8 episodes and 300 minutes of interviews with opinion leaders and agents of change who do something important and positive every single day across Ukraine – this was the third season of the project “Talking About CSO Reforms Over a Cup of Coffee”.

As part of this project, we recorded interviews with the speakers – representatives of the public sector, media and education – who spoke about the content, victories and successes of civil society. The purpose of such lectures is to inspire public activists and show the examples of successful change. These videos were viewed by 3733 people.

You can view recordings of all interviews on the Legal Reforms Roadmap for Civil Society page. The lectures of the speakers focused on various topics: from motivation to local budget control.

Tetiana Pechonchyk, ZMINA Head. Human Rights Center: “Every government is tempted to restrict freedom, to do wrong things to the extent that society allows it. That is why we need to focus on institutional safeguards, even if it is very toxic to talk about negative legislation.” (See the interview at the link)

Iryna Chulivska, Head of the Digital Security Laboratory: “There is no reason to be afraid of change, it is irreversible. If we resist change, we are not doing ourselves any good. We need to follow the changes, join them and be a part of them.” (See the interview at the link)

Aliona Bereza, Co-Chair of the Khmelnytskyi Region Reform Council: “If you are having some difficulty, you will find people around you who don’t let you fall out of the process, reminding you what else we have to do. Reboot, inhale, exhale…”. (See the interview at the link)

Volodymyr Noskov, journalist of the Ukrainian Radio: “I am supported and inspired by people who have a spine, who are fighters and who are motivated.” (See the interview at the link)

Anastasiia Bobrova, CEDOS analyst: “I advise employees to read our study on housing policy, and activists on leisure and cultural needs of urban youth in Ukraine.” (See the interview at the link)

Oksana Nesterenko, Executive Director of the NaUKMA Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre: “To make your city more open, you should go to sessions, file information requests, control the local budget, and challenge public procurement if you see something is wrong.” (See the interview at the link)

Andrii Tkachov, senior lieutenant of the National Police, lecturer at the Patrol Police Academy: “It is necessary to deal with internal team spirit, the less collaborationists there are, the more chances there are that no enemy will be able to do anything with Crimea, Donbas or Ukraine in general. The people must be united.” (See the interview at the link)

Alona Romaniuk, Editor-in-Chief of “On the Other Side of the News”: “We need to learn to tell the truth in simple language, because it is in simple language that the sources of fakes and propaganda speak. Later you will explain, but first, talk to people in as simple terms as possible.” (See the interview at the link)

The event “Talking About CSO Reforms Over a Cup of Coffee” is held as part of the Project Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity implemented by the Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia” in partnership with the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM) with the sincere support of the American people through United States Agency for International Development.