Dialogue for Understanding e.V.

16/10/2026

How can educational professionals remain capable of acting under continuous pressure, stabilize crisis situations, and provide trauma-informed support to displaced Ukrainian children and youth?

Dialogue for Understanding e. V., the Sozialpädagogisches Fortbildungsinstitut Berlin-Brandenburg (SFBB), and the Agency for Educational Policy Development invite you to the International Specialist Conference 2026: Trauma-informed Work in Schools and Youth (Social) Work in the Context of War and Displacement.

Event Details:
📅 Date & Time: December 1, 2026 | 09:00 – 17:00
📍 Location: Sozialpädagogisches Fortbildungsinstitut Berlin-Brandenburg (SFBB), Königstraße 36B, 14109 Berlin
🗣️ Languages: German and Ukrainian with simultaneous translation
🎟️ Admission: Free of charge (registration required)
⏳ Registration Deadline: November 17, 2026

Register now!
https://kurzlinks.de/KonferenzTrauma

This conference is supported by the SFBB, Eberhard-Schöck-Stiftung, Memorial, and the Kinder- und Jugendplan des Bundes (BMFSFJ).

13/10/2026

In partnership with the Civic Initiatives Support Center and the Institute for Human Rights, Dialogue for Understanding e.V. hosted a side event in the framework of the Warsaw Human Dimension OSCE Conference, focusing on Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue, reconciliation and the role of civil society in building sustainable peace.

The event brought together civil society representatives and experts to exchange perspectives on recent developments in the region, the opportunities and challenges of the peace process, and the importance of dialogue and confidence-building between Armenian and Azerbaijani societies.

While political agreements are important steps towards peace, lasting reconciliation also requires trust, mutual understanding and continued engagement at the societal level.

The discussion highlighted the importance of strengthening cross-border civil society cooperation, creating opportunities for constructive exchange and keeping channels of communication open.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us and contributed to the discussion!

09/10/2026

Students in Kharkiv collectively refused to interview anyone for an oral history course, and the course was cancelled. Researcher Svitlana Telukha (Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa - GWZO) calls it a finding, not a failure: they could watch testimony in class, but not yet sit across from a stranger and listen. Her conclusion: interview assignments need an opt-out and alternatives.

🎓 At - organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde at the Freie Universität Berlin - we joined four sessions. Dr. Mykola Makhortykh (University of Bern) showed that AI models answer questions about WWII crimes in Ukraine differently in English, Ukrainian and Russian; in a 2023 audit, none exceeded 50% agreement with experts. Tetiana Lukeria found that in three Ukrainian municipalities, trust in local government correlates most strongly with social cohesion, and residents experience informal participation as more real than formal hearings. Dr. Tetyana Panchenko interviewed 25 Ukrainian activists, 23 of them in Germany. Many who arrived after 2022 reject the label “diaspora”.

For our work this means three things. Since 2023 we have trained more than 270 Ukrainian educators in trauma-informed pedagogy, with support from the Auswärtiges Amt and the Eberhard-Schöck-Stiftung, and Kharkiv is a reminder to plan for listening as carefully as for telling. The same goes for remembrance formats like our previous project Moving Memories (funded by EVZ Foundation). In municipal partnerships like She Can (funded by Auswärtiges Amt and Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend), the findings favour informal formats and several communication channels.

07/10/2026

🇪🇺 We joined the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and LibMod - Zentrum Liberale Moderne conference on EU enlargement in Berlin on October 5. One number from the Armenia discussion stayed with us: in 2017, over 90% of Armenians saw Russia as their key ally. By February 2026, under 45%.

🇺🇦 Liubov Akulenko of the Ukrainian Centre for European Policy said Ukraine has already received most of what gradual integration can offer. More single market access is unlikely without full membership. 🇦🇲 For Armenia, the next pressure point is the gas price talks with Russia in December 2026.

What we took away: gradual integration only works if visible reforms lead to real political outcomes. That same credibility also shrinks the space for disinformation. These are the reasons we are planning new projects in both countries to mitigate these problems from a civil society perspective. Stay tuned! 💪

06/10/2026

🤝 In Wrocław, professionals from Germany and Ukraine spent five days working on joint youth projects. We were there.

📍 The seminar "Shaping the Future Together" by Stiftung Juve brought together people from formal and non-formal education, NGOs and youth work. It started online in June with first project ideas and working groups. In Wrocław we worked on methods for sustainable youth encounters and on how to fund them. We are thankful to Stiftung Juve for this opportunity.

We brought an early idea: adapting the trauma-sensitive methods we developed with German and Ukrainian partners into a pilot for students and youth work multipliers. We also came home with new contacts at Ukrainian organisations looking for German partners. The open question is how to finance young Ukrainians' travel to Germany.

How does your organisation fund international youth exchanges?

16/09/2026

Russia's Ministry of Justice has designated Dialogue for Understanding e.V. (D4U) an "undesirable organisation" — we found out from independent media, not from Russian authorities.

The designation is explicitly linked, in that reporting, to our work supporting Ukrainians and to projects on the consequences of war and repression. For Russian citizens, the risks are serious and extraterritorial: cooperating with D4U, or even sharing our content, is now a criminal offence. We understand and respect anyone who chooses to distance themselves for their own safety.

None of this changes our work. We continue standing with Ukraine and with independent, democratic voices across the region — in Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and exile communities across Europe.

The full statement on our website in German.

Stellungnahme von Dialogue for Understanding e. V. (D4U) zur Einstufung als „unerwünschte Organisation“ in der Russischen Föderation

15/09/2026

Last Thursday evening we opened "Stone Embroidery – Resilience and Cultural Memory" at Lite-haus Galerie + Projektraum, curated by Marta Pogorila - the closing event of our heritage project with Молоді Ініціативні. 🧵

Thank you to everyone who came by and talked with us about the concrete "Stone Vyshyvanka" replicas from Nova Kakhovka.

Haven't seen it yet? The exhibition runs through 26 September at LiTE-HAUS (Mareschstraße 4, 12055 Berlin). 📍

The project is implemented within the framework of the CCP Synergy Program, funded by Ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, in cooperation with Молоді Ініціативні.

14/09/2026

Five EU-Labs by the end of the year, fifteen more in 2027: our teams are moving into the next phase of the programme. 📋

In an online meeting with our trainers Ganna Skytova, Karolina Svyryda, and Mariia Hrynova, participants shared updates from their communities: the second Youth Forum under the "Youth House" initiative is already running, with more activities in preparation. Because of air-raid alerts and infrastructure damage, everything now happens in youth centres or properly equipped shelters. Teams are also sharing tools of their own, like a "Democratic Pie" game. 🎲

Starting in October, we are organizing biweekly Thursday sessions to bring in outside voices from Germany and Ukraine to speak on decentralisation, EU integration and youth policy. 🇺🇦

Stay tuned!

The project "She Can – Women for Ukraine Democratic and European Path" is implemented in cooperation with 3.5 відсотків and Обʼєднання «Агенція розвитку освітньої політики, with generous support from the Auswärtiges Amt and the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend.

#ВонаМоже

09/09/2026

Tomorrow, 6-9pm: we open "Stone Embroidery - Resilience and Cultural Memory" at Lite-haus Galerie + Projektraum (Mareschstraße 4, 12055 Berlin), curated by Marta Pogorila. 🧵

It's the closing event of our heritage project with Molodi Initsiatyvni (Young Initiatives). In June, our participants worked with Ielizaveta Ievseieva and Marta Pogorila to cast and decorate concrete replicas of the "Stone Vyshyvankas" of Nova Kakhovka, ornaments the Ukrainian artist Hryhorii Dovzhenko carved into the city's facades in the 1950s.

Nova Kakhovka is under occupation now, and the Kakhovka Dam's destruction has put that heritage at acute risk. The pieces go on show in Berlin from tomorrow through 26 September. 📍

If you're in Berlin, come by.

The project is implemented within the framework of the CCP Synergy Program, funded by Ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, in cooperation with Молоді Ініціативні.

​LiTE-HAUS presents "Stone Embroidery – Resilience and Cultural Memory". The exhibition is the result of a workshop exploring Ukrainian cultural motifs.