A working meeting was held at the High School of Public Governance with representatives of the Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security regarding the further development of cooperation in the field of strategic communications and countering disinformation.

Discussions focused on strengthening and scaling up training initiatives for civil servants responsible for information and communications support within government bodies.

“We must help civil servants to respond appropriately and resist disinformation – to identify information manipulation, counter it and communicate effectively with citizens,” said Yuliia Lykhach, Director of the High School of Public Governance, during the meeting.

As part of the agreement, the parties plan to hold regular online training sessions, involving civil servants at central and regional levels.

The updated training programme will cover a wide range of topics:

• new trends in disinformation and effective ways to counter them
• propaganda matrices and modern methods of information manipulation
• fact-checking tools for communicators
• IPSO and FIMI operations as elements of destructive influence
• reactive and proactive approaches to countering disinformation
• strategic communications (in particular the OASIS model)
• crisis communications under conditions of information pressure
• the role of social media in shaping crisis situations
• media literacy, digital and information security
• the use of artificial intelligence: opportunities, risks and ethical aspects

Viktoriia Merlich, Head of Training at the Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security, emphasised the need for systematic improvement of professional competencies. According to her, in the context of hybrid warfare, the ability to identify disinformation narratives and respond promptly to information threats is particularly important.

The planned training sessions continue the educational work that the High School and the Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security have been implementing since 2023. During this time, around 400 public servants have already completed the relevant programmes.