On April 1, 2022, professors of IFES’ university level civic education course, Democracy: From Theory to Practice, established the Civic Educators Association (CEA). CEA educators represent a network of civic education champions who offer modern, interactive civic education to thousands of students across 46 universities in Ukraine and growing. These educators have united with a mission to improve the quality of education throughout Ukraine while fostering democratic values amongst youth.

“Since the war started, we had to adjust our initial plans,” said CEA Chairman. “First and foremost, we want to focus on trainings for educators who teach during the war. We also want to find out challenges and needs of Ukrainian higher education in wartime. And, we would like to develop recommendations for universities and educators. Finally, our urgent task is to help colleagues who were at the epicenter of the war in Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Mykolayiv.”

CEA members believe that civic education is a driver for more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable democracies. They are convinced that the need and demand for civic education will only increase following Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion.

“Civic education is needed to teach young people to be human,” said one of the co-founders and a professor from Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. “Humanity, humanism, justice are not metaphors – they are achievable ideals for civic education, and are an essential counterbalance to savagery and atrocities that continue to find space in the world.”