On October 8, the main building of Lviv Polytechnic National University hosted an international panel discussion titled «Ukrainian Communities Abroad: Resilience, Growth and Progress». The organizer of this discussion, the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations (IIECDR), Lviv Polytechnic, held it as part of the 17th Ecumenical Social Week by the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU).
The discussion raised topical issues: Have Ukrainian communities abroad changed due to Russia’s large-scale invasion?, Has the arrival of war refugees who have flooded countries on all continents affected the growth dynamics of Ukrainian organizations?, Have new communities been created and is there interaction between old and new organizations?, What influences the growth of the social power of the Ukrainian community abroad?, What forms of assistance to Ukraine are most effective?, What practices are community leaders willing to share with others?, What factors influence the sustainability of Ukrainian communities?.
The IECDR invited leading scholars, as well as representatives of religious communities, the diaspora and international organizations to exchange the responses, ideas and suggestions to the challenges. Bishop Stepan Sus, head of the Pastoral Migration Department of the UGCC, Professor Yuriy Bobalo, Rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University, Dr. Taras Dobko, Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University, Dr. Roman Figas, Director of the Institute of Ecumenical Studies at UCU, and Dr. Jan-Philippe Wölbern, Deputy Director of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Ukraine, welcomed the participants.
