Our August focus for the café was on the importance of building local identity, and Taras REPYTSKYI shared how he and his team are creating a sense of community in the Sykhivskyi District of Lviv in Ukraine.
During the meeting, REPYTSKY shared how his neighborhood has changed in post-communist Ukraine and spoke of the importance of solution journalism and hyperlocal media, especially in the Sykhivskyi District, to combat the rise of fake news in Ukraine. He stressed using journalism as a tool to not only address issues but also to attempt to solve them.
Using Facebook, other social media, radio shows, and newspapers has allowed REPYTSKY and others like him to focus on building up the district so people are informed and can better the community. For his final words at the event, he said, “Discover your identity, who you are, and what you believe in. Share your identity and who you are. Take part in activities and try to help. We can do great things when we are open to opportunities.”
REPYTSKYI was a facilitator for an Open World delegation which visited Northwest Florida in September 2019 on a project examining legal aid for war veterans. The Open World Program enables Ukrainian, Russian, and Eurasian elected officials and emerging civic leaders to observe the American democratic system firsthand. The Open World Leadership Center is an arm of the U.S. Congress.
