Busha Toloka: A project to build a community house, refugee shelter and place for recreation, education and regeneration in Busha/Ukraine

The community house in Busha, Ukraine, was a project initiated as a response to the start of the war to serve as a refugee shelter in the short term and as an event space and community centre in the long term. The idea was born in the summer of 2022 at the European Ecovillage Gathering in Denmark.

Despite initial challenges and unclear funding, a small group of GEN Europe representatives, Svetoyara Katchurenko from Busha and further representatives from GEN Ukraine, decided to realize a project that shall serve as a sign of peace in times of war, created by the GEN network and a sustainable solution for a community in Ukraine and an additional place to host refugees along the Green Road project, already ongoing by GEN Ukraine. Thanks to a big network of supporters and donors, including a Swiss foundation, the common house, built as a straw panel construction was completed within 1 year.

A supporting association was founded in the fall of 2022, the site was purchased and a building application was submitted. A heatable geodesic dome was built with the first donations to GEN Europe, which had already served as a meeting place for the community and as an extracurricular learning space for children since November 2022. By November 2023, the construction of the community centre had already been completed to such an extent that the first refugees could be accommodated during the winter months and the building could be inaugurated in the presence of local authorities, celebrities and media attendance.

On May 18, 2024, the now-completed project was finally formally opened with the GEN representatives and handed over to the Busha Toloka community. Many GEN-Ukraine representatives were present during that event which was accompanied by an empowerment training and exchange meeting from European and Ukrainian GEN Activists.
The project demonstrates not only the strength of solidarity within the GEN network but also what a global community can do for each other in times of crisis. This project could serve as a model for future projects, whether in other conflict regions or regions affected by climate change.

Written by Steffen Emrich, and Anne Schwab

The main responsibility for the whole project:

• Svetoyara Kachurenko (Busha Toloka/Ukraine)
• Еlena Kupina (Busha Toloka/GEN Ukraine)
• Vitaliy Vlasenko, (Busha Toloka)
  The GEN-Europe Core team::
• Anne-Kathrin Schwab (Villa Locomuna/ GEN Germany/ GEN-Research/ ECOLISE)
• Steffen Emrich (gASTWERKe/ GEN Germany / GEN-Europe Council until 2023)
• Monique Wijn (ecovillage land van aine, GEN-Netherlands / GEN-Europe Council since 2023)
• Michael Ruh (Schloss Glarisegg/GEN Swiss)
• Mila Averbruch

Cooperation Partners from GEN-Ukraine:

• Maksym Zalevski
• Andriy Averin
• Anastasiya Volkova
• Iryna Kazakova
• Tatyana Chub

With important support from:

• Camilla Nielsen-Englyst, project coordinator from LOES/Danish Ecovillage Network, together with GEN Ukraine received funding from CISU to support the Busha Toloka project.