The struggle for change and a democratic Ukraine

8 March 2022. Hanna Ryzhenko arrives in Kalmar as a refugee from Kyiv. Russia has just invaded Ukraine and everything is chaos.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to leave my husband, friends and job. But it became too dangerous to stay, especially for our daughter and our little son.”

For Hanna, Sweden has always been a symbol of dignity, equality and trust. She settles in, studies Swedish, makes friends, and watches her children be influenced by Swedish society. Yet the longing to reunite her family grows too strong, and in the autumn of 2023 she returns to Ukraine – with a deep desire to bring Swedish values and experiences back with her.

“Ukraine is fighting not only for its territory but also for values such as dignity, freedom, and human rights. The project helps to strengthen these values through education and provides people with tools to build a democratic culture”, says Hanna Ryzhenko.

Dual challenges for Ukraine

At the same time as Hanna leaves Sweden, Linnaeus University is seeking Ukrainians for a project on entrepreneurship. She gets in touch with Jan Aidemark, associate professor of informatics, and Daniel Silander and Martin Nilsson, associate professors of political science. Her ideas and knowledge of Ukrainian needs lead to Education for Democratic Citizenship, a two-year project now being carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science in Kyiv.

Because in addition to the Russian invasion, Ukraine faces another challenge: the country lacks a democratic tradition. Ukrainians lived under Soviet and communist rule for a long time and did not become independent until 1991.

“Today’s Ukraine can be seen as a hybrid regime. It has one leg in democratic institutions, norms and values, and the other still in fairly authoritarian traditions. This is where our training comes in – to help nurture a democratic culture in a country that hasn’t had one before. This might be the most important project I’ve ever done!” says Daniel.

His commitment stems from the fact that he has always been interested in society and how it works. To understand, to be able to explain, and to bring about change.

“We in academia have the luxury of not having so many structures that hold us back, unlike vulnerable minority groups in the world. That makes me feel both an obligation and an opportunity to explain, to show what is happening – but also to try to make a difference!”

Daniel Silander

Associate professor of political science

Daniel Silander conducts research on autocratisation and democratisation, international security, and the EU’s neighbourhood policy. He leads Linnaeus University’s research group on European Studies.

FUNDS GRANTED SINCE 2021

SEK 4.0 million
Funders: Swedish Institute, Sida, Crafoord Foundation

What does it take to build democracy?

The training is based on three questions: What is required to build functioning, open and democratic institutions in a country such as Ukraine? What is required to build a democratic civil society – what rights and obligations need to exist? And what is required for the EU to one day accept Ukraine as a member state?

“When we spoke with the ministry, it became clear that there’s strong interest in Ukraine in becoming an EU member. It’s a guarantee that the country leaves Russia behind and becomes a modern European state.”

The course comprises 80 hours: one week on site – in Kraków, Poland, for security reasons – followed by 40 hours of distance learning where participants work on projects within their own organisations. It is delivered in four rounds. The first, in August, included teachers, researchers, heads of department, deans and internationalisation officers from universities across Ukraine.

“The second group will be local politicians, the third the ministry itself, and the final one representatives from civil society – national organisations working with human rights, gender equality, anti-corruption and democracy.”

Daniel and his colleagues begin the course by presenting an overview of the general challenges faced by countries where democracy is not yet deeply rooted. They review research in the field and have the participants apply it to Ukraine, using their own issues and contexts as a basis.

“They highlight fairly classic democratic problems: corruption, low trust between citizens and elected representatives, lack of transparency, sometimes centralisation of power and attempts at censorship.”

Influenced by both West and East

Ukraine is not as homogeneous as one might assume; it is influenced by both West and East, and some topics can be sensitive. That political science research shows that Ukrainian culture and values are close to Russian ones made some university representatives upset. At the same time, there was a lively debate about academic freedom and the role of universities in promoting democratic norms and values in society.

The training also involves political scientists from University of Murcia in Spain, lawyers from Jagiellonian University in Poland, and Ukrainian teachers and researchers from, among others, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Daniel believes the latter is important to avoid discussions about Western influence.

“It’s also significant that we have two Polish lawyers involved. Poland, too, was influenced by the Soviet Union but has undergone a democratisation process and become an EU member.”

Hope for the future

Hanna remains in Kyiv but is also an affiliated researcher at Linnaeus University. For her, this is a deeply personal project – combining her background as a psychologist and educator with her desire to support Ukraine’s democratic transformation. It gives hope that genuine change can be achieved through shared knowledge and mutual respect.

“I hope the course will create a network of teachers and leaders in society who understand democracy, not as theory, but as a way of living and making decisions together.”

Education for Democratic Citizenship is funded by the Swedish Institute and runs from 2025 to 2026. It began as a pilot project within the European collaboration EUniWell, where Linnaeus University and Taras Shevchenko are two of twelve member universities. The researchers now hope to extend it.

“We want to expand this project to reach students and Ukrainian society at large, and perhaps also develop a digital platform for the training,” says Daniel.

For his own part, there’s really only one thing that bothers him.

“I’ve actually never been to Ukraine. And that feels awful. But visiting is right at the top of my to-do list!”