The grant for the creation of a youth space was awarded to Zhyva Hromada, a local NGO founded in 2020. The idea to set up such a space was born in the Ozerna municipality even before the full-scale invasion, but it was actually implemented a year after it had been discussed at a meeting of public activists.
“We really wanted to do something in the village of Ozerna to show those men and women who are currently fighting in the war and will return later that we weren’t just sitting idly by; we were working. Having seen some neighbouring municipalities where young people are actively developing and finding resources to implement their ideas, we came to the conclusion that we needed to create a youth space in the Ozerna municipality,” said Nazarii Nadzhoha, Project Manager.
Thanks to cooperation with the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Ternopil oblast, activists learned about the ongoing grant competition from YouthUp. U-LEAD experts consulted representatives of the municipality and NGO online, starting the development of the project application.
According to Mr Nadzhoha, the youth space is a platform where young people can gather and interact, and the film studio that will operate there will bring in young people and give them an opportunity to learn how to create quality photo and video content.
All these ideas were included in the project application, which was prepared together with experts. The cooperation was successful, as the application passed the competitive selection and was among the winners.
“As a journalist, I wrote applications for personal grants and won them, but I had no experience in applying with a large project to be implemented by a large team. U-LEAD’s support was essential; its experts helped outline the framework of the project, singled out its key components. This was our foundation for the further work on the grant, giving us confidence and understanding of how to write a high-quality application,” added Nazarii Nadzhoha.
The awarded grant allowed Zhyva Hromada to purchase furniture necessary for arranging the youth space and modern equipment for the film studio. Now young people can work on a powerful PC capable of processing video and photos using professional software. The NGO also bought a high-quality camera that young people can use to master the art of photography. With its help, people of the municipality will be able to take photos for documents in the youth space. This is especially important for pensioners, who do not always have the opportunity to travel and receive this service in another city.
As part of the project, almost twenty training events were held. Now the young people are working on the script for a short film about the Ozerna municipality, which they plan to shoot on their own and try themselves as actors and directors. And four teenagers have already taken part in a short film filmed by their peers from Ternopil.
The youth council in the Ozerna municipality was created back in 2021, but for a number of reasons, its activity was low. This changed dramatically after winning the grant and launching the youth space.
“It is very important that the leadership of the municipality actively communicates with the youth and discusses ideas regarding their development and self-fulfilment. During the preparation of the application, activists proposed many great and creative ideas for consideration. It was not easy for us to prioritise them, but we still decided to create a youth space. The youth of the Ozerna municipality feel that this is their time, their responsibility, and they are ready to take an active part in the development of the municipality. They have already started, and I firmly believe that other ideas will also be successfully implemented. U-LEAD experts are ready to help the Ozerna municipality in attracting additional resources for further development,” said Nataliia Onishchuk, Head of U-LEAD in the Ternopil oblast.
Local youth is open to a dialogue with the local self-government and willingly offers their ideas for the development of the municipality. One of these ideas is the opening of a cinema in the Ozernyan municipality. Thanks to the project, this initiative has already been partially implemented, as people can watch movies in a room equipped in a bomb shelter. Amidst frequent power outages, the youth space has an uninterrupted power supply thanks to generators provided to the municipality earlier by the U-LEAD Programme.
“It is important for us to create new opportunities for young people so that they can fulfil themselves and bring their ideas to life. Training and various other events are being held for them at the moment, said Nazar Romaniv, Secretary of the Ozerna Village Council.
The municipality does not rest on their laurels but builds ambitious plans. Since the youth space functions only in the village of Ozerna, local activists intend to later screen films in other villages and towns of the municipality. They seek to ensure that in addition to informing youth policy, young people are driving municipal development, creating and implementing new projects.