The war has created new challenges for civil society organizations and communities in the Lviv region. Although the region is considered relatively safe and far from the combat zone, it is one of the transit and host regions for IDPs. While parents and guardians focus mainly on requests for humanitarian aid and issues of family safety, children and young people assess their needs differently, wanting to socialize, adapt to the community, find friends, interesting leisure activities, a happy childhood, etc.

“Participating in a workshop is very developing and gives you a completely different feeling than learning at school. You work with your own hands, learn new things, create your own things, communicate with others,” said Anna, an IDP from the Eastern Ukraine who participated in a pottery workshop.

In 2023, the NGO “Centre for Civic Advocacy”, which implemented the project “Local Craft classes and Creative Activities: Support for Young Internally Displaced Ukrainians”, within the framework of the project “Public for Democratization”, implemented by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting with the support of the European Union, managed to involve more than 300 participants in 11 creative activities in places of compact settlement of internally displaced persons, as well as in communities in the Lviv region.

The workshops involved local artisans of various profiles, including those with a “seasonal theme”. Children and their parents not only created a finished product, but also learned about traditions, local customs and peculiarities, and shared their experiences and customs of their region. Many events were dedicated to traditional folk activities and took place during the pre-holiday period, and participants learned new skills in ornamenting, decorating and creating their own themed holiday decorations or handmade products, etc. The participants of the workshops took part in the following activities: traditional “pysanka” (Easter egg) painting, festive paper decorations, creation of festive soft decorations, willow bouquets, “Boiko pysanka”, creation of straw decorations, pottery, soap making, eco-souvenir – “Hay Cactus”, creation of “motanka” dolls and presentation of traditional Ukrainian costumes.

Participants in the workshops and classes also help to promote traditions and share their experiences with other children and young people. For example, Nastia, a participant in a workshop on painting “Boiko pysanky”, said that she had never painted a pysanka before and that she would do it at home, show it to others and tell them about the traditions and techniques.

Nastia also said: “I liked drawing a lot, you have to be patient, it helps you to concentrate and it’s very interesting how the drawing looks after working with wax”.

The special feature of the project “Local Craft classes and Creative Activities: Support for Young Internally Displaced Ukrainians” is that it combines the efforts not only of “classical” education and integration  trainers from the civil society sector, but also of local craftsmen and craftswomen, who are involved in authentic workshops for children and young people on local traditions and crafts, organizing this work in an interesting form, using fine motor skills and interactive communication, which leads to greater results.

CSO “Center for Civil Advocacy” Yaroslav Hauliak

The publication in – Book of success stories. Collection / Under general editing of Maria Neshcheret; The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting. – K.: 2023. – 65 p. The book represents success stories collected by the grantees of the project “Civil Society for Democratization” implemented by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting and financed by the European Union.