Ukraine is under siege following a full-scale military invasion by Russia on 24 February 2022

IZOLYATSIA.Platform for Cultural Initiatives (IZOLYATSIA) is seeking qualified candidates for the following job positions:

  • Project Leader 
  • Project Coordinator 
  • Lead financial manager
  • Culture Program coordinator
  • Accountant 
  • Communication and SMM Manager  
  • Sub-grant manager 
  • Gurtobus Leader 
  • Gurtobus manager
  • Gurtobus logistic coordinator
To learn more about positions and job requirements, please follow this link.

About the Project: 

IZOLYATSIA is a non-profit non-governmental platform for contemporary culture founded in 2010 on the territory of a former insulation materials factory in Donetsk, Ukraine. In 2014, the foundation was relocated to Kyiv after its premises were seized by the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic”. In 2020 IZOLYATSIA grounded in Soledar.

During 2022-2024 IZOLYATSIA will implement the project ZMINA 2.0 in Soledar Amalgamated Territorial Community (ATC), whose main city is Soledar. The Project is funded by the European Union. 

A main theme of Izolyatsia’s mission statement is: To stimulate critical thought, in opposition to apathy towards the development of civil society. In this we recognise that art and cultural development play an important role in a vigorous democratic society, which can only be successful when audiences are moved beyond apathy to engage in social structures. Culture and society are built by their participants. A responsive government recognises this and provides a robust, dynamic setting for its citizens. 

This project is about reigniting cultural life in small, mostly post-industrial Ukrainian towns; not for the sake of art as a consumer good, but for the sake of achieving local social, civic and economic development.

Our activities will focus specifically on promoting civic, social, and economic development:

  • Civic development creates a field in which public appreciation of cultural activities can grow. It is a recognition by local leaders and participative citizens that cultural influence profoundly affects the course of daily life. It leads governments to be more responsive to their constituents and helps those who are willing to engage in creating a better reality. 

  • The willingness to engage is the social development component. Even if all the tools are available and civic society is set up to use culture as a method of development, the community needs to be ready to take up the possibilities. 

  • These engagements will constitute economic drivers for Soledar ATC and other settlements across Ukraine. We will bring a new sense of economic vitality to communities through increased cultural activities, which in turn will create new economic opportunities. 

The main specific objective of ZMINA 2.0 is to increase the capacity and recognition of our target groups as drivers of local economic, social and civic development through cultural transformation and partnerships.

Activities

We will implement five activities, grouped in two sections: a local component addressed through A1—A3 and an inter-city component included in A3’, A4, and A5. 

A1: Joint Cultural Programme

In cooperation with the House of Culture, we will develop and implement a programme of 24 cultural events with local and invited artists, curators, trainers and mentors. This cultural programme will be based on a new understanding of audience engagement and local social, civic and economic relevance (see ‘Three strands of action’ below). 

A2: Renovation of Soledar House of Culture 

A3 and A3’: Sub-grants for local cultural and educational civil society projects

The regranting scheme will fund a minimum of 20 creative projects by NGOs, educators and cultural players to enable exchange of experience and dialogue within the community. According to the rules of this scheme, these projects will have to be artistic, cultural or creative projects, that seek to achieve social, civic or economic development through public interaction (see ‘Three strands of action’ below).

A4: The Learn! Programme

This capacity-building programme will provide physical and online trainings to cultural NGOs and CSOs across Ukraine, as well as to public authorities responsible for culture, with the aim of helping them understand their role in the community, conduct self-assessments and create organisational development plans.

A5: Gurtobus tours

Through approx. 18 tours to 80 municipalities across Ukraine, Gurtobus will take this project beyond Soledar. It will visit towns by invitation, delivering in each one or two days of cultural programming developed jointly with local stakeholders, reaching at least 4,000 people in total. This programming will involve participative cultural events, aimed at civic, social or economic development.

Organisational structure and team of The Project

The project will have a three-level management structure: Operational teams for each activity, a Project Management Team, and a Steering Committee.

Project Management Team (PMT): The PMT will consist of a Project Leader, Project Coordinator, Lead Financial Manager, Accountant, and Communications Manager. It will be responsible for overall project coordination, financial management and reporting, the planning and coordination of monitoring and evaluation activities, as well as the planning, coordination and implementation of project communication and dissemination. The PMT will be responsible for drawing up the Project Handbook during the project preparatory phase. The work will be carried out under the overall responsibility of the Project Leader, who will report to the Steering Committee on a quarterly basis. 

Operational Teams: Each led by an experienced manager, the operational teams are responsible for the implementation and monitoring of tasks within their Activity as well as for the implementation of evaluation, communication and dissemination as instructed by the PMT. They will develop their detailed implementation plans in consultation with the PMT, will report to the PMT on a weekly basis during operational periods, and will submit regular financial reports to the PMT. Additionally, all operational team leaders will submit “headline” quarterly reports summarising activities completed, achievements, challenges, and upcoming activities for the next quarter. This will serve to inform project management and quality assurance, but will also bring team leaders to regularly reconsider their project implementation and how it could be improved.

Steering Committee (SC): The Steering Committee will be chaired by Izolyatsia’s Director, who will bear ultimate responsibility for the successful completion of this project. Members will include Soledar’s Deputy Mayor for Culture, and the Director of the Ukrainian Philanthropists Forum. Two citizens of Soledar ATC will be invited to join the SC, selected in a public and transparent process. 

The SC will provide oversight of project progress and contribute to finding solutions to problems that cannot be sufficiently addressed at the operational level. The SC will meet – if necessary virtually – on a quarterly basis, with the participation (as observer) of the Project Leader who will report on activities completed and results achieved in the previous quarter, activities planned for the next quarter, information on problems or delays in project implementation, how these have been addressed or whether a solution has yet to be found.

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