Головна Community reBuilding

Community reBuilding

This is a partnership project of Cedos and the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund that provides financial and expert support for the creation or renovation of community centres — accessible physical spaces where people from different social groups can come together for shared recreation activities, community development, cooperation, and the full realisation of their human potential.

The project has two key components: physical renovation and programme (event) activities to ensure physical and social accessibility. People from different social groups, regardless of their physical condition or social status, should be able to freely visit and use these spaces. These spaces also should be accessible to people with disabilities.

The first wave of the project lasted from July 2023 to May 2024, during which 10 civil society organisations from hromadas with a population of up to 100,000 people received grants of UAH 1,000,000 each to create such centres on a competitive basis.

During the project implementation, the teams received consulting and expert support from mentors with expertise in architecture, culture, communications, and social interaction.

The “Community reBuilding” project won the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2024 competition.

The second wave of the project began in the summer of 2024. It enables 10 organisations from small hromadas to go from concept to design and implementation of projects—and with expert mentoring support to create community building centres, receiving up to UAH 1,400,000.

Results

311
applications from hromadas in the first wave of “Community reBuilding”
9
barrier-free community building centres
10
mentors helped to renovate spaces and fill them with events
1250+
participants in the public programme
8+
million UAH of additional funding was raised by the project teams
6500+
people have already taken part in the events of the community building centres

The second wave of the Community reBuilding project

Selection

This year we received 366 applications for the competition! The applications were evaluated by the jury. The shortlisted teams were interviewed and the winners were selected. Given the active participation of hromadas and the desire to support veterans, UMAEF decided to select 11 winners instead of the planned 10.

Training programme

An introductory offline workshop was held as part of the Community reBuilding project’s training program. In addition, the participants will have a series of online seminars on environmental issues, working with kids, youth, and the elderly, as well as receive personalized expert advice on communications, engagement, and barrier-free access.

Projects design

Mentors will help the teams finalize and implement their ideas: the spatial mentors will be responsible for the physical transformation, and the program mentors will help shape the space’s activities. The mentors met with the project teams at a mutual introductory workshop and will continue to work in a hybrid format: they will have regular online conversations and meet several times in the hromada. An obligatory component of this stage is a workshop at the center’s location to collect the feedback from visitors and to form a vision of the center’s future.

Projects implementation

The implementation stage involves the physical transformation of the space according to the developed project and its program content. Participants will receive support from the organizers to address pressing issues.

Community centre's opening

When all the work is done, the most enjoyable part of the “Community reBuilding” project will take place — the festive opening of community centres in the hromadas! As well as the final event, where the participants will gather in a wider circle to share their results and experiences, and publicly present their work.

Community building centres of the first wave

Kremydivka, Odesa Region

DobroHub: space of happy people opened in starosta district of ‘hromada without outskirts’

Cherneshchyna, Kharkiv Region

A centuries-old clay house restored in the village in the Kharkiv Region

Nizhyn, Chernihiv region

“Nezlamni” Veterans’ Space is the first community building centre for female and male veterans and their families in Chernihiv Oblast

Velyka Pysarivka, Sumy Region

Rollerdrome in the Velyka Pysarivka Hromada

Yevhenivka, Mykolayiv Region

Snihuri Inclusive Hub hub opened on the basis of the renovated Yevhenivka House of Culture

Kovel, Volyn Region

Inclusive “CollabZONE” opened on the basis of an international youth centre

Chortkiv, Ternopil Region

Library garage will open in Chortkiv, Ternopil Region

Blyzniuky, Kharkiv Region

Apteka Resource and Rehabilitation Centre opened in the premises of a former pharmacy

Horodok, Lviv Region

Space “Bez Obmezhen” opened in the building of a former 19th-century mansion on the basis of the public library

Ovruch, Zhytomyr Region

Community building centre “KREATYVNYI KOLOHUB” opened in Ovruch on the basis of the library

Iryna Ozymok

Director of the UMAEF Local Economic Development Programme, founder of the International Mayors Summit

In the many conversations about rebuilding hromadas, there is often a lack of human-centredness. So is the involvement of those who live and will live there. Community development centres, or third places, will serve as centres of communication and interaction from which changes in the hromada will take place. As part of the project, we created an opportunity for hromadas to work with professional mentors and set two goals, both of which are about inclusion: physical and social. We wanted all residents to be able to participate in hromada development.

Ivan Verbytskyi

Director of Cedos

Rebuilding and recovery must be based on understanding and solidarity between people, otherwise it will be difficult to create the prosperous country we want and fight for. In order to agree on a common vision, we will need to listen, trust and work together. The community building centres that hromadas are working on as part of this project are spaces for communication and interaction, support for local initiatives, engagement of vulnerable groups, and strengthening solidarity through joint learning, volunteering, and planning for the future.

Kateryna Yakovets

architect, co-creator of "Garage"

At the heart of the "Garage" are incredible people who strive to build an even stronger community around the library and create a wider range of cultural opportunities in a small town to support each other during difficult times and help to survive the different experiences of the ongoing war.

Tamara Dyrda

Chairwoman of the NGO ‘VIVAT’

We strive to help all residents of the hromada and promote their socialisation. Accessibility and universal design are the principles that guided the Cedos team, mentors, and the renovation team. We will continue to work with the involvement of people with disabilities and their families in the development of the community centre. We aim to discover each person's creative abilities and show their importance and uniqueness.

Inna Kulynko

General Director of the Charitable Foundation "Ukrainska nezlamna dusha"

War veterans and their families deserve our full gratitude and support. They do everything to ensure that we can live under a peaceful sky.Therefore, the opening of such spaces is only the beginning in providing comprehensive support and assistance to our defenders.

Viktoriia Mykhailiuchenko

Chairwoman of the Board of the NGO "RAISE+"

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in the Velykopysarivska hromada, all life has gone online. Thanks to the emergence of the community centre, people from the hromada once again have the opportunity to communicate, create, live, dream, and spend time together doing interesting things live! Despite all the obstacles, we achieved our main goal – we started the formation of a conscious united community. We thank Cedos and UMAEF for supporting our idea!

Liudmyla Zubarieva

Head of the NGO "Big Idea"

This space is unique for Volyn, as it will work for adult, conscious young people who are committed to self-development. It combines inclusive coworking and event space and was created by joining the efforts of residents of Kovel's sister city in the United States, international grant partners, and local socially responsible businesses. The space will partially operate as a social enterprise, and this is invaluable because it is about sustainability and the unconditional quality of our services!

Bohdan Bukhtatyi

Director of the "Centre for Cultural Services"

The Community Building Centre in the frontline town of Blyznyky is a story of a daring dream come true during the war. Life returned to an abandoned building that had been empty for years. With the support of the UMAEF, we managed to create a place of unity, inspiration, and strength. A place where everyone will find opportunities for themselves and will be able not only to join the proposed activities but also to create them on their own.

Iryna Stolova

Director of the Krasnokutsk Inclusive Resource Centre

Today, once again, the enemy is ruthlessly destroying our culture and heritage, encroaching on our right to be ourselves. Therefore, creating conditions for the transfer of knowledge and skills of local craftsmen is extremely important and relevant! We have to unite around the hut, a space where there is a sense of belonging, continuity, solidarity and community.

Iryna Zhornyk

member of the NGO "Initiative Youth of Ovruchchyna"

The success of any event lies in the comfort of its participants. It is easy to ensure this if the focus of the approaches and decisions in the organisation is barrier-free in all its manifestations. The work of the community centre in our hromada is organised on this principle: at "KOLOHUB" there are no indifferent people to the problems of others, we welcome people of all ages, and on a wheelchair you can get to all the locations. We have created a safe and comfortable children's corner and conditions in which everyone, regardless of age, will feel safe and welcome.

Ruslan Syrotiuk

Head of the NGO ‘VATRA-2015’

The lack of places and events was extremely acute in the village of Kremydivka. So the opening of the new space was a big cultural event. I think we have managed to satisfy all the wishes of the residents of Kremydivka to fill the space with equipment and activities, and now they will be able to spend their leisure time in an interesting and meaningful way

“Community reBuilding” is a joint project of Cedos and the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund (UMAEF) aimed at developing community building centres in hromadas