About the space

Rozsadnyk is a space for eco-education and nature therapy in Lviv’s Zalizna Voda park, which is developing thanks to the cooperation of various stakeholders – caring residents, NGO`s, local foundations, intergovernmental donors, conscious business and with the assistance of the Lviv city council.

During 2021-2025, more than 270 public events took place here, including talks, gardening workshops, therapeutic horticulture classes, environmental discussions, literary meetings, musical evenings and networking, which were attended by more than 4,700 participants.

Through joint efforts:
 
  • two dozen beds for growing vegetables and ornamental plants were equipped;
  • 4 different types of composters were installed for composting garden and food waste;
  • a stage for holding events was built;
  • the territory was fenced off, which allowed to increase the level of security, especially in the dark;
  • old concrete blocks were converted into parklets for recreation;
  • a fruit and berry garden was planted;
  • a bicycle parking lot was placed;
  • an on-site landfill was removed and the approach to the greenhouse structures was cleared,
  • one of the technical structures was restored into a “gardener’s house”.

The idea of ​​creating the space appeared in early 2021. Having previous experience in implementing ecological projects, the NGOs Plato and Ecoterra were inspired by the urban garden Himmelbeet (Berlin, Germany) and decided to create something similar in Lviv. Soon, representatives of the public association Permaculture in Ukraine were invited to the project – in 2016, on the initiative of the association, an urban garden was launched in the Bohdan Khmelnytsky park of culture and recreation, which, although it did not function for long, but gave a lot of experience.

Having developed a general vision of the space, the above named NGOs turned to the Lviv city council with a proposal to jointly popularize urban/community gardening and horticulture, and asked the city for help in choosing a site for the future space. Thus, they managed to enlist the support of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv City Council and the Lviv communal enterprise Green Lviv, after which several sites in different districts of the city were inspected.

Research of the territory of the former flower farm (April 2021)

The choice of the territory in the Zalizna Voda park, where the Rozsadnyk space is currently being developed, was obvious given several criteria. Firstly, plants were previously grown here, which coincided with the theme of the planned space. Secondly, next to the site there is a spring called Lion’s Mouth, which is important for ensuring watering of the plants. And thirdly, the location is cozy and, at the same time, with good pedestrian and transport connections.

Season One: The clean-ups that led to a Dream

The first clean-up of the territory was organized shortly after the inspection of the territory – in April 2021. On Saturday, for the first time in many years, there were so many people within the flower farm territory: more than fifty active townspeople came together to give a powerful start to Rozsadnyk. Then several dozen bags of mixed garbage were collected, as well as some with sorted recyclables – glass and plastic.

First clean-up in the space (April 2021)

In addition to clean-ups, over the following months, the founding team began to gradually organize educational events on ecological topics and plant vegetables in the concrete beds available on the territory, which were cleared of garbage and bushes.
 
At the end of August, a mini-festival “Harvest of Impressions” was held in the space as part of the community programm City Workshop, during which two high beds were arranged. In particular, during this event, instructions on how to create a city vegetable garden using the example of Rozsadnyk were filmed.
 

Step by step guide on creating a garden (August 2021)

However, the “Harvest of Impressions” season in the space did not end. In October, representatives of the NGO Gartenpolylog, which develops community gardening in Austria, visited Lviv. To characterize their experience, it is enough to note that there are about 200 community gardens in the city of Vienna alone! With the support of the Austrian Cooperation Office in Lviv and thanks to the advice of experts, the first composter was installed in the space, where the processing of organic waste is carried out to this days by the composer`s inhabitants – special worms.

Vermicomposter installation with Austrian partners (October 2021)

A few days before the start of the calendar winter, with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), together with volunteers, 12 raised wooden beds and two grape trellises were installed in the space. The structures gave an important start to the development of the garden infrastructure of the space and justified themselves in the spring of the next stormy year.

Installation of beds and trellises (November 2021)

Season two: The power of Unity in response to Challenges

In the first weeks after the start of the full-scale russian aggression, the team involved in the development of the space found itself in several volunteer areas at once. This period became a kind of “humanitarian oblivion”. At a time when the demand for volunteering began to decline, the question arose: is it time to return to community gardening and horticulture?
 
A test clean-up at the end of March, attended by more than 50 people, showed interest in this format of engagement. It turned out that “grounding” in gardening, involvement in a common cause, communication with like-minded people is something that is a good distraction from anxious thoughts and contrasts with the gray everyday life of war. Thus, the space worked as an open platform for growing plants,  therapeutic horticulture classes, educational events and just relaxation.
 

 Delicious acquaintance at Rozsadnyk (June 2022)

In total, over 40 events of various formats were held during the second season, which were attended by approximately 1,300 people, many of whom were forced to move to the Lviv community due to the war. Freemarkets, networking events, and numerous community-building events filled the space with faith in life. They also united a team of tireless volunteers around the space, which continues to gradually grow.

This season gave Rozsadnyk several productive collaborations with the NGO Building Ukraine Together. Thus, by Constitution Day, a thematic mural about the right to a safe environment was created on one of the old buildings. And in August, a larger-scale action was held to create a mural on the topic of food security and war. The process was curated by Benjamin Swotez, an artist from the United States who has created wall paintings in more than 40 countries around the world, participated in over 90 international art exhibitions, and led creative psychosocial support projects for 15 years.

Creating murals (June, August 2022)

In addition, in partnership with BUT, we managed to create a sensory path made of natural materials – its contours are formed from logs, and the cells are filled with sand, pine needles, pebbles, bark, cones and chestnuts. It is interesting to walk along such a path barefoot and learn about the world around us through tactile sensations.

Arrangement of the sensory path (September 2022)

Of course, during the season, vegetables were abundant in the beds. Early salad crops – spinach, mustard, mizuna, arugula, were replaced by beans, beets, corn, chard, and squash. The decision not to limit the volunteer gardeners in the choice of crops was 100% justified.

Vegetables in the beds of the Rozsadnyk (spring-autumn 2022)

Even adult visitors were amazed by the variety of crops that can be grown in urban conditions. And the youngest ones were amazed to discover the secret of the appearance of vegetables on supermarket shelves.
 
Part of Rozsadnyk`s grown harvest was used for charitable purposes – it was donated to the “Inshi” bistro of Yevhen Klopotenko to prepare free meals for those in need.
 

Collaboration of Rozsadnyk with Yevhen Klopotenko (August-September 2022)

Despite all the challenges, the season flew by in one breath. And for this, we should thank the partners who were ready to strengthen the capabilities of the volunteer team.
 
A real “window of opportunity” in terms of organizing events was the purchase of tables, chairs, and garden tools, carried out thanks to the crowdfunding campaign of partners and friends from “Gartenpolylog”. They raised about 1,500 euros to support the space and our country in difficult times.
 
It was possible to continue the infrastructure changes thanks to the support of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). In particular, a wooden terrace for holding events appeared on the foundation of one of the old greenhouses, and street furniture for several recreation areas was arranged from a pile of old concrete blocks.
 

Building the stage on the greenhouse foundation (summer 2022)

With the support of GIZ, several different formats of composters were also made, fruit trees were planted, and the fence around the space was restored for safety reasons.
 
With joint efforts of the team, partners, and neighbors we continued to clear the area. In particular, more than 15 trucks of mixed waste (some of which was sorted) that had been accumulating in the space for at least a decade were removed.
 

Clearing the on-site landfill with an area of ​​about 200 sq. meters (autumn 2022)

The 2022 season demonstrated interest in the space not only from visitors, but also from colleagues in the sector and the media. Therefore, another focus of Rozsadnyk was the preparation of useful materials for those who would like to follow this experience. Thus, with the support of the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine, a detailed piece was prepared on how to engage in community gardening legally. And together with the NGO Eco City Chernihiv, a collection of DIY ideas for community gardening was compiled, which included 10 quick, cheap and effective solutions for growing plants, rational use of resources, supporting biodiversity and zoning spaces.

Season Three: Focus on Green Participation

2023 was an important year for the Rozsadnyk space in terms of team building, territory exploration, increasing recognition, and saturation with activities. As a result, about 90 events were held in the space aimed at raising residents’ awareness of the topic of an ecological lifestyle, green participation, building dialogue, and responsibility in communities.
 
About 1,650 residents participated in the events, more than a third of whom were representatives of vulnerable groups (IDPs, unemployed youth, LGBTIQ, people with disabilities, family members of military personnel, people with mental disorders, veterans, and women who experience various forms of discrimination).
 
Interaction took place in various formats: DIY workshops, therapeutic horticulture sessions, meetings of the “Urban Gardening Club”, master classes, meetings of the core team, research walks, networking, free markets, trainings, discussions, etc.
 
Given the crisis in the use of institutionalized tools of public participation, the Rozsadnyk space showed practical ways to unite the community around green topics, exchange experiences, disseminate knowledge and tools for influencing local environmental politics.
 
For example, the open discussion “How to interest residents in green participation”, which took place with the participation of representatives of local self-government bodies, deputies of the Lviv City Council and public activists, became the beginning of a public discussion around the prospects for the development of participatory democracy at the local level.
 
In continuation of the topic, an ecological networking event was held with the participation of deputies of the commission on environment, the participants of which had the opportunity to communicate with the elected representatives and map out environmental problems that concern them. Also, thanks to the activities in the space, the idea of ​​​​”resuscitating” the public council under the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv city council, which had last met at the end of 2021, began to be implemented in the fall of 2023.
 

Participatory meetings in the space (July-August 2023)

A separate component of the informational activities was the coverage of the activities of Lviv city gardeners. Starting from 2021, they have been drawing up plans for plant care work, supervising their implementation, and also advising residents. However, Lviv residents’ awareness of their activities remained quite limited. In order to change this, the event “Meet the Gardeners of Lviv” was held in the space, during which the team of gardeners was publicly introduced to the public for the first time. Residents learned about the specifics of the work, areas of responsibility, had the opportunity to ask questions and exchange contacts with the gardener of their district. In addition, thematic booklets “Who are the Lviv city gardeners” were distributed, aimed at increasing awareness of the team’s work and opportunities for cooperation.

Event “Meet the Lviv city gardeners” (June 2023)

In order to raise awareness among citizens about good practices in landscaping and tools for implementing their own green initiatives in the public space, a series of meetings of the “Urban Gardening Club” were held. Within the framework of separate blocks, the topics of planning green spaces, choosing and caring for plants, processing organic matter, growing vegetables in the city, etc. were considered.

Meeting of the “Urban Gardening Club” (July 2023)

Within the two-day intensive “School of Green Leadership”, participants studied local environmental problems and strategic documents aimed at solving them, got acquainted with the structure of the Lviv City Council and important stakeholders, discussed green cases and tools for public participation. A separate training module was dedicated to the title “Lviv – European Youth Capital 2025”, thanks to which the proposed ideas were formed into a list of recommendations and sent for consideration to local government bodies.
 
In parallel, thematic master classes and therapeutic horticulture classes were held in the space, aimed at ensuring that participants could feel the therapeutic effect of nature on the psycho-emotional state and acquire useful practices for subsequent stays in the city’s green areas in order to reduce negative information pressure in war conditions.
 

Therapeutic horticulture workshops and classes (spring-fall 2023)

In an effort to make the space inclusive, the community tested no fewer than five tools for consultation and local analysis, including research walks, “suspended questions,” and idea mapping. The suggestions expressed by the participants, combined with the results of field surveys of green spaces, topographic analysis, and photo fixation, were taken into account when developing the spatial concept of Rozsadnyk. They were also significantly supplemented thanks to a workshop with involved experts, during which experts in the fields of architecture, urbanism, urban planning, and landscape design defined several areas of development.

Spatial planning workshop (July 2023)

The results of the historical exploration, carried out with the support of the Austrian Cooperation Office in Lviv, deserve special attention. You can learn about the peculiarity of the Zalizna Voda Park, the role of Arnold Röhring in its history, and how deep the historical roots of the local flower industry, which has been operating on the site of Rozsadnyk for decades, from the piece of researcher Bohdana Berzhytska.
 

Research of the ruins of the greenhouses of the former flower farm No. 1 (September-October 2023)

Within the framework of the “Garden Workshops” project, during the third season, with the support of the ZMIN Foundation, a series of open DIY events took place, the “solid” result of which, in particular, was the creation of structures for climbing plants of various shapes and new beds.

A great achievement in terms of the improvement of the territory was also the workshop on the reclamation of a plot of about 20 m2, from which 15 trucks of waste were removed in previous years. For this purpose, more than 30 tons of compost from the city’s organic waste processing station were used, and more than 100 ruderal (restorative) plants were planted through the efforts of volunteers. The experience can be useful for restoring the fertility of soils damaged by hostilities.
 

Video about garden workshops (summer 2023)

With the support of the Polish foundation European Institute for Democracy (EID), the co-founder of the space, Anzhelika Zozulya, and gardening expert Iryna Kmet took part in a study visit to the Polish city of Lublin, dedicated to green architecture. As part of the program, the participants had several working meetings with representatives of the Department of Green Spaces and Communal Services of the Lublin City Council, during which they discussed possible areas of cooperation. In particular, they learned more about the successful initiative for many Polish communities to reduce the number of lawn mowings and create areas with mixed grass. The experience gained was later applied in practice in the Rozsadnyk space.

Creation of a mixed-grass lawn in front of the greenhouses (spring 2023)

During the season, the team made efforts to gradually sterilize and vaccinate the stray cats living on the territory of Rozsadnyk. Closer to winter, volunteers, as part of the Sustainable Energy Days, built an insulated wooden house with a green roof for our four-legged friends – an eco-cat house.

Workshop participants and the eco-cat house (November 2023)

The experience gained from various activities of the third season became the basis for creating a thematic case study.

Season Four: Efforts to “root” 

The next development season at Rozsadnyk was dedicated not only to active educational work, but also considering possible formats for ensuring sustainability in its development.
 
Rozsadnyk became a unique laboratory for experiments in the institutionalization of projects in public space. Thanks to the efforts of the volunteer team, it was possible to preserve and multiply previously tested practices, as well as delve into new searches.
 
Almost at the beginning of the warm season, we had an opportunity to talk with representatives of the OPORA Civic Network, who presented the history of the space in one of the issues of the “Effective Communities” series.
 

Video about Rozsadnyk for the “Effective Communities” project (spring 2024)
 
Meanwhile, the team continued to promote more active involvement of youth in shaping the community’s green agenda. In particular, a number of events were held, such as the training “Youth and Deputies: How to build cooperation for green change”, “Green dialogue workshop”, workshop “Community gardening in the context of climate change”, etc.
 
Participants had a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the organization of the work of local government bodies of the Lviv community and developed skills in solving non-standard situations that may arise during cooperation with deputies and officials, using real cases related to environmental and climate challenges as an example.
 

Green leadership and participation workshops (Summer 2024)
 
In August, the space hosted a therapeutic practice unlike any previous one, combining plant care and work on the inner emotional state. As part of the event, participants were divided into groups, each of which performed different tasks: some planted mint, some created bouquets, and some prepared drinks from the collected herbs.
 
The event was hosted by Canadian expert Julia Thiessen, who shared her knowledge and experience with our team and supported Ukrainian society in responding to the challenges of difficult times.
 
It is important that this event launched irreversible processes of further partnership with Julia, who will join the Roysadnyk team for a long period next year and will conduct many important activities.
 

Therapeutic horticulture session with Julia Thiessen (August 2024)
 
Also within the fourth season, the Lviv Tourism Office invited the Rozsadnyk team to participate in the project “Urban gardening: Harvest time in the city”.
 
Most of the events were traditionally focused on adult Lviv residents who had already started their ecological journey, but needed an “immersion” in how to build a harmonious relationship with nature. However, this time attention to the youngest visitors to the space was not ignored too.
 

Quest game for children “Bingo in the middle of the beds in the city” (September 2024)
 
In the summer of 2024, the space started an interesting cooperation with the charitable foundation Nadace Partnerství from the Czech city of Brno, which has many years of experience in supporting green projects.
 
In the fall, representatives of Rozsadnyk had the opportunity to participate in a study trip aimed at familiarizing themselves with the work of a number of eco-educational and cultural institutions in Moravia. In particular, with the activities of the Otevřená zahrada space. The space team is grateful to the Foundation team for showing how the processes are set up, sharing sincere stories, warning against potential mistakes, and opening up to future collaborations.
 
The space also became one of the locations that joined the “Czech Dreams” festival, which took place as part of the Czech-Ukrainian Partnership Week.
 

Meetings with Czech partners (July-November 2024)
 
A real gift of autumn was the harvest of pumpkins of the “Atlantic Giant” variety. The team was not only amazed by their size, but also found a worthy use for what they had grown. A good tradition of autumn events was to treat participants with pumpkins. Children expressed particular delight in the “process”.
 

Pumpkin cutting during one of the events (October 2024)
 
Holding events during precipitation, stopping activities in the winter, storing tools in an unequipped wet pantry are factors that have long hindered the development of the Rozsadnyk space.
 
Therefore, throughout 2024, the team actively worked on the arrangement of the gardener’s house. Thanks to the support of GIZ Ukraine, Integrated Urban Development in Ukraine II and the ZMIN Foundation, the most meaningful investments were attracted to the project, which helped to equip a building protected from precipitation. The Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation, ELEKS inside, the Lviv communal enterprise Zelene misto and Maysternya mista supported the team in specific solutions needed to equip the premises and the surrounding area.
 

Gardener’s House (summer 2024)

Season Five through the prism of the Green Bank and therapy of “grounding”

The fifth season of the development of Rozsadnyk has become a stage of important transformations. NGO Plato, LMGO Ecoterra, the Department of ecology and natural resources of the Lviv City Council and SE Park – Vysokyi Zamok signed a five-year cooperation agreement, symbolically transforming Rozsadnyk from a space of community gardening and horticulture into a space of eco-education and nature therapy.
 
In addition, in the anniversary season, Rozsadnyk ceased to be a seasonal space. Thanks to the completion of the main works in the gardener’s house, the team was able to be less dependent on weather forecasts or the calendar. The building has become a venue for intimate events, a corner for garden therapy sessions, a place for workshops, an information point with materials on environmental topics and, of course, a room for storing garden tools.
 
From March to December, the space was filled with events and visits. In total, the volunteer team managed to hold about 50 non-profit open events, which were attended by more than 650 participants.
 

Events of the 5th season in Rozsadnyk (summer-autumn 2025)
 
The main vectors of interaction in 2025 were the launch of the Green Bank and the implementation of the psycho-emotional support program within the framework of the “EmpowerHer” project.
 
The idea of ​​the Green Bank grew out of a community request. The climate is changing, Lviv is increasingly suffering from abnormal heat and sudden downpours. In such conditions, the city needs not just decorative, but stable perennial plants that can retain moisture, create shade and survive with minimal care. The initiative is aimed to create a public garden center that works according to the logic of solidarity. Instead of commerce, the principle of spreading knowledge and resources operates here.

The basis of the bank is made up of hardy perennials, some of which were inherited from the former flower farm. From spring to autumn, volunteers learned how to propagate and care for these plants every week using only biological products. In total, more than 1,000 seedlings were planted during 2025, and about 200 plants from the bank have already been transferred to educational institutions and public initiatives. Therefore, the impact of the space goes beyond its physical boundaries.

The story of Nina Radchenko from Donetsk Oblast was special for the initiative. Having lost her own gardening business twice due to the war, she transferred the funds collected for her by the international community of the Coalition Clean Baltic to the development of the Green bank’s infrastructure. Our team expresses its sincere gratitude to Nina Radchenko for her significant contribution to the development of Rozsadnyk and her belief in the values ​​of community building.

Radchenko’s story in the Radio Liberty video (spring 2025)
 
As part of the “EmpowerHer – Climate Resilience for Women” project, implemented by the NGO “Plato”, a number of nature therapy events for women from vulnerable categories (IDPs, older women, single mothers) took place in the space. For many of them, Rozsadnyk became a place where they could distract themselves from disturbing news for at least a few hours. Therapeutic horticulture practices helped the participants feel safe through physical interaction with the earth and plants.
The Rozsadnyk team was assisted by Canadian therapeutic horticulture expert Julia Thiessen. Julia joined the activities of Rozsadnyk for most of the season and significantly strengthened the events. One of the results of the collaboration was the development of the “Nature Diary”, which can be a tool for independent psychological support even outside the space.
 

Therapeutic horticulture during the 5th season (summer-autumn 2025)
 
In addition to event formats, the team also took care of its strategic development. With the support of Nadace Partnerství, numerous consultations with experts were held, successful international cases were analyzed, and a vision for the reconstruction of greenhouses located on the territory of the space was started.
 
Activities will continue with the new season, so we invite you to follow the announcements. At the same time, it is not necessary to wait for a special occasion, since there is an opportunity to use historical, eco-educational or therapeutic excursion routes for independent walks through Rozsadnyk.

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Rozsadnyk is being developed through the cooperation of various stakeholders. During 2021-2025, about 6.5 million hryvnias were raised for the development of the space: grants, targeted purchases, charitable contributions were directed tovards organization of events, purchase of instruments, studies of tangible and intangible heritage, development of infrastructure, etc.
 
The largest financial support came from eleven partner institutions: German Society for International Cooperation / GIZ (21%*), PACT / USAID (15%), Global Project Partners (12%), Nadace Partnerství (7%), Coalition Clean Baltic (5%), BO CF Foundation for Strategic Changes / ZMIN Foundation (5%), Lviv Tourism Office / LCE Tourism Development Center of Lviv (3%), Commit (2%), NGO Initiative Center for Promoting Activity and Development of Public Initiative Unity (2%), Austrian Cooperation Office in Lviv (2%), United Nations Development Program in Ukraine (1.5%).
 
Sixteen more organizations and institutions contributed a total of about 8%. Among them: European Institute for Democracy, Department of Ecology and natural resources of the Lviv City Council, Gartenpolylog, Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation, CE City Institute, NGO Eco City Chernihiv, Centrum Współpracy Młodzieży, Ukrainian Climate Network, NGO Building Ukraine Together, STAND, NGO Office of Action, ELEKS, LCE Green City, EPAM, Energy management department of the Lviv city council, City Museum / CF Lviv City Museum Development Fund.
 
About 0.3% of the funds were raised in the form of donations. Approximately 9% of the total amount of funds was invested from the personal resources of the team, as well as approximately 7% – from the SE Park – Vysokyi Zamok, which is the balance holder of the territory.
 
Financing from about three dozen sources of various formats indicates a broad base of support for the project. The diversity of cooperation ensures the sustainable development of the initiative and reduces the risk of dependence on a single donor.
 
* the text indicates approximate percentages of the total amount of funds raised for the development of the space

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The history of the Rozsadnyk space is created every day thanks to the interaction of public associations, the population, local governmental bodies, local and international institutions, and business structures. This collaboration did not go unnoticed: in the spring of 2023, Rozsadnyk was awarded The Edible Cities Network Awards 2023 in the “Most Innovative Social Engagement Process” nomination, at the end of the summer, the space team received the COURAGEOUS/SMILYVI award in the “Eco-innovator” nomination from the Lviv City Council, and at the beginning of 2024, the space was among the 10 best projects of the Responsibility Award from the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation.

Part of the Rozsadnyk team

The team of the eco-education and nature therapy space Rozsadnyk is sincerely grateful to everyone who participates in its development!
 
We encourage those who wish to fill Rozsadnyk with new content, join the activities, and follow us on social networks.
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