Prolisok kindergarten’s basement in Bucha has been transformed into a modern shelter with tables, chairs, beds, a bathroom, and a play space with a creative corner. Irpin’s Lyceum No. 3 was damaged during the hostilities, but it was later restored, modernised and equipped with a shelter.

Both schools have benefitted from the support provided by the European Union and other international partners. In November, they were visited by Katarina Mathernova, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, and Emmanuelle Abrioux, Deputy Representative, UNICEF Ukraine.

The visit was part of the all-Ukrainian ‘Together We Learn & Grow communication campaign. The EU and Ukraine creating a common European future”, which aims to inform Ukrainians about the EU’s support and opportunities for Ukrainian education and youth in times of war.

Prolisok has 140 students, including preschoolers with visual and speech impairments, who are also supported by a psychologist, speech therapist and a teacher of the visuall impaired. Irpin Lyceum No. 3 has about 1,600 students, including 250 children from internally displaced famillies. Katarina Mathernova spoke to the school’s students and teachers, and to representatives of the local authorities.

Since the outbreak of the full-scale Russian invasion, the EU has provided more than EUR 100 million in budget support and grants to create safe educational spaces in Ukraine. These funds are being channeled to rebuild schools, provide psychological support to children, parents and educators, and conduct mine safety campaigns.

The European Union has also provided Ukraine with two multi- sector loans totalling EUR 540 million for the rehabilitation of social infrastructure, including educational facilities. By the end of September 2024, renovations had been completed at 20 facilities in 11 regions, with plans to repair a further 9 schools and preschools. In the second phase of the programme, 80 educational institutions in 10 regions of Ukraine will be renovated, with at a total estimated cost of EUR 158.6 million, and work has already started on 19 facilities.

In total, the EU’s budget support to Ukraine provides for the rehabilitation of more than 280 educational facilities in 19 regions.

Oksana, along with other experts, took part in the event “The EU strengthens the capacity of the Ukrainian vocational education and training (VET) system to improve the qualifications of Ukrainians to meet labour market requirements” that was held in Ivano-Frankivsk on November 21. The discussion was part of the Together We Learn & Grow communication campaign.

VET in Ukraine is indeed facing problems, as discussed at the event. Only 20% of Ukrainian school leavers enter vocational education and training institutions, while in many EU member states this figure is 60-70%. For example, in 2023, 267,000 recent school leavers entered bachelor’s programmes in Ukrainian higher education institutions, and only 99,000 were enrolled in VET schools. Ukraine faces a growing shortage of skilled workers, particularly in the fields like construction, transport, metallurgy, and machine building – all sectors reliant on vocational education and training.

The seven centres are to be established by 2027 on the basis of higher VET schools in Kalush of Ivano-Frankivsk region, Kolky in Volyn region, Chortkiv in Ternopil region, Dnipro, Odesa, Kyiv and Uzhhorod, said Anastasia Harlan, Senior Loan Officer at the European Investment Bank. The EIB will finance the centres to the tune of EUR 58 million, with a further EUR 8.5 million coming as technical assistance from the EU Neighbourhood Investment Platform.

The EU has been supporting the Ukrainian vocational education and training for many years. In particular, the participants of the event in Ivano-Frankivsk discussed the results of the large EU4Skills programme, which was implemented in 2019- 2023 co-funded by the European Union and its member states Germany, Finland, Poland and Estonia. Around EUR 20 million has been allocated to upgrade the equipment and infrastructure of 13 vocational education and training facilities, and another EUR 16 million to reform the vocational education and training system and ensure its sustainability. And a few months ago, the Skills4Recovery programme, co-funded by the EU, Germany, Poland and Estonia, was launched to help transform vocational education and training and develop the skills needed for post- war recovery.

The event in Ivano-Frankivsk also showcased the opportunities offered by the EU’s Erasmus+ programme for the development of vocational education and training.

According to her, since 2021, 10 Capacity Building in Vocational Education and Training (CBVET) projects, 11 Cooperation Projects, and 2 Centres of Vocational Excellence have been launched.

A joint event organised by the EU project Communicating EU for Ukrainians and Radio Pyatnica aimed to highlight the EU’s support for education and youth in times of war and to play a themed quiz. It took place from 4 to 15 November as part of the Together We Learn & Grow campaign.

Every weekday on the ‘Morning for Breakfast’ show, the Pyatnica hosts asked questions related to education and youth and shared one of the interesting facts: how the EU contributes to creating a safe learning environment in Ukraine, access to education, supports universities through the Erasmus+ programme, helps to improve professional skills of young people, and provides other opportunities.

To take part in the quiz, participants had to register in advance on the radio’s website. The hosts then called participants randomly. They asked the questions and offered three options to choose from.

When the game was over and the winner was chosen, they talked about the EU’s support for education and youth in Ukraine.

For two weeks, more than 290,000 Pyatnica listeners have had the opportunity hear the questions and information from the radio hosts, with 134 participants from 35 communities having registered to take part in the quiz. 10 winners received branded power banks from Together We Learn & Grow.

The quiz was promoted by Vitalii Hordienko, an actor and vlogger, Yasia Kravchenko, TV and radio presenter and public figure, Kateryna Motrych, the founder of a jewellery brand and one of the hosts of the Ebout YouTube show, and Anatolii Anatolich, the Ukrainian showman, radio and TV presenter.

This year, 30 social adaptation spaces were opened in six regions of Ukraine under the coordination of UNDP and funded by the European Union, Canada and Sweden. They help communities improve the delivery of social services to vulnerable groups.

The process culminated in November with an all-Ukrainian conference “Social Adaptation in Communities: Innovative Approaches and Modern Practices”. More than 170 participants shared their experiences and results in providing social adaptation services, including within previously established spaces.

Nataliia showcased the experience of the Khotyn Centre for Social Services at a conference in Kyiv in November. She said that their space was one of the first to be up and running, as the community already had a ready-fitted building when they joined the project. They purchased equipment and furniture with EU funding and UNDP support.

The space is multifunctional, with services for the elderly, children (pictured), internally displaced persons, and veterans.

In the Koblevo community of Mykolaiv region, there is one of the already visible results of the social adaptation space – the launch of the University of the Third Age, a programme for older people, including internally displaced persons, who are numerous in the community.

As part of the project, the Social Workers League of Ukraine provided direct support to communities to create social adaptation spaces. The civil society organisation is convinced that such spaces and services are urgently needed today.

She stresses that the project has become a good combination of efforts by local authorities and donors. The participating communities have identified where to locate the social adaptation spaces and have repaired them. And with the support of the EU, UNDP, Canada and Sweden, furniture and equipment have been purchased for various rooms, including those in the adjacent areas.

The Social Workers League of Ukraine has also developed a handbook titled ‘Practical Guide to Creating a Community-Based Social Adaptation Scheme”, which is going to be published soon..

The second edition of the Science2Business programme took place in November. The programme supports the commercialisation of innovative ideas from Ukrainian scientists. Participants completed six months of training and presented their own projects in biotechnology, environmental products, agricultural machinery, drones, and health at the grand finale.

Science2Business is a part of the EU-funded Seeds of Bravery programme, which aims to develop the deep tech industry and stimulate innovations in Ukraine. Participants are selected through regular competitions.

For six weeks, the scientists took part in online workshops and lectures, gaining the knowledge and skills needed to start innovative businesses and navigate the complexities of bringing ideas to market. They also had the opportunity to meet with industry experts for personal mentoring.

At the grand finale, they showcased their commercialisation projects.

Valerii Osypov from the River Systems Modelling Laboratory of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute wants to implement with his colleagues a drought forecasting project, the special one. Farmers will be able to receive accurate forecasts not at the level of a country or region, but for a specific field. The service involves measuring soil properties and field slope, and the farmer will receive daily soil temperature, humidity, and drought forecasts on his smartphone.

He adds that the S2B training convinced him that to implement a business idea, you need to communicate it quickly, go “into the field”, study the real needs and the target audience.

Olha and her team have developed a dynamic virtual game to help prevent weight gain and combat existing overweight or obesity. The system responds to the user’s physical state in real time, adapting to indicators such as heart rate, stress level, weight and height to provide a personalised and safe experience. It knows when to slow down or push a little harder.

The six-month process of transferring vehicles and equipment to 100 communities under the Strengthening Local Resilience component of the U-LEAD with Europe programme has come to an end. More than two million residents will benefit from the transferred equipment.

In total, 240 vehicles, 100 tool kits, 200 power generators and more were delivered. Communities in 10 regions received support, made possible by additional special funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Iveco Daily minibus (pictured) was the latest to arrive in the community, which had previously received a Fiat Ducato minibus and various items of equipment such as generators, concrete mixers, chainsaws, etc.

One of the project participants was the Donetsk community in Kharkiv Oblast. It was the last to receive an Iveco Daily minibus (pictured), and earlier the hromada received a Fiat Ducato minibus, as well as various equipment such as generators, concrete mixers, chainsaws, etc.

The equipment received is already in full use in the community – in particular, minibuses are being used to quickly transport people to damaged facilities, children from the sports club to competitions, volunteers to donate blood, etc.

The Donetsk settlement community is one of 17 community in Kharkiv region that received technical assistance from U-LEAD with Europe in 2024.

The cooperation of the Donetsk community with U-LEAD is not limited to receiving material assistance – it also includes training, involvement of the community leadership, in particular the village head, Anatolii Nazdrachov, in various events.

Recently, the U-LEAD regional team met with representatives of the community. They have discussed the application of legislation on administrative procedures, current issues of the Council’s activities in the field of labour relations with employees during the reorganisation of structural units, and other issues of importance to community.

The 100 Women exhibition, organised by the Organisation of Women Photographers of Ukraine with the support of the EU Culture Helps programme, is taking place in the German city of Remscheid. The exposition consists of a series of self-portraits created by artists from Ukraine, Lithuania, Italy and Germany.

The exhibition was scheduled to end in mid-November, but due to the great public interest, it has been extended until the end of the year. The participants were selected through an open competition. Previously, five photographers from Ukraine had taken part in a residency in Germany, and their work is also on display.

The 100 Women project was launched during the coronavirus pandemic with the aim of uniting women in quarantine isolation. Over time, the idea has changed somewhat and expanded beyond Ukraine. Today, the project aims to bring together photographers from different countries and to analyse women’s art and how it changes under the influence of crises.

A special moment of the exhibition is the participation of the community of wives and mothers of the fallen heroes called Zhyva, who shared their stories and portraits.

One of the participants in the exhibition is Victoria Lykholot. She is also a member of the Ukrainian Women Photographers Organisation and was at the onset of the “100 Women” project.

Victoria’s piece of art (pictured) looks like a page from the Muse encyclopedia with a nude self-portrait of a woman artist taken from the back – a kind of protest against the anonymity of many women in art. She was inspired by the intances from the past when nameless naked women were called muses on the canvases of recognised male artists.

The Culture Helps project is implemented jointly by the Ukrainian CSO Insha Osvita and the German organisation ‘zusa’.