Members of the Organizing Committee of the Civil Assembly of Ukraine (CAU) Oleksandr Novosad (Association of Young Political Scientists and Politicians, Lutsk) and Volodymyr Khanas (Adaptation Men's Center, Ternopil) delivered introductory reports on the topics of the round table. They presented to those present the main tasks of the CAU's activities and the three main blocks of issues for which the Emergency Civil Assembly of Ukraine is being convened, namely: 1.) the activity of the public sector in conditions of socio-economic crisis; 2.) strategic steps to overcome the political crisis; 3.) proactive activity of the public in conditions of crisis. The moderator of the event was the CAU regional coordinator in the Volyn region Mykhailo Shelep (Association of Young Reformers, Lutsk).
Participants of the round table expressed various opinions on the raised issues. Representatives of civil society spoke critically about the ability of government institutions to stabilize the situation in the country. Moreover, not only the various branches of government but also various political forces, regardless of their ruling or opposition status, appear incapable in this situation. Instead, as always in such situations, it is ordinary people who bear the brunt. Small and medium-sized businesses have been brought to the brink of disappearance. People are losing trust in any public institutions, losing trust in the existing political regime. According to the participants of the event: "The elites do not see us, do not hear us, do not understand us." Accordingly, the difficult economic situation, which in Ukrainian conditions has become intertwined with a long-standing political crisis, creates conditions of complete chaos and makes good ground for social rebellion. The political crisis, in turn, brings about a social crisis. The public sector is also in a deep crisis today. There is no movement forward, no development. That is why existing public organizations must conduct self-analysis and review the directions and forms of their activities. They must initiate a new wave of the public movement, develop principles of joint activity, and begin the search for new values of societal self-realization. And the most active and effective segments of society, such as entrepreneurs and young people, can help in this. Only in this way will it be possible to unite society and begin building a new country. In such conditions, new leaders and guides will also emerge, who will prove by deeds, not words, their right to be first. Ecology and landscaping, infrastructure projects, and education were proposed as possible directions for the public movement's activities. Among the strategic steps, the issue of reforming the government should be highlighted, in particular through the introduction by the Constitutional Assembly of amendments to the current Constitution of Ukraine and changes to the electoral system. More attention should also be paid to educating "citizens," that is, working toward raising the level of self-identification of Ukrainians. The Civil Assembly of Ukraine itself should be more effective and more actively promote and defend the interests of civil society before the authorities.
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In order to create national and regional platforms for discussion, consolidation and expression of positions of representatives of public organizations regarding the strategic problems of Ukrainian society, an initiative called the Civil Assembly of Ukraine has been working for three years in a row. The CAU is a platform that enables every representative of civil society to speak out on important, urgent issues that arise at every stage of the state's development. The planned CAU events are held with the purpose of developing and publicly discussing documents that should record the position of civil society. A series of CAU round tables will be held in all regions of Ukraine and will conclude with the holding in Kyiv of the Emergency Civil Assembly of Ukraine "Civil Society in Conditions of Crisis".
Organizers of the round table in the city of Lutsk: Volyn Regional Youth Public Organization "Association of Young Reformers (AMoRe)", Civic Movement OPORA and Volyn Regional Youth Public Organization "Association of Young Political Scientists and Politicians".