Mariia Levchenko’s research deals with the instrument of national peace dialogues from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. During the research colloquium, she first discussed the theoretical and methodological framekworkv of national peace dialogues in the light of the relevant literature.

She then went into detail about her case study of the national peace dialog in Chad. This took place in the summer of 2022 and had more than 1,200 participants. Mariia collected data from around 150 participants in this dialogue, which also involved Qatar, the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations as international actors. This dialogue did not lead to the hoped-for success. Mariia drew a mixed conclusion, citing the lack of inclusivity and the lack of representation of marginalized groups as problems.

At the end, she addressed another aspect of her research. Her aim is to transfer the lessons learned from Chad to the case study of Ukraine. Even if the framework conditions and contexts are completely different, certain aspects can still be transferred. Mariia gave an insight into the workshops she organizes on this topic in Ukraine. She works there with focus groups of around 20 people who are trying to transfer the lessons from Chad to Ukraine. Contrary to what is often reported in the media, Ukraine is a very polarized country in social terms, which poses a major challenge for the initiation of such dialogues. 

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