From volatility to resilience: civil society as a catalyst for impact

The panel will highlight civil society as a strategic, systemic partner in responding to volatility and strengthening resilience, with a critical role in underpinning economic recovery, safeguarding the civic space and advancing policy innovation in uncertain environments. Anchored in EBRD technical cooperation projects and Ukraine focused case studies, the discussion will explore how civil society engagement generates tangible results in a wartime context and how practical lessons from Ukraine can be translated into scalable and systemic cross sectoral collaboration in the civic space and the international development community. The panel will also reflect on approaches and tools for capturing and assessing the impact of civil society engagement.

Speakers

• Lorenzo Ciari, Director, Impact, EBRD
• Nadia Petkova, Managing Director, Impact and Partnerships, EBRD
• Oksana Filonenko, Head, Free People Employment Center
• Līga Klavina, EBRD Alternate Governor and Deputy State Secretary on Financial Policy Issues, Ministry of Finance, Latvia
• Victor Liakh, President, East Europe Foundation