Urban X Change Conference with the participation of Dr. Hanna Shvindina

On the 9^th of December, the Urban X Change Conference took place online, aimed at fostering transnational partnerships of adult education facilities from the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the USA.

The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and makes a significant contribution to international diplomacy between towns and cities and to “foreign policy between societies”. The cooperation activities are in support of international exchange and enhance societies’ resilience, especially in times of increasing social challenges, crises, and war. More about it you may find at www.urbanxchange-network.org

The Conference was opened with welcoming remarks of Christoph Jost, Director of DVV International, and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the President of Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband e.V. (DVV). The keynote speaker, Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, German-American political scientist, the director and CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations from June 2021 to February 2022, the representative of the Bertelsmann Foundation (Germany) shared her vision in Urban Diplomacy, the main challenges, and perspectives in future.

Then the panel discussion was opened with a speech by Dr. Ingrid Schöll, Director of Bonn Adult Education Centre, who shared her thoughts on challenges for adult education, democracy, and inclusive urban society. The panelists contributed their understandings of a new era of urban diplomacy, urban development, and lifelong learning. Among the panelists, we should mention Professor Dr. Hanna Shvindina (CEO of Lifelong Learning Center, City of Sumy, Ukraine), Helen Chicot (City of Rochdale Government, United Kingdom), Dr. Ingrid Schöll (vhs Bonn, Germany), Dr. Moritz Pieper (Federal Foreign Office, Germany). The discussion was vivid and full of insights. This Conference attracted more than 50 participants from different countries and became one of the brightest events of the project.