The project's mission is to enhance capacity of digital community center assembly.org.ua for support of social movement in East Ukraine uniting autonomous and self-organized efforts for progressive transformation of local society from below.
Kharkiv is the second main city of the poorest European country, in about 150 miles from the military conflict zone. This ill-being is aggravated by the land market opening in summer 2021 and the upcoming more than twofold increase in gas tariffs at the end of this year, which are already exorbitant for about half of the population. At the same time, spontaneous and unorganized protests on land and gas issues may be easily used by politicians and right-wing paramilitaries in their interests.
Using already established network of community solidarity we want to bring together and coordinate vulnerable populations in their daily struggle for a better life, creating bottom-up alternatives to this status quo in general. The nearest objective is to strengthen our audience's voices at least double through educative presentations and promoting peer learning for fostering young generation of social activists who build environments on the basis of mutual aid and sustainability.
Advancing of horizontal cooperation where local communities actively strategize and apply solutions for systemic barriers' overcoming will empower direct decision-making processes on the local level much more effectively than now. This will greatly contribute towards reducing systemic poverty making Kharkiv safer and giving positive example for just social change to other cities and regions.
