From Exhaustion to Action: How Communities, Veterans, and Digital Leaders Are Shaping a Culture of Resilience
Don’t wait – create solutions now. This is the mindset of the participants in the National dialogue for Action “Life at the Edge of Resilience“, hosted by the public organisation Impact Force in Kyiv. From digital hygiene and mental recovery techniques to fostering individual and collective stress resilience, the event focused on what is already working and how it can be scaled.
On 3 June 2025, Kyiv hosted the National dialogue for Action “Life at the Edge of Resilience”, organised by the public organisation Impact Force. The event brought together professionals working in communities, government institutions, international organisations, and veteran initiatives – those who support others daily in the reality of chronic stress, high tension, and uncertainty. Participants discussed both traditional and innovative practices that help to withstand, recover, and build a new model of resilience – both individual and collective.
Opening Speech by the Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, Natalia Kalmykova:
“Resilience is not an innate trait, but something that is shaped through experience, growing through challenges, crystallising, and being refined in trials. Unfortunately, today we are going through such trials. But our task is to navigate them with dignity, beautifully, and effectively. I am truly pleased that today we have initiatives that create effective support programmes, reaching out to those who are in vulnerable states, who see no way out, or lack resources to move forward. The most valuable thing is that we are uniting efforts, sharing experiences, and enriching each other to become even stronger together.”
Sabine Fraser Gunes, UN Women Representative in Ukraine, also emphasised the importance of practical implementation of solutions:
“For UN Women, it is a great honour to support this event. It is an extremely important space to discuss the consequences of Russian aggression for women and girls, men and boys in Ukraine, and particularly to discuss this in the context of veterans, with a focus on practical solutions that are already being implemented in various communities and spaces, including digital ones, to help people overcome trauma, hardships, and challenges.”
Thematic Dialogues and Practical Solutions:
The foundation of the discussion was built around three thematic dialogues and practical solutions.
First Dialogue – “Resilience and Systemic Innovations: The New Social Capital of Ukraine”:
This session focused on how public systems in Ukraine are adapting to the reality of prolonged stress. The focus was on innovative solutions for resilience in education, healthcare, public administration, as well as the development of personal resilience, self-regulation, and psychological flexibility skills.
Olga Diakova, co-founder of Impact Force, presented a specialised course on mental relaxation and recovery designed specifically for people with basic medical education and adapted for those working with people daily, such as psychologists, rehabilitators, social workers, HR managers, educators, and facilitators. The course includes basic theory on how the nervous system works, what stress is, and how to recognise it, along with practical instructions, exercises, and recommendations. It is officially recognised by the state as an educational module for professional development and represents another step towards integrating mental health into systemic solutions.
Ruslana Korenchuk, head of the digital skills development direction and the Diia.Education project, shared how Diia.Education is transforming from an educational project into a large-scale platform for human capital development, highlighting the new programmes now available.
Aslihan Ozkan, Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation Specialist at UN Women, outlined international partners’ vision for supporting communities that are already active and what is being done to create conditions in which local initiatives can scale their impact.
Second Dialogue – “Returning and Staying Strong: Veterans, Families, and Mental Recovery”:
This dialogue focused not only on the theme of veterans’ return but also on building systematic support that allows them to remain resilient and engaged in community life. Participants emphasised that mental recovery is not the final stage after service but should occur simultaneously with social and economic integration. They discussed the role of families in recovery, veteran-centric approaches to reintegration in communities and businesses, as well as specific initiatives already being implemented in Ukraine.
Anna Mishchenko, Managing Partner at the Kyiv School of Public Administration named after Serhiy Nizhny, presented the “Veteran’s Wife” project – an online initiative supporting women in veteran families. Over 5,700 women have already received support through this initiative. Anna highlighted that there is no universal solution to help everyone and emphasised the importance of systemic informational support, partnerships, and the development of women’s communities as the foundation for the resilience of families and communities.
Volodymyr Perun, Head of the Department of Innovation Development and Access to Finance at the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development, presented opportunities for veteran families and emphasised the availability of comprehensive support for future veteran entrepreneurs on the Diia.Business platform. Currently, the platform provides access to grant programmes and online consultations on various topics, including economic, tax, and organisational matters.
Third Dialogue – “Digital Communities of Resilience: Balance, Trust, Actions”:
This discussion addressed the relationship between individual resilience and community support.
The discussion was moderated by Galyna Pustova, Director of CDTO Campus. Nina Levchuk, co-founder of Impact Force, stressed the importance of cyber hygiene as a new basic skill and trust culture, providing examples of how communities can teach this. Sevgil Musaeva, editor-in-chief of “Ukrainian Pravda,” shared her views on the role of the media in shaping ethics, trust, and resilience. With the full-scale invasion, the role of media has significantly changed, as it became the main source of current information and trust. However, she believes it is crucial to teach people how to distinguish fake news from truthful information, especially in regions where media literacy is lower, particularly during hybrid threats when information-psychological operations are actively used. Maksym Stolyarchuk, Head of Digital Development at the Lviv Regional Military Administration, shared working examples of digital solutions in communities that promote accessibility and enhance interaction between authorities and citizens. He noted that an essential aspect and guarantee of success in implementing these solutions and services is the development of digital culture both among civil servants providing services and citizens receiving them.
Impact Force presented the second season of the “ReStart Mindset” programme – a practical tool combining mental recovery, self-defence, and digital security. The programme is aimed at women who have experienced war: veterans, internally displaced persons, and military spouses. The programme has already proven effective: participants from the first season reported a 43% reduction in stress levels and a 36% reduction in anxiety. 54% of participants noted improved sleep, and 85% reported increased career confidence. The second season will open for enrolment on 9 June and run until 27 June, with the course starting in July. The programme includes breathing practices, mental self-defence techniques, and a digital security course.
During the event, a new tool for assessing psycho-emotional state was presented – an integrated stress level measurement system based on questionnaires and heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Along with this, the Mental Relaxation Technique – a scientifically grounded breath-meditation practice specifically developed for restoring the autonomic nervous system under chronic stress – was presented. It is already successfully used among veterans, medical personnel, and those who have experienced traumatic events. Its simplicity, safety, and proven effectiveness make it an accessible tool for a wide range of users, from residents of frontline regions to community leaders.
“Resilience is not about the ability to endure. It’s about the ability to recover and act from a position of inner strength, not from exhaustion. We believe that psycho-emotional adaptability is not a privilege or a luxury, but a fundamental competence for a modern person, which should be integrated into policies, services, and the everyday culture of care. That is why we create simple, scientifically grounded solutions – like the already state-recognised Mental Relaxation Technique – to make mental support accessible to those who support others. The future of Ukraine lies in people and systems that can self-recover,” emphasised Olga Diakova, co-founder of Impact Force.
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Impact Force is a Ukrainian public organisation founded and led by women since 2021, focusing on driving societal change and creating long-lasting social impact, economic opportunities, and initiatives for the sustainable and inclusive recovery of Ukraine. We see Ukraine as a successful world-leading country, strengthened by the power of our people and committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Our goal is to create economic opportunities and transformational changes in social behaviour for the sustainable and equitable reconstruction of Ukraine.