This year, it was the eighth time that the forum Energy of Change was held in Ukraine. The event took place on November 15–17 in Vinnytsia and gathered 103 climate activists.
The program was divided into three thematic parts, with each having its own designated day during the forum.
Day 1 / Introduction
The forum started with experienced climate movement participants getting acquainted with new activists, who have joined the movement in the past year: initiators of climate strikes Fridays for Future in Ukraine, private individuals, organizations and initiatives. After that, Vira Balabukh, PhD in Geography, Chair of Applied Meteorology and Climatology Department of Ukrainian Science and Research Hydrometeorological Institute, spoke about regional manifestations of the global climate change in Ukraine. The first “Solutions Shop: Current Ukrainian Projects and Campaigns to Fight against Climate Change” took place as well. The first day ended in a practical session of climate movement mapping, which helped to single out the top priorities, share experience and strengthen the ability of climate movement participants to work on climate issues together.
Day 2 / Interpreting the Trends
On the second day of the forum, the participants reviewed the best self-organisation practices and the most prominent climate campaigns: strikes, rallies, the activity of domestic and international movements, and assessed the efficiency of such forms of activism in Ukraine in 2020.
Svitlana Romanko, Managing Director of 350.org in the EECCA region, shared how one could join international movements to be heard and influential on the national level.
Oksana Alieva, coordinator of the Climate Change and Energy Policy program in Heinrich Boell Foundation, Kyiv Office — Ukraine, spoke about climate justice and the opportunities for its implementation in city climate strategies; about cooperation with the authorities and civil society organizations from other sectors. In future, it will promote the development and implementation of such strategies with regard to the notion of climate justice as an ethical and political issue.
In the evening, everyone interested could join a climate urban tour of Vinnytsia, a city which is a leader and a remarkable example in terms of public transportation, energy efficient street lighting, development of public green areas. At the tour, local activists working on waste issues and the urban community had a chance to meet like-minded people from other cities.
A useful element of the agenda was “barcamp”: a format where the participants themselves formed the agenda, selected an important environmental or climate-related subject and worked on it in groups of up to 10 people. This way, 9 subjects were covered in three rounds.
The program was successfully accompanied by informal activities, such as Fuckup Night, where the participants shared their failures in project organization so that others would analyse it and avoid similar mistakes in future.
Day 3 / Planning
The participants of Energy of Change presented their own ideas and initiatives, developed new joint ideas for projects and partnerships for 2020.
Here are some important sessions which supported the activists:
— anti-burnout practices from project author of Activism Inside;
— ways to protect activists with the participation of Amnesty International Ukraine assistant;
— solidarity in the movement and the importance of coordinated work, by a representative of Ukrainian Climate Network.
The forum was a great opportunity for people to meet each other, participants and speakers alike, find organisations or initiatives for future cooperation in the sphere of climate change and energy.
It has already been decided that Energy of Change 2020 will take place on October 9—11. The following locations are being considered for the event: Chortkiv (Ternopil oblast), Zhytomyr, Mykolaiiv.
Energy of Change was organised by Ukrainian Youth Climate Association (UYCA) with the support of Heinrich Boell Foundation, Kyiv Office — Ukraine, and the international movement 350.org — Ukraine.
