Another fruitful year of cooperation between the team of the NGO Chernihiv European was held in close cooperation with the CLEAR Community Emergency Response and Action Programme, within the framework of which the project “Progress. Reboot” project. The results were reported at the final conference held on 3 December 2024 at the University.

During this year, our team, consisting of employees of Chernihiv Polytechnic National University, partners of NGO “Chernihiv European”, representatives of Chernihiv, Kyiv and Kyselivka communities, managed not only to fulfil all the tasks set for us, but also to significantly increase our own capacities in responding to crisis and emergencies.

Over the course of the project, we conducted:

• 54 short-term group art therapy courses (5 sessions each) for school-age children;
• 2 art therapy events “Holidays” (8 sessions each) for children of the Kyiv pre-school “Malyatko”;
• a recreational event ‘Family Circle’ with elements of training for parents and psycho-emotional support for children of the “Vulyk” day care centre;
• 4 cycles (15 sessions each) for older people “Because it’s easier together”;
• 2 cycles of workshops of 5 sessions “Development of stress resistance and youth cohesion”;
• 10 trainings “Development of psychological capital of a person”;
• 3 trainings on “Restoring self-efficacy in the context of war”;
• 6 trainings “Counteracting professional and emotional burnout” for representatives of professional communities in the social sphere;
• purchase and equipping of 7 psychologist’s rooms for Voznesensk and Snoviansk gymnasiums, Kyselivka and Brusylivka lyceums, schools No. 31, No. 17 and No. 27 in Chernihiv;
• purchase and distribution of 240 non-food packages for people with limited mobility.

In total, our activities covered 1242 people, including 794 in the area of “Child Protection” and 459 in the area of “Psychosocial Support”.

The university would like to express its sincere gratitude to the CLEAR Programme and the international organisation Global Communities for the fruitful cooperation and extraordinary opportunities for teachers and students to learn new things thanks to the high-quality, professional trainings organised within the framework of the CLEAR Programme, including at Chernihiv Polytechnic National University as a partner of the Programme.

This year was not easy, but very fruitful! And now we can safely say that cooperation between Ukrainian higher education institutions and international humanitarian organisations has great potential!

Thanks to the competencies we have in our profession, as well as those we have acquired during our cooperation with the CLEAR Programme, we can meet the high demands of humanitarian response in emergencies and support our community in the post-war reconstruction of the country.