Dialogue is not just about words. It’s a choice. It’s action. It’s a skill.

That’s exactly what we explored during the training on conflict competencies, dialogue, and peacebuilding, held by the Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners from July 24 to 26 in Chernivtsi.

This wasn’t just a meeting with young people — it was a meaningful collaboration with representatives of Enlightening Initiative, a large youth-led humanitarian NGO supporting communities in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Kherson, Ternopil regions and Kyiv. The organization brings together over 200 active young leaders. Twenty of them took part in this training, already engaged in real work, implementing projects and helping communities — now also exploring their role in peacebuilding.

Over several days, we unpacked peace-related terminology and approaches to make their ongoing projects more accurate, impactful, and meaningful.

Our facilitators, Iryna Eihelson and Liza Koval, both members of the Community, helped participants:

Understand the difference between peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peacekeeping, and how these terms relate to Ukraine’s context;

Map real-life conflicts from their work, identify entry points, resources, and possible actions;

Reflect on conflict-sensitive approaches in humanitarian planning;

Learn the basics of conflict communication and how to move from managing conflict to transforming it;

Explore peacebuilding activities within broader humanitarian and human rights frameworks.

“Through dialogue, we had deep conversations about responsibility, presence, and impact — especially in real, often very complex humanitarian situations,” — said trainer Iryna Eihelson.

Participants also worked on their own project ideas — with a focus on dialogue, understanding, and community connection.

“The exercises and examples helped me better understand how to apply conflict studies in real-life situations. I also appreciated the open, friendly atmosphere and the chance to share experiences with others,” — shared one of the participants.

This was a joint learning experience — and definitely not our last time working together.

The project was supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners.