under www.bennohaus.info/internationales/ako/citizen-media-for-intercultural-and-political-dialogue-ukraine.

The documentary of the meeting in Ukraine, Kiev can be viewed here.

 

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