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Dzieja

Dzieja

Civic Movement · Co-founder · 2016–2018
Dzieja civic movement

Dzieja ("Action") was a Belarusian civic movement co-founded with Alina Nahornaja and Aleś Łahviniec — both members of the Council of the Movement "For Freedom". It united citizens around the values of personal freedom and national identity, grounded in the belief that the individual is of the highest worth. Dzieja pursued an open society in an independent Belarus through three pillars: civic education to spread shared values, leadership development among those who hold them, and resource and infrastructure support for emerging civic leaders.

Campaigns & Initiatives

Slutsk Monument Campaign
  • Collected ~1,900 signatures demanding a monument to the Slutsk Armed Uprising of 1920 — Belarusians who fought for the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic
  • Submitted to the Slutsk district executive on 7 February 2017; after an initial refusal, the appeal was escalated to the Minsk regional executive
  • The regional ideological department formally acknowledged the Slutsk insurgents as "national heroes" and "liberators of Belarusian independence" — a rare official concession — and ordered local authorities to engage relevant state bodies
Legislation Translation Campaign
  • Launched jointly with the Society of the Belarusian Language (TBM) to translate key legislation — Labour Code, Civil Code — into Belarusian
  • Organised perekladatons (collaborative translation hackathons) using a crowdsourced online platform, open to all
  • Goal: not only accurate translation but official state adoption — removing a structural barrier to Belarusian-language business and civic life
Kuropaty Memorialisation
  • Formed a civic working group on memorialising Kuropaty — the Soviet-era mass execution site outside Minsk
  • Ran a mini-grant competition (1,000 BYN) for projects expanding public awareness of Soviet political repressions
  • Aimed at broadening access to historical memory and activating public debate on the crimes of the Soviet regime
BNR Centenary — Creative Writing Contest
  • Organised the contest "Belarusian People's Republic: Point of Reference" marking the 100th anniversary of the BNR proclamation (1918)
  • Open to youth under 30 living in Belarus; accepted essays, poetry, stories, and plays in Belarusian
  • Prize pool: 1,200 BYN, judged blind by an independent jury
Language & Culture
  • Open lesson on the Belarusian Latin script (Łacinka) — history, transformation, and practical use — held at Art Syadziba, Minsk
  • Co-organised public discussions, solidarity actions, and cultural events across Minsk and the regions throughout 2016–2018
Civic Education Outreach
  • Organised lectures on civic engagement, rights, and participation under an authoritarian regime — including a desant outreach to Babruysk, co-organised with the local United Civil Party chapter
  • Hosted the Palitzyak-Rave at Khata 18x63 (July 2017) — a solidarity event combining political education with community ritual around the reality of short-term political detention at Akrestsina
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