University of Edinburgh Business School in partnership with John Smith Trust brought together 20 Ukrainian women displaced in Scotland, due to unprovoked war for 4 days of the leadership programme. The programme was led by a team of academics and practitioners with expertise in strategy, conflict resolution, communications, and leadership.
The programme aimed to provide practical tools drawing from international examples including Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Balkans. Participants visited Scottish Parliament, observed FM Questionnaire session, and met Cabinet Secretary of Social Justice.
The participants came from across all Scotland – Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgo, Dumfries, Ayr, Lancaster, Coatbridge etc and 2 from England (Kent, London).
Current cohort also represented the whole Ukraine – Crimea, Donetsk, Dnipro, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Bucha, Mukachevo and other cities.
Back in Ukraine participants were working at education, health, culture, local government, media and business, private and public sector. Among them there was a doctor, lawyer, chief editor, art curator and artist, constructor, founder of children’s centre, teacher, researcher and academic.
Here in Scotland, they hold different positions, mostly working in city councils with refugees and resettlement teams, but also military linguists and interpreters, teachers at Ukrainian schools, helping and encouraging Ukrainians at local communities and volunteering. Four participants are represented at Cross-party group on Ukraine with MSPs from NSP, Labour, Conservative and LibDems.
The Trust collected valuable feedback, suggestions and reflection from participants. Based on this, the suggested next step is the creation of the Scotland-Ukraine Reconstruction and Recovery Fellowship Programme, which will connect Ukrainian women refugees in Scotland with leaders in Ukraine. This programme will focus on critical areas for Ukraine’s post-war recovery, including sustainable energy, trauma-informed approaches, and local governance, facilitating collaboration and the exchange of expertise between the two countries.