In April 2021, the National Ecological Center of Ukraine became part of one of the most famous German volunteer programs – ASA. Ukrainian Vibes – European Public Sphere project was created within the framework of this program, together with two partner organizations. The aim of the project was to bring people together in open discussions on sustainable development and the future of Europe.  

Project partners

Democracy International – is a German based(Colonge) nonprofit association founded in 2011, which aimed to strengthen citizen participation, direct democracy at all political levels and is strongly committed to an active civil society.
National Ecological Centre of Ukraine (NECU) – a largest environmental organisation in Ukraine, which works for the conservation of biodiversity,and a healthy environment. It wants to create an ecologically conscious civilsociety and promotes European integration of Ukraine in the field of environemental protection.
Change Communications is active in the field of public communication. The association supports independent organisations, governmental organisations and international institutions in carrying out their communication projects and campaigns at a high professional level.

Duration, format and structure of the project

The Ukrainian Vibes – European Public Sphere project lasted 6 months (from April to October 2021) and consisted of two phases – 4 online workshops and 3 webinars. Thanks to the Ukrainian Vibes team, despite the limitations of the COVID19, online events were interactive, interesting and effective.

Project goals:

• Create an open and inclusive space for dialogue and open debate on the future of Europe;
• Bring people together;
• Give Europeans the opportunity to take part in discussions on topics important to modern society;
• Analyze and gather ideas for the future of Europe into Idea Catalogue.

Description of the project:

In phase I The Ukrainian Vibes – European Public Sphere project offers a virtual stage to young people and their visions for the future of Europe and encourages them to to participate in discussions on important topics for modern society and become a more active part of society. The phase consisted of four online workshops on the following topics: Democracy, Sustainability, European Integration, Our Europe – Create Your Future. During the workshop program, young participants learned, shared and strengthened their knowledge in various fields to build the Europe in which they want to live! Workshops included open discussions with experts and interactive group tasks.

The second phase of the project was a series of three webinars:

•  Inclusiveness of Democracy & Participatory innovations;
• Smart citizens, Wice decisions – Sustainability;
•  Europe and Ukraine.

The focus of events has shifted from an educational format to discussion – open dialogue between European citizens. The target audience of this phase was not limited, all interested Europeans over 16 could join the webinars. At each webinar, participants had the opportunity to choose one of three thematic groups and discuss specific issues of the chosen topic. The main tasks of both phases were to gather opinions, ideas and decisions of participants and experts on the future of Europe, publish and present them at the Conference on the Future of Europe, create an electronic catalog of ideas and pass it on to EU stakeholders.
The project was attended by young representatives of various EU countries: Ukraine, Germany and other countries interested in Democracy, Sustainability and European Integration.

Presentation of the SPARCS project on the webinar

The project SPARCS (Sustainable energy Positive & zero cARbon CommunitieS), which supported by the European Commission was presented on the third webinar of the second phase called – “Smart Citizens, Wise Decesions – Sustainability”.
Sustainable development is recognised today as one of the most significant challenges the world community has to face.  While sustainability requires political cooperation at all levels, cities play a vital role in securing and designing a future-proof livelihoods. Bringing the subject from the global to the local level in this webinar we discussed opportunities and solutions for sustainable urban development.

At the webinar, participants could choose one of three breakout rooms according to their preferences and language skills:

• Breakout room I: Smart Cities and Integrated City Development (ukr)
•  Breakout room II: Green Tourism Trends – Sustainable Tourism Practices (eng)
• Breakout room III: Smart Cities and Integrated City Development (eng)

The concept of a „smart city“ is becoming more and more relevant. Some imagine a city with good economic performance and progressive urban planning; for others it’s about sustainable energy & housing. There is no perfect and definitive concept. In  breakout I and III, where SPARCS was presented, the focus was on sustainable solutions for urban development and their potential to increase the well-being of citizens.

In Breakout room I Pavlo Syrvatka presented  SPARCS to Ukrainian-speaking audiences. The presentation demonstrated innovative solutions for planning, deploying and implementing smart and integrated energy systems that will transform cities into sustainable, citizen-oriented, carbon-free ecosystems that offer a high quality of life for all urban residents. In English-language breakout room III, the SPARCS project was presented by Maksym Terletsky and Oleh Bondarenko, who emphasized the importance of such an innovative project and talked about the achievements and probable results of the project in Lviv.

Key results of the project:

The project involved 172 people from 36 countries. 126 – participants, 37 – speakers, activists and scientists, 9 – team and technical support. As a result, 36 proposals for the future of Europe were received and published.