On 28–30 August, the final event of the second wave of the Community reBuilding project – a joint initiative by Cedos and UMAEF to develop community-building centres – took place.

On the first day, the project teams presented the results of their work and shared their plans for how the spaces would operate going forward. Cedos analyst and project manager Olga Satsuk presented a study on the functioning of the first-wave community-building centres.

The second day involved collaborative work in an ‘Open Space’ format on the theme ‘Community-building centres: lessons and opportunities’. Participants formulated their own questions for discussion to reflect on their project implementation experiences. In particular, they discussed how a community-building centre can stay in tune with the hromada, how to ensure the sustainability of the space, and what could have been done differently during the project implementation phase.

On the third day, the participants visited three community-building centres: the ‘Garage’ space in Chortkiv, the ‘Navkolo’ hub in Kopychyntsi, and ‘Svitlytsi Fedorovycha’ in the village of Vikno.

In summary, the participants emphasised the importance of networking with others and taking their experiences into account, as, despite differing goals, problems can often be similar. They also highlighted the role of the mentors who supported the hromadas throughout the project. At the same time, according to the Community reBuilding teams, the physical transformation of community-building centres is just one component of a larger project, which does not happen by itself and requires proper management.

We have much more in common than we thought. These include shared challenges, solutions, haters and occasional burnout — but the outcome is equally positive, because our community-building centres are working. People need them.

A participant at the Community reBuilding closing event

About the project

Community reBuilding is a joint project by Cedos and UMAEF that provides financial and expert support for the creation or refurbishment of community-building centres — accessible physical spaces where people from different social groups can come together to enjoy leisure activities, develop their community, collaborate and fully realise their human potential.

The second phase of the project launched in the summer of 2024. We received 366 applications, from which we selected 11 winning communities:

As part of the project, they each received 1,400,000 UAH to develop community-building centres and to support mentors, as well as experts in engagement, inclusion and communications.