The new cultural and educational project for cadets and students of military institutes The Outpost for the Future: Think, Impact, Prevail launched in Ukraine

The joint initiative of PEN Ukraine and the Center for Communication and Content Security is aimed at increasing the young military’s awareness about Ukrainian culture.

The Outpost for the Future: Think, Impact, Prevail project is going to constitute a series of cadets and students’ meetings with contemporary Ukrainian intellectuals, writers, journalists and human rights defenders. The students are also going to be provided with the best books of contemporary and classic Ukrainian literature.

"Are our young people in need of culture in wartime? Is it necessary (and sufficient) to teach them the basics of military skills and prepare them to repel the aggression from our rapacious neighbor of Muscovy. We are sure that our civilizational struggle is losing the groundwork of resistance without in-depth cultural identification," says Valerii Korol, board chairman of the Center for Communication and Content Security.

The first meeting took place on November 7 at the Lyceum of the Kruty Battle Heroes. The cadets had a conversation with Volodymyr Kuznietsov, writer, comic books author, game designer, translator, essayist and musician from Siverskodonetsk.

The cadets will get an opportunity to not only get acquainted with literature but also to expand their knowledge of media literacy, human rights and countering disinformation.

"Our goal is to get the future military elite of Ukraine with the culture of the country they are to take their oaths to, which is of much more importance during the war against the enemy who’s trying to erase this culture for centuries. We are also planning to teach the youth to think critically and counteract propaganda and disinformation," states the project coordinator, executive director of PEN Ukraine Maksym Sytnikov.

**

Project coordinator: Maksym Sytnikov

Project manager: Anastasiia Levkova

PEN Ukraine is a cultural and human rights organization that unites Ukrainian journalists, writers, scholars, publishers, translators, and human rights activists. PEN Ukraine is one among 146 national centers of PEN International. It includes over 170 members and is a co-founder of the Vasyl Stus Prize, the Yuri Shevelyov Prize, and the George Gongadze Prize.

The Center for Communication and Content Security is an NGO aimed at public legalization and implementation of the competences of methodological and system-practical research of the issues of communication and content security.