We are here not to teach but to share our experience

“Ms. Biglou, before you came to Ukraine you used to work in the British Councils in Africa and Central Asia. Are there different approaches to the British Councils’ activities in different countries or there exists a single action plan for all of them?”

“Obviously, we are driven by the global aims of the United Kingdom: to connect people and establish new partnerships in other countries. Of course, our approach depends on the country we are working in. We work in close co- operation with the country’s government and its people to ensure that what we are doing is useful for them. Mutuality and reciprocity are very important for us.

“The three pillars of our works are creativity, learning and society. Basically we work in these directions in every country, but our action plans for each of them are, so to say, tailor-made.

“The specifics of the British Council in Ukraine consists in that this is relatively a new country; we’ve been here for only ten years. The Ukrainians are still hungry for information about other places, Great Britain in part. For instance, unlike, say, in Africa, there is a great demand for studying English here, this is why teaching modern English is one of our key priorities.”

“How do you see your target audience in Ukraine?”

“Of course we would like to embrace all the audiences, but in this case we would be spreading ourselves very thinly. There are a number of priority groups we work with. First, the government. To make an impact, we have to understand what the government sees as priorities for Ukraine’s development and give assistance in the fields where Britain can bring in its expertise. Second is the younger audience, Ukrainian teenagers. There exist certain stereotypes about our country, and we are trying to show Ukrainian youth that Great Britain is not only about traditions, royal family, etc., that it is a very modern, multicultural society. And the third group are young professionals (English language teachers, journalists, NGO managers, etc.), to whom we give assistance in the form of various training, information, etc.”

“The Day already wrote about the BC’s activities in supporting Ukrainians who want to get an education in the UK. Are there any new programs in this field?”

“We are now investigating the opportunities for distance learning in Ukraine. This concept, learning for life, has become very popular in the world recently. There exists a large market of people who, for some reason, cannot attend university: mothers with children, older people, working people, etc. Distance learning gives them a chance to get an education through the Internet. You can get all the necessary materials in electronic form, communicate with your tutor; in other words, you can get a full value education. We think that the British Council could help Ukrainians to get a distance education in many ways. We’d have seminars, stock distance learning materials in our information centre, give advice, etc.”

“Could you tell our readers more about your Resource and Information Centre?”

“Initially we operated more like an English language teaching centre, but now became more all-embracing. Here you can find information on the United Kingdom, education in Great Britain, British literature, management techniques, etc.”

“Do you have any literature on science there?”

“We have a relatively small collection, because science in general is new area for us. This week, for instance, we are taking part in the science conference, Technology Market: Challenges and Prospect for Development, where the British Council will present an exhibition, Innovation in Britain, demonstrating British high technologies and products. We are also planning a seminar on forensic science, where British experts will share their experience with their Ukrainian colleagues.”

“Our newspaper also wrote about another BC’s interesting project, presenting the Library of the Millennium to Ukrainian libraries. Has this already been accomplished?”

“The Library of the Millennium is a collection of 250 volumes containing gems of world literature, all translated into English. This is not only British books, of course; everything from Shakespeare to Dostoyevsky. Sixty-four sets of this collection were distributed by the British Council between regional public libraries and university libraries in all Ukraine’s oblasts.”

“Creating civil society is probably among the most important things for Ukraine’s development. Could you dwell on the British Council’s contribution in this process?”

“Great Britain has a long experience in terms of strong good governments. Traditions and democratic values are among our key directions in Ukraine. We conduct seminars and workshops in civil rights, cultural rights, the rights of minorities, etc. We are working on the program Violence against Women and Children, trying to understand its nature. Among our recent events in this field were a seminar for teachers on children’s sexual abuse, a workshop on dance and movement therapy for NGOs working with street children. We also organised concerts for young offenders and children living in orphanages. We also manage projects to fight HIV/AIDS, where our main goal is to give people information on this disease and ensure that governmental strategic plans are implemented on regional level.”

“A traditional anniversary question: what are your plans for the future?”

“We’d like to spread our wings. In addition to the five already existing British Councils in Ukraine (in Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv) we want to open another one in the Crimea. Speaking about the directions of our work here, the broad subjects will remain the same (creative arts, innovative science, empowering education, modern English, cultural diversity and democratic values), but we’ll do it in other, new ways. But (laughing ) we can’t disclose all our secrets for you. There will be more exciting art events, we’ll develop our library and information centre, probably, work with younger children. Basically, what we are going to do depends on you, on what the Ukrainians expect from us, where we can be more useful.”

“Another standard question: what was your first impression of Ukraine and Ukrainians?”

“First it seemed to me that here people didn’t smile enough; it looked like if they weren’t disposed toward us. But later I understood that this was far from being true; probably this is a Ukrainian trait, seriousness and reserve.”

“Well, there exists a certain stereotype about the British also being serious and reserved. What else do our nations have in common, in your opinion?”

“Both nations like to feel they are modern, simultaneously having deep roots in the past. Another thing that unites us is constant striving to assert ourselves as parts of Europe. Both the British and Ukrainians strive to be in Europe, so to say, from different sides of the continent.

“What is common between Ukrainian and British young people is their hunger for information about other places. My daughter’s friends in Britain always ask me what the youth are like in Ukraine, what the life is like there. They all know about Ukrainian athletes — Andriy Medvediev, Yana Klochko, etc. — and they want to find out more. Here in Kyiv my daughter studies at the International School, and most of her friends are Ukrainian. I feel like a global youth network is happening in front of my eyes.”

“So we could say that Ukraine’s image in the eyes of British young people, at least, is not negative?”

“No, it isn’t. By the way, early next year we are planning a seminar on branding. People from the UK will speak about how you can change the image of your country, city, town, etc.”

“Probably they could teach us a lot about how we can change Ukraine’s image.”

“Our principle is that we are here not to teach you; we show what we have done in the UK. It is up to you, Ukrainians, to decide what you can borrow from our experience.”

The Day’s editors offer their greetings on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the British Council in Ukraine and wish it well.