The ‘Future School for Ukraine’ Takes Shape in Vilnius

A multifunctional educational center that accommodates up to 550 children from primary to high school, with facilities for students’ and teachers’ temporary accommodation, spaces for community activities, psychological rehabilitation, and a bomb shelter. Such is the vision of the Future School for Ukraine project, which was agreed upon by 20 Lithuanian and Ukrainian architecture and education experts during a two-day workshop in Vilnius. The school project should also integrate advanced technologies and smart systems, prioritizing sustainability and the possibility of using debris left after Russian military attacks as a resource for future construction.

According to workshop participants, measures to restore access to education in Ukraine are not to be postponed.

‘I’ve met children who have not seen an offline school for four years (Covid lockdown following the Russian invasion). I’ve seen children who lost their communication skills, could hardly read, and sometimes even talk normally at the age of 10,’ said Anna Novosad, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2019-2020, NGO ‘Saved.’

The adaptive architectural project for future schools, discussed in the workshop, is to become a tool to efficiently recover access to education. According to the elaborated concept, the task for the international architectural competition will be prepared. Finally, the project will become available to both Ukrainian institutions and international partners participating in the reconstruction processes of Ukraine.

‘Having this technical project, which will be available to all communities, will avoid possible delays in the construction of future schools,’ says Artūras Zharnovskis, head of the CoCreate Future of Ukraine program at the Central Project Management Agency (CPVA).

The project ‘School of the Future in Ukraine’ is an initiative of the Lithuanian Government to help Ukraine restore its destroyed education infrastructure. By implementing the program ‘CoCreate Future of Ukraine,’ a high-quality standard technical school project will be created.

The Central Project Management Agency (CPVA) manages and implements the project in partnership with the Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development Agency of Ukraine and the Union of Lithuanian Architects. The Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Fund allocated 500 thousand euros for the project.