GEN Ukraine News: 8 Years of the Network, International Dialogue, Educational Festivals, and Urgent Winter Preparation

By Oleksandr Stepanov – GEN Ukraine Network Coordinator

September has been a month of reflection and vital preparation for the future for GEN Ukraine. Our network celebrated its 8th anniversary, presented the experience of Ukrainian settlements at the international “Value of the Commons” summit in Austria, and joined an educational festival in the Carpathians. At the same time, facing the upcoming harsh winter, we are sharing stories of our communities’ resilience, which have endured thanks to solar power stations, and launching an urgent fundraiser to prepare ecovillages for winter blackouts.

1. 🎂 Eight Years of GEN Ukraine: “Ecology of Relationships” and Horizontal Resilience

• Festive Call: The GEN Ukraine community celebrated the network’s 8th anniversary with a three-hour online meeting that brought together about 50 participants from all corners of Ukraine and the world.
• Unity in Any Conditions: People logged in from shared settlement houses, permaculture gardens, abroad, and even from military positions during air raid alerts.
• Shared Journey: Participants recalled eight years of transformation—from the Green School and the first community-building courses to the “Green Road” project, hosting thousands of displaced persons, installing solar power stations, bicycle workshops, and hosting festivals.
• Main Takeaway: The true strength of GEN Ukraine is the “ecology of relationships”—strong horizontal ties, trust, and the ability to support one another, holding together diverse communities (kin’s domains, spiritual and artistic homesteads, permaculture centers) even during the war.

2. 🏛️ Ukrainian Ecovillages on the International Arena: “Value of the Commons” and Artizen Village

• International Representation: GEN Ukraine President Maksym Zalevskyi participated in the four-week popup village “Value of the Commons” in Austria and spoke at the Artizen Village community jam circle.
• Ukrainian Experience: In the “Future Visions and Practical Cases” section, participants presented the resilience practices of Ukrainian ecovillages amid the war, the development of shared spaces as autonomy hubs, ecological impact measurement, and cooperation with GEN Europe.
• Experience Exchange: The event brought together leading researchers of P2P models, decentralized governance, and mutual aid economics (including Michel Bauwens, Adam Arvidsson, Amber Case, Jeff Emmett, and others).
• Next Steps: Foreign colleagues expressed a desire to visit Ukrainian settlements, discussions are underway for joint workshops and international events within network settlements, and cooperation with Artizen Village continues to support grassroots initiatives.

3. 📚 GEN Ukraine at the “Vilnosvita. Tochka Opory” Festival

• Educational Space in the Carpathians: GEN Ukraine representative Yana Mitina Samoilenko participated in the 3rd annual unschoolers gathering “Vilnosvita. Tochka Opory” at the “Izki” eco-resort, which gathered about 500–600 adults and children.
• Discussion on Communities: Yana held a meeting titled “Communities. To Move or Not?”, where she talked about the GEN Ukraine network, the role of communities during the war, and how to choose the right living format—in a settlement or separately on a homestead.

☀️ Solar Autonomy as a Savior: Experience of Settlements During Blackouts

Solar power equipment received the previous winter thanks to international support became a true savior for our locations during difficult winter blackouts. Here are a few live stories from our communities:

• Waldorf School of Pokuttia (Ivano-Frankivsk Region): The provided inverter and panels became the foundation of the school’s SES (later the school added 28 more panels). In winter, this allowed uninterrupted education for children and maintained lighting, while the money saved on electricity was redirected to the educational process.
• “Happy People of Ukraine” Community (Kharkiv Region): The solar station made it possible to have water, light, and a stable connection during the hardest outages. It powered pumps, helped preserve significant amounts of food in freezers, and ensured the operation of a workshop where educational maker workshops for volunteers were held.
• “Ladoslavne” Community (Kyiv Region): Winter passed practically unnoticed during power outages: children studied online, and adults worked. During the warm season, the station fully covered needs (fridge, laptops, stove, boiler, pumps), and all preparations and conservation for the winter were prepared exclusively using solar energy.
• “Svitanak-Samara” (Dnipropetrovsk Region): The station powered a children’s camp, and in the cold season, it maintained a positive temperature through energy-efficient underfloor heating. In summer, it fully powers the shared space and a deep well pump (67 m) for watering the permaculture plot.
• Ecological Settlement “Velyka Rodyna” (Vinnytsia Region): Panels and a battery were installed in the shared house—and they ceremoniously disconnected from the grid! Here, they prepared hot lunches for residents and IDPs, charged car batteries, and organized laundry washing for displaced persons.
• “Radariya” (Kyiv Region): Preparing the system for the upcoming educational permaculture lecture hall and shelter for city dwellers.
• “Ozarinnia” (Kharkiv Region) / “Bushanska Toloka” (Vinnytsia Region): Following the mobilization of the house owner to the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the equipment was promptly relocated to the “Bushanska Toloka” community to ensure the energy independence of their shared space.

❄️ Urgent Appeal: Winter Readiness Appeal

Our settlements fulfill a dual role: they not only care for the environment but also serve as reliable shelters for civilians and IDPs from large cities escaping the cold and severe blackouts. To safely accommodate the flow of people and ensure the stable operation of the network, we are launching a fundraiser for winter preparation:

📊 To ensure that this winter even more shared spaces become energy-independent and capable of supporting others, we have the following needs:

☀️ Solar Equipment (Need: €85,893 / 4,380,534 UAH):

• Will allow covering 13 shared spaces and households.
• Will provide safe wintering for 100–120 displaced persons and support and connection for the network’s project teams (~8–10 people) for uninterrupted work and coordination.
• Bonus: We already have funding for smart meters to integrate stations into the Arkreen platform (where 5 of our stations already operate), which will allow monetizing green generation.

🪵 Firewood Supply (Need: €11,480 / 585,500 UAH):

• Procurement of firewood for 16 network locations to heat shared spaces during winter events.

🚗 Mobility & Fuel (Need: €21,569 / 1,100,000 UAH):

• €4,314 (220,000 UAH): Fuel for ~20 shared spaces and bicycle workshops (food delivery, medical assistance, logistics for children).
• €17,254 (880,000 UAH): Retrofitting ~20–25 standard bicycles into electric ones and repairing them in 5 local bicycle workshops.

🚰 Sanitary Conditions and Water Supply (Need: €6,862 / 350,000 UAH):

• Installation of boilers, shower cabins, and water supply lines to buildings to create proper sanitary conditions.

🤝 How to Support and Contact Us

We will be sincerely grateful for any assistance: direct donations, contacts of potential foundations or donors, consultations, or sharing information. Our team is always ready to hold a Zoom meeting and talk about needs in more detail.

Contact Person:

• 👨‍💼 Oleksandr Stepanov — GEN Ukraine Network Coordinator
• 💬 Telegram: @StepanovAleksandr
• 📧 Email: genukraine2018(at)gmail.com