Environment and Biodiversity

Educational Resource Center: Environmental Education and Conservation Initiatives

The Educational Resource Center focuses most of its initiatives on activities in small towns, settlements, and villages across Ukraine.

One of the organization's key areas of activity is environmental education in the context of nature conservation and biodiversity preservation.

Key Projects in Environmental Education:

• "Looking Inside" (2002, International Renaissance Foundation): A joint environmental education program for Polish and Ukrainian NGOs.
• "Dialogue" (2000-2001, Carpathian Foundation): A Ukrainian-Polish network of youth NGOs focused on environmental issues.
• "Rural School" (2002-2003, Embassy of Canada in Kyiv): Strengthening schools in mountainous regions as community development centers.
• "The School as a Source of Community Development" (2004, Dubnevych Charitable Foundation, Pustomyty and Yavoriv district authorities): Expanding environmental community development programs in rural and mountainous areas, ensuring equal educational opportunities for students from rural areas.
• "Beskid Streams" (2004-2005, in partnership with the Center for Educational Initiatives, local businesses, and the International Renaissance Foundation): Engaging youth in local environmental initiatives.
• "European Social Standards for Ukrainian Communities" (2006, Carpathian Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Regional Initiatives in Yavoriv District): A regional development program in the Carpathians, establishing regional development agencies in five districts of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.
• "Sustainable Community Development" (2008-2009, International Renaissance Foundation): Developing ecological and energy-efficient technologies for regional organizations.

In recent years, several projects have been implemented in collaboration with the Green Cross Society, focusing on engaging children with special needs in environmental initiatives:

• "Environmental Education for Deaf and Mute Children" (Canadian Cooperation Fund): Lectures, eco-tourism trips to green and protected areas of Western Ukraine, and cleanup activities along hiking routes.
• "Environmental Education for Children with Disabilities" (Volyn Resource Center): Involving hearing-impaired children in Lviv region in practical environmental actions by creating a mini arboretum at a boarding school, fostering responsibility for preserving unique natural areas.

The organization's members contributed to publishing a Children's Environmental Comics Book, featuring over 200 environmental and conservation-themed riddles. The book introduces general ecological issues and prepares children for school ecology courses. Another supported initiative was the electronic publication "Rare Habitats (NATURA-2000) of the Upper Basin of the Western Bug River in the Context of Creating an Ecological Network in Lviv Region."

Activities and Collaborations

The organization conducts information and educational campaigns, advocacy, research, and analytical activities, working with international, national, regional, and local organizations in the field of environmental conservation.

Its experts have participated in:

• ENPI-FLEG Program (2010-2012, Kyiv-Lviv): Improving law enforcement and governance in the forestry sector of Eastern European Neighbourhood Policy countries.
• Research Project (2017-2020, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine): Developing a system for fostering youth leadership in Ukrainian territorial communities.
• DOBRE Program ("Decentralization Brings Better Results and Efficiency"): Consulting on the environmental components of territorial community development strategies.