The UniCities project team motivates young people to design and implement innovative solutions for community recovery and climate change adaptation. 

On 07.04.2025, the second summer school, “Shaping urban environments for tomorrow” was officially opened, which traditionally brings together proactive students, researchers, and experts on sustainable development, urbanization, and ecology. This year, the school is taking place offline at the Polytechnic-2 educational and recreational camp in the tourist urban-type settlement of Slavske, Lviv Oblast.

Participants are invited to attend interesting and informative lectures and develop sustainable approaches to modernizing recreation facilities, reducing their environmental impact, and integrating them into the local community. Students will explore the potential for sustainable development of recreational complexes in the Carpathians and analyze energy consumption, water supply, waste management, and environmental solutions for recreation centers. In their projects, they will not only pay attention to the theory but also offer practical recommendations for the environmental modernization of the Polytechnic-2 base and the possibility of its interaction with the community of Slavske. 

Stanislav Kukhtyk, Vice-Rector for International Relations and Development, Higher Educational Institution “Academician Yuriy Bugay International Scientific and Technical University”, made an opening speech and presentation of the UniCities project. He noted that change starts with each of us. 

The importance of multidisciplinary and cooperation was also emphasized by Olga Kordas (Associate Professor in Sustainable Urban Development at the Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) and Director of the Viable Cities) in her introductory lecture. In addition, she told the summer school participants about the impact and applicability of the European experience on the recovery policy in Ukraine. She cited successful projects and their impact on communities in European cities. Olga reminded the participants that everyone has the right to initiate change and that they should not expect problems to be solved by someone else.

Climate change is inevitable, and nature-based solutions are the subject of Vira Balabukh’s talk. She is a well-known Ukrainian researcher, PhD in Geography, and Head of the Department of Applied Meteorology and Climatology at the Ukrainian Research Hydrometeorological Institute. 

The final lecture on environmental solutions in the reconstruction and modernization of buildings was delivered by Maksym Kryvosheev, head of the Ukrainian UGBC community. As a reminder, the Ukrainian Green Building Council (UGBC) is a non-governmental organization that is part of the global network of the World Green Building Council (WGBC). It promotes implementing the world’s best sustainable building practices in Ukraine and works closely with the German Green Building Council (DGNB). The UGBC brings architects, developers, building materials manufacturers, policymakers, business representatives, and academia to develop sustainable cities.

The students of the second summer school noted that they received a lot of valuable information they will consider when developing their own projects. The work continues!

It is worth reminding that the project is being implemented by partner institutions: Royal Institute of Technology KTH (Sweden), Universidad Politechnica de Madrid, UPM (Spain), National Technical University of Ukraine Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, NTUU KPI (Ukraine), Chernihiv National University of Technology, CNUT (Ukraine), Academician Yuriy Bugay International Scientific and Technical University, ISTU (Ukraine), Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, NLUU (Ukraine), Charitable Fund CANactions, All-Ukrainian Association of Local Government Authorities “Association of Ukrainian Cities”, Public union «Association of the engineers of stable energy technologies of Ukraine», Ukrainian Research Hydrometeorological Institute, UHMI.