On March 16, 2023 a regular meeting of the Coordination and Expert Council for Social Policy was held. The Council was created at the Research Institute of Social Policy of the Ministry of Social Policy and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The meeting was attended by experts from the NGO Dor Moria, the BSPR and the Association of Ukrainian Cities.
Crisis Technologies and Social Capital
Leonid ILCHUK, Director of the Institute, opened the meeting. For Ukraine, despite the difficult conditions, it is very important to preserve social capital and further build it up. Ukrainians showed resilience and solidarity during the pandemic and the war. Volunteer movements, assistance to the army, social and psychological assistance to victims and vulnerable populations. All activities were created and carried out thanks to the initiative of citizens. These skills and social technologies are becoming increasingly important in the decentralization and privatization of the social sphere. This activity, which is actively pursued by the Ukrainian government.
Crisis technologies of public solidarity action have shown themselves well in Ukraine. They are also necessary to preserve and build the social capital of communities and the state. And these crisis technologies should become traditional for application at the level of the state and society.
Methodology for Identifying Social Threats
In this process, it is necessary to use scientific and social technologies that would provide:
- Identifying and calculating, accordingly, the level of social and other threats that communities and local authorities may face;
- developing appropriate technological and political solutions to minimize or eliminate certain threats;
- Identification of the most influential social groups and their values and socio-economic priorities;
- Identification of communication problems between local, regional authorities and communities, etc.
All of these components are included in the Methodology for Determining Social Threats, developed by the Social Policy Research Institute.
Based on the indicators, indicators and social data obtained, relevant proposals are developed. On the basis of these, local authorities develop measures to reduce the level of social threats. An important task is to create a favorable environment for economic development of the territory. Self-employment, small businesses, infrastructure rehabilitation projects. These directions cannot be realized without increasing the social capital of Ukrainian society.
Igor KAMINNIK, chairman of the board of the NGO Dor Moria, emphasized the importance of solidarity action at the community level.
Solidarity is the key to the rapid restoration of social capital and the creation of a favorable environment for economic development. Therefore, all technologies and scientific tools developed by the Institute and CARE need to be adapted to modern realities.
Research projects
One of the tasks of the ERC meeting is to discuss a pilot project in the Odesa District of the Odesa Region. And this is not the first project. In December 2021-January 2022, the Institute, the Bureau, and Dor Moriah (Israel) implemented a research project. The Institute’s experts conducted a sociological survey about the community’s possible solidarity response to the social and economic consequences of the pandemic. The research was supported by the Odesa District Council of the Odesa Region.
According to the results of the study, we can conclude that the community has a fairly large potential for solidarity action. A united response to the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic could help in the rapid recovery of the territory.
Yuri YAMKOVOY, deputy director of the Odessa Branch of ASU, supported the idea of conducting a pilot project in the Odessa region.
He noted that the Odessa area includes different types of settlements. The city of Odessa with a population of millions, the cities of Chernomorsk and Yuzhny, urban-type settlements and villages are also located on the territory of the district. This allows us to pilot the Social Threat Identification Methodology for different types of territorial communities.
Expertise
The Association of Ukrainian Cities has the organizational and political resources to successfully implement the project. Of the 22 territorial communities in the Odessa region, 16 are members of the Association. The Odessa Branch of the ASU has considerable experience in implementing projects aimed at the socio-economic development of the region.
Agreements have been reached on political and organizational support for the future project. The leadership of the Odessa District Council, and the leaders of the settlements, understand the importance of the tasks set.
Representative of the BSPR Sergey MAURIN noted that the Bureau has many years of experience in the social sphere of Ukraine.
Experience in the development of social infrastructure, both at the state level and at the level of territorial communities.
The Bureau’s analytical team includes specialists in social policy, community development, small and medium-sized business development experts, and civil society specialists. The office has also been active in the Odessa region and has a track record in social community mobilization.
Meeting results and project perspectives
As a result of the discussion, the participants came to a number of decisions. The pilot project at the Odessa district level should include the following activities:
Adaptation of the Social Threat Identification Methodology for use by local authorities;
2. Development of recommendations on measures necessary to minimize and eliminate the identified social threats;
3. identifying possible solidarity actions by the community to preserve and increase social capital;
Training of community representatives and local authorities in the use of developed methodological materials;
5. Preparation of training videos on the use of the practices to disseminate the lessons learned.