The garden in Lviv will be aimed at rehabilitating soldiers, their families and children affected by the war. The idea of developing such a garden in Lviv was discussed by representatives of the Partnership Foundation from the Czech city of Brno at a meeting with the mayor of the city, Andriy Sadovyi.
The open garden in the centre of Brno, which is a twin city of Lviv, is a large space with various environmental and educational activities for children and adults. You can rent beds for growing vegetables or space for events. The garden also has an energy-efficient building with a green roof that can be rented for offices or conferences. This space combines educational, cultural and practical components. The garden in Brno was visited by the mayor of Lviv a month ago during a business trip.
Today, during a meeting, the mayor of Lviv presented the UNBROKEN rehabilitation ecosystem to his Czech colleagues. Such an outdoor garden could become part of the UNBROKEN ecosystem and a place for rehabilitation of adults and children affected by the war. Currently, Lviv is considering the possibility of setting up such a garden in the Rozsadnyk space in the Zalizna Voda park.
“In my opinion, this is a unique location, which is actually in the centre of Lviv. If we add the elements that exist in Brno, it will become a centre for children and parents, for veterans. We want to make such a space for our defenders, veterans who went through the war, their families, as well as for children who have suffered the misfortune of war. So it is important for us to do it quickly,” said Andriy Sadovyi.
“This territory has enormous potential, incredible nature, and the fact that it has the necessary infrastructure is also a plus. The necessary conditions have been prepared and there is a good basis for the implementation of such a project,” said Myroslav Kundrata, Strategic Director of the Partnership Foundation.
According to the head of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv City Council, ideas are being developed on how the outdoor garden could look like in Lviv.
“Now it is important for us to develop rehabilitation, which is not only physical but also mental. The importance of natural therapeutic rehabilitation is hard to overestimate. Therefore, the creation of an outdoor garden with various activities for families will help speed up the adaptation and recovery of our defenders.
We are also talking about restoring the historic greenhouses that Roehring’s students started on this territory. This is a unique place with many institutions around it that may become stakeholders in the project in the future. A music school is due to open nearby this year, a palliative care facility is being reconstructed, a school for visually impaired children, a children’s environmental and naturalistic centre, the Franko and Hrushevsky museums, the Academy of Arts, and the Catholic University, so it is a place where educational and cultural events could also be held in a different format, and where gardening and horticulture could be actively developed within the urban space. This is a new format for Lviv to adapt green areas for various needs of society, one of the main ones today is the rehabilitation of military personnel and their families so that they can spend time together in this space,” said Halyna Mykytchak.
It should be noted that since 2021, the NGO Plato has been creating and developing the Nursery space in the park. The NGO is actively working on rethinking and filling this space with social projects, which is extremely important for the further development of the garden.
The open garden project will be a continuation of cooperation with the city of Brno. In June 2024, the Czech city of Brno became Lviv’s 29th sister city.