Establishment and Organization of the Chernivtsi Expert Group on Conflict Prevention

January – December 2019

On January 16, 2019, at the initiative of the Charitable Foundation "Public Resources and Initiatives" and with the support of the Western European Network of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts (GPPAC), an expert group on conflict prevention was established in Chernivtsi. The group included specialists and experts from various fields of social relations. Later, four additional members were co-opted into the group.

The expert group identified key conflict-generating factors in the region and developed measures to minimize them.

An analysis of evaluation criteria for the status and development of ethnonational minorities in different countries was conducted, along with the identification of potential conflict manifestations in the region. Special attention was given to historical and ethnic resentment and the possibilities of developing a special project in this area.

The group also worked on developing measures to counteract disinformation and the spread of fake news in the Ukrainian-Romanian-Moldovan border region.

Meetings were held with experts from various fields where potential conflicts could arise, along with individual discussions with leaders of potentially conflict-prone groups.

A special place in the treatment of collective memory was occupied by the photo exhibition "Simple Faces of a Complex History," organized by the Charitable Foundation "Public Resources and Initiatives." The exhibition was presented in Chernivtsi, Bucharest, and Derventa (Constanța County).

In 2019, the exhibition was showcased in several locations:

• May – in Odesa as part of the joint meeting of the Steering Group of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts (GPPAC) and the Eastern European Regional Network of GPPAC;
• June – in Chernivtsi within the framework of the International Scientific Colloquium "Bukovina and Bukovinians in the 20th Century: Identities and Alterities."
• May 2019 – in the Mahala and Ostritsa United Territorial Communities (UTCs), featuring local heroes of their respective communities.

The expert group developed conflict prevention measures for 2020.