PAIC-Workshop in Lviv with representatives of Ukrainian think tanks on the topic „Professional Scientific Standards and Policy Analysis“
On 21 and 22 September 2017 we conducted its first workshop within the framework of the project “Platform for Analytics and Intercultural Communication” (PAIC) for representatives of Ukrainian think tanks focusing on “Professional scientific standards and Policy Analysis” in Lviv.
The 16 participants work for think tanks which are located both in Kyiv and in the regions and are active in the fields of social policies, domestic and foreign affairs. Under guidance of research associate Ljudmyla Melnyk from IEP and Oksana Huss, research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI Essen) and co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRnetwork), as well as Andrii Sukharyna, political analyst at Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, the workshop aimed to extend and deepen competences in the fields of policy analysis and intercultural communication.
The two-day workshop began by providing an introduction into the topic of academic writing and a session on research and policy analysis to train the framing of research questions and concepts. The second theoretical unit dealt with methodological approaches and the basic principles of research ethics.
The participants showed a particular interest in the practical parts of the day which included workshops on the critical discussion of research publications and their presentation. A deepening of these topics – especially of the structure of argumentation – is envisaged for the follow-up workshop.
The second day of the workshop was dedicated partly to the training of content and structure of policy papers as well as scientific argumentation and evidence. The identification of target audiences for the purpose of advocacy was also addressed. The main focus of the second day was on the preparation and communication of the think tanks’ work. In this context, Ljudmyla Melnyk presented the study “Think Tanks in Germany and Ukraine: Differences and Perspectives for Cooperation” on the basis of which professional and effective communication with foreign target audiences was illustrated. Particularly the specific conventions in communication revealed significant differences in the respective approaches of Ukrainian and German organizations. The evident learning potential was also of interest to the participants and will be addressed and further pursued in a follow-up workshop later this year.
The workshop took place within the framework of the project “Platform for Analytics and Intercultural Communication” (PAIC) which is conducted by the Institute for European Politics e. V. (IEP, Berlin), in cooperation with the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF, Kiev), the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF, Kiev) and the think tank initiative „think twice UA“ (Kiev), supported by the Federal foreign office of Germany in 2017–2018.