Green Road of Ecovillages
On February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine
The next day, February 25, GEN Ukraine and the NGO ‘Permaculture in Ukraine’ joined forces, mobilized their networks, and created a map of locations ready to accommodate people seeking short-term or long-term shelter. In partnership with Global Ecovillage Network Europe, we have also created a map of European eco-communities ready to receive Ukrainian refugees.
As for the end of April we have around 70 locations in Ukraine and 300 in Western Europe, and Ukrainian locations hosted about 2,000 people.
We update this map daily, coordinate people and locations, raise funds, and redirect them to the shelters.
Donations and grants supporting the project:
- The European network of ecovillages GEN Europe shelters Ukrainians in their settlements and collects donations for us. We have regular calls with the Council of the organization and with national coordinators for mutual support and development of the project.
- The Danish network of ecovillages LOES helped us receive a grant from the CISU Civil Society Development Fund, which currently covers the basic needs of internally displaced persons in our communities. LOES also collected and sent us humanitarian aid.
- The project "German-Ukrainian cooperation in the field of organic agriculture" supported us with an information campaign and helped collect donations.
- Visegrad and Beyond Permaculture Partership added permaculture centers in the Visegrad region to the Green road map and established national coordinators for working with displaced persons.
- Global Village Institute for Appropriate Technology is conducting a fundraising campaign for the project.
- Gas Up Ukraine Canada is conducting a fundraising campaign to provide eco-villages with fuel.
- The initiative center for promoting the activity and development of the public initiative "Ednannya" believed in the importance of our project and supported 5 locations with finances for their development.
- The Mission Bambini Foundation has funded the purchase of 12 tablets for children's online schooling at our locations.
- Agro-Perma_Lab conducts a fundraising company in Poland.
- And many more of our friends from all over the world, to whom we are extremely grateful!
Why ecovillages and permaculture centers?
- Our locations are in rural areas, which are safer than cities.
- Our network covers the whole of Ukraine, which allows people to find a location closer to them, but also to move around the locations as a corridor in case you are moving towards the western border. That's how the name "Green Road" came about.
- Ecovillages are quite sustainable due to cohesion, food supplies, and the ability to grow food.
- Most ecovillages have vacant houses that are used to house internally displaced persons.
- Residents of these communities are friendly and able to provide psychological support to displaced persons.
- Almost all communities have children, which simplifies the stay of displaced persons with children.
What do we do besides accommodating displaced persons inside of Ukraine?
Currently, we have several areas of activity:
- Improving the living conditions of internally displaced persons. The basic conditions of the village houses in the quiet area were good enough for the people fleeing the fighting zones, in the first days and weeks. Now that it is clear that the war is dragging on, and these people have to live here for a longer time (and some of them have nowhere to go), we are looking for ways to improve their lives: bring water into the house, install boilers, equip bathrooms and kitchens, make beds instead of mattresses on the floor, buy washing machines and refrigerators.
- Increase the amount of places for people to stay. Most locations still have houses that can be equipped to receive people.
- Arrangement of playgrounds and playrooms. Internally displaced children and local children need comfortable and safe places to spend time. This is especially important for the psychological rehabilitation of children who have had experience of being in a combat zone.
- Development of agriculture. Our locations are able to grow food for themselves in an environmentally friendly way. Now they have an important task to provide food not only for themselves but also for the people they have sheltered, and even more. After all, given the risk of a food crisis, food security is now of particular importance. Our locations need small agricultural machinery, greenhouses, rainwater collection tanks, etc. for efficient farming.
- Development of green energy. The situation with unstable access to fuel and power outages demonstrates the need to find alternative energy sources for self-sufficiency.
Development of sustainable entrepreneurship. Some residents were left without income and the opportunity to continue their professional activities. They need to reorient and invest in new directions. The most promising in their situation are food processing, repair, and construction activities.
Two additional areas of our project:
- Rehabilitation for volunteers. A pilot project at the Tepla Hora ecovillage in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast has shown its effectiveness in holding weekend reboots for volunteers working with people in Ivano-Frankivsk who need rest to avoid burnout. We will spread this experience to other locations.
- Rehabilitation for children. Carbon farm "Green Grove" in the Dnipropetrovsk region regularly receives groups of children from the Dnipro city, and conducts activities with them in nature, in communication with animals. It helps children forget the horrors of war and recover psychologically.
Follow the project on Facebook page of Maxym Zalevsky, president of GEN Ukraine
Podcast about the project from GEN Europe Council member Steffen Emrich
We would be grateful for your support!
You can make a donation directly to Maxym Zalevskyi (President of GEN Ukraine):
- PayPal: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
PayPal for USA residents (tax-deductible): https://www.gvix.org/greenroad
- Personal transfer by https://wise.com:
EUR into UA
4731185605364501
Zalevskyi Maksym
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Address: ZALEVSKYI MAKSYM, 76009, Ukraine, reg. Ivano-Frankivska, c. Ivano-Frankivsk, st. Molodizhna, build. 42, fl. 68
You can also use https://www.transfergo.com
- SWIFT payment (takes several days to arrive, sometimes you need to write to your bank an explanation):
Beneficiary
IBAN
UA073220010000026209304516988
Account No
26209304516988
Receiver
ZALEVSKYI MAKSYM, 76009, Ukraine, reg. Ivano-Frankivska, c. Ivano-Frankivsk, st. Molodizhna, build. 42, fl. 68
Account with Institution
Bank
JSC UNIVERSAL BANK
City
KYIV, UKRAINE
Swift code
UNJSUAUKXXX
Details of payment from private persons:
private transfer
- Crypto Wallets
Ethereum
0x37a0332b06721a8467636b75d98872a262837ad9
Bitcoin
Bc1qsauspqs2avx9p4ccschpn9hct47khuj6l9r79p
USDT
0xAD38B3Ede48262C1ba0725CC567aa0e1c8Bd2687
E-wallet
Skrill This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you want to donate a considerable amount to the official organisation account please contact us:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
+380672521068 Maxym Zalevskyi
+380679678793 Anastasiya Volkova