Institute for Global Sustainable Development » IGSD News (tag [Ukraine])

Parliamentary Round-table on Supporting Ukrainian refugees: disability, welfare, employment and settlement

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:06:14 GMT

Delighted to have been invited by Professor Robin Goodwin to be part of the parliamentary roundtable: Supporting disabled Ukrainians in the UK. The panel is sponsored by Matt Western MP and focuses on the key challenges that the Ukrainians face in times of war, including disability, housing, welfare & employment, mental health, and settlement. Both Robin and Olena Orlova reported on the results of their project (policy brief) and discussed future plans.

While being closely involved in research and support of Ukrainians and Belarusians, my heart always bleeds every time when I hear about the pain and problems these courageous and tenacious peoples face. At the same time, I know that justice will prevail, although pain and trauma will linger for decades on, and that's why we need to be ready to offer even more help and support as Prof Robin Goodwin reports.

#Ukrainians #war #trauma #Disability #militaryveterans #community #Support

LSE Hosted Book Launch Exploring Resilience and Community in Central Eurasia

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:52:00 GMT

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Department of International Relations, in collaboration with the European Foreign Policy Unit, hosted Professor Elena Korosteleva’s latest book launch, Complexity and Community in International Relations: Nurturing Resilience in Central Eurasia.

The event centered on Professor Korosteleva’s innovative research, which challenges traditional "top-down" policy approaches to resilience. By examining communities across Belarus, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, the book revealed how social memory, centuries-old traditions, and deep-rooted cultural ideas serve as vital lifelines in the face of poverty, climate emergencies, and the ravages of war. "Rather than treating resilience as a mere policy tool, this study reframes it as a complex, communal process of identity and political agency," says Korosteleva. "It offers a lesson for all social and political actors globally as we navigate the uncertainties of the Anthropocene."

The panel was chaired by Prof. Federica Bicchi (LSE) and discussants included:

David Chandler: Professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster and Editor of the journal Anthropocenes.
Emilian Kavalski: Professor of International Relations at Tampere University, Finland
Teona Giuashvili: DINAM Fellow at the LSE Department of International Relations and former Georgian diplomat.

The discussion was recorded as a podcast, and the link will be available shortly for further information.

Belarus: Five Years On - special forum, preprint

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 11:39:00 GMT

Happy to report a preprint of my article 'Belarus: Five Years On' in the US Journal of Democratizatsiya - The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratisation, Special Forum with a focus on #Belarus then and now. I discuss whether the uprising of 2020 was just another short-lived revolt or if it marked the moment of irreversible #change in the history of #Belarus, which I call elsewhere a moment of people-forming (peoplehood). Belarus' active #civil #society demonstrates incredible #creativity in designing its own alternative futures, and this process is unstoppable.

Carnegie Europe debate about Europe's engagement with Belarus hosts top-level experts

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:47:52 GMT

Carnegie Europe organised a higher-level discussion on the need for Europe to re-engage with Belarus. 10 experts, ranging from former Ambassadors, heads of think-tanks, and scholars, were invited to respond in 200 words to the question of engagement, and while there were nuances in responses, the general gist was a 'no' to engaging with dictators. This is reassuring, especially on the eve of the 4th anniversary of Russia's war against Ukraine: putting more pressure on dictators and being strategic in supporting opposition is the only way forward, as was argued by Professor Korosteleva.

Professor Korosteleva gives a keynote on Resilience in Berlin

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:49:44 GMT

I was delighted to give a keynote on my OUP book 'Complexity and Community in IR: Nurturing Resilience in Central Eurasia' to the KIU Competence Network of Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies, at Frankfurt (Order) in Berlin. While introducing some key concepts from the book - the VUCA-world, the Anthropocene, complexity-thinking and resilience - I drew a lot on my empirical work in the region, especially on Ukraine and Belarus, which was of interest and relevance to the PhD students (mostly from Ukraine) of this EU-funded network.

Thank you to Susann Worschecn, a Principle Coordinator of the network, for the invitation, and to the students- for so many questions you all had about resilience, Ukraine and the wider region.

Horizon Europe SHAPEDEM-EU Final Review with the European Commission

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 10:46:00 GMT

The Horizon Europe SHAPEDEM project concludes with its final review conference on 20 January 2026, with the European Commission. The consortium, comprising 12 partners from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Lebanon, Poland, Spain, Ukraine, and the UK, represented by the University of Warwick, presented its work to the panel of evaluators. The project focused on assessing the understanding and practices of democracy in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods, as well as the EU support for democracy as a composite stakeholder. Warwick was responsible for undertaking work - fieldwork and analysis - in the six countries in the eastern neighbourhood (WP2), drawing on the results of online surveys, focus groups, interviews, and roundtables. WP2 specific outputs included 8 published, submited and projected publications.

It has been three challenging years of research, including overcoming the obstacles of BREXIT, Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, Belarus civil war, Gaza war, and increasing geopolitical complexity around the globe. Yet, the project went beyond all expectations and has achieved a lot, including critiquing and offering specific recommendations to the EU on how best to support democracy efforts in around the globe. Team Warwick – including Anastasiia Kudlenko and Aijan Sharshenova – is grateful to the EU, UKRI and especially to the consortium and its leadership – for the support, and inspiration. Thank you!

Professor Korosteleva was invited to speak at the LSE roundtable on the future of Europe, 10 December 2025

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:42:30 GMT

Professor Korosteleva was invited to speak at the LSE roundtable, organised by Prof. Federica Bicchi, on the future of Europe and European Foreign Policy, together Christopher Hill (LSE) and Jan Orbie (Ghent). They addressed the issues of the US's new security strategy, Russia's war in Ukraine, and Europe's place in the changing global order architecture, following the crisis of the Liberal International Order. The discussion also involved PhD and Master's students, from LSE and King's.

Professor Korosteleva participated in roundtable discussions in Parliament, 10 December

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:38:23 GMT

Professor Korosteleva was invited to private conversations with John Smith Trust Fellows in Parliament, followed by a roundtable to discuss the future of Belarus and the UK Strategy, organised conjointly by Belarus APPG and JST Foundation. It involved members of parliament, government, various think-tanks, NGOs and 10 JST fellows from Belarus, as future leaders of the programme.

Professor Korosteleva was invited to give a keynote, and contribute to an ECR session at the Lithuanian Annual Conference on Resilience, Vilnius 3-5 December 2025

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 09:00:00 GMT

Professor Korosteleva was invited to give a keynote at the Lithuanian Annual Conference on Resilience, at Vilnius University, School of International Relations on 3-5 December 2025. She based her presentation on her newly published book 'Complexity and Community in IR: Nurturing Resilience in Central Eurasia', in which she highlighted the role of communities in making alternative futures possible. Professor Korosteleva was also invited to contribute to a workshop with ECRs, along with Prof. Anders Wivel, Copenhagen University. For more info see here.

Final conference 'Turning Point: Realising a Sustainable Security Architecture for Europe', 26 nov 2025

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 18:01:00 GMT

On 26 November 2025 I attended the final conference 'Turning Point: Realising a sustainable security architecture for Europe', organised by Dr Gry Thomasen (PI) from BASIC | The British American Security Information Council in Vienna. The project explored the need to rethink the security architecture in light of the geopolitical challenges, the crisis of the rule-based order, and climate change. I was honoured to be on the International Advisory Board for this project, to share my thinking about the multi-order world, and to contribute feedback to the final report.

The conference also touched upon the future of transatlantic security, and the implications of Putin's war Ukraine for the International Liberal Order. The final discussion brought many experts, and senior Foreign Ministry and MOD officials from the UK, Denmark, Ukraine, Holland, Lithuania, Latvia and Norway. I am thankful to Gry Thomasen for this opportunity and look forward to continuing our work in the direction of comprehensive security and resilience! For reference, please check out my new book on Resilience here.