First episode of new IEP podcast UkraineMEMO released
Here you can access episode #1 of our new podcast UkraineMEMO with the title “Between independent research and taking a political stance – Challenges for Ukrainian and German think tanks” – We hope you will enjoy listening!
You can find UkraineMEMO on:
The first episode of UkraineMEMO deals, in a comparative German-Ukrainian perspective, with a special group of civil society actors: think tanks. The episode seeks to answer the following questions: What are think tanks and how exactly do they influence the political decision-making process in Germany and Ukraine? What are the challenges that Ukrainian think tanks as representatives of organized civil society face – and how could Germany support think tanks in Ukraine more effectively? To get these questions answered, we listen to Dr Katrin Böttger, Yuriy Yakymenko and Serhiy Shapovalov.
Dr Katrin Böttger is one of the two directors of the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP). She explains the specific German understanding of think tanks and how the German think tank landscape has developed – also in comparison to other European countries.
Yuriy Yakymenko is the president of a leading think tank from Kyiv: The Razumkov Centre. He provides insights on the structural challenges that Ukrainian think tanks are facing and how they support Ukrainian policymakers in formulating draft legislation.
In our conversation with Serhiy Shapovalov, who works as a political analyst at the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) in Kyiv, the relationship between think tanks and politics in general will be examined. At this point, we also learn more about the mode of cooperation between think tanks and the current government.
The podcast is moderated by IEP project managers Ljudmyla Melnyk and Marie-Thérèse Schreiber.
In the scope of its new podcast series UkraineMEMO: Interviews, Analysis, Policy Advice, the IEP presents new perspectives on Ukraine, the most populous and largest country in terms of territory within the Eastern Partnership, which is undergoing profound social change, especially since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.
IEP project managers Ljudmyla Melnyk and Marie-Thérèse Schreiber will discuss new developments in the fields of Ukrainian politics, economy and society with expert guests from Germany and Ukraine, thus providing an insight into local events that move the country. Ukraine’s relations with Germany and Europe will be kept in mind at all times.
The Podcast is a part of the Project German Ukrainian Researchers Network (GURN). GURN aims at establishing a German-Ukrainian research network for junior and senior researchers and their organisations, strengthening country expertise and promoting joint cooperation projects. GURN is conducted in close cooperation with the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF, Kyiv), the think tank development and research initiative think twice UA (Kyiv), the New Europe Center (NEC, Kyiv) and is kindly supported by the Federal Foreign Office.
