June 30 – July 02, 2022, in the residence of the Mukachevo bishops (Uzhgorod, pl. Bachinskoho 1A) in the framework of the project «Churches, religious and public organizations for environmental education of national minorities» held a working meeting of the team and partners of the project, members of national minorities, environmental researchers and all stakeholders.
The implementation of an appealing, important, and necessary project to deepen environmental awareness and the formation of ecological culture of the local population, and especially the young generation of the project “Kirche NGOs für Ökobildung von Minderheiten”, was started by the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU Bundesverband, NABU International) in cooperation with the Interreligious and Environmental Civil Forum of Eastern Europe (IRCEF, Ukraine), Parohia Catolica de rit oriental “Acoperamintul Maicii Domnului” (Moldova), Saint Tamara University (Georgia) with the support of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Auswärtiges Amt).

The goal of the project is the adaptation and the multiplication of methods and products of environmental education for youth and hard-to-reach social groups and national minorities in the Transcarpathia with the help of NGOs and the Church and at the same time ecological training for leaders in local communities to strengthen the eco-educational effects. Simultaneously, pilot events for the adaptation of the project will be held in the countries of the Eastern Partnership: Georgia and Moldova.
Due to the state of war in Ukraine, the working meeting was organized in a hybrid format: the Ukrainian party gathered on the premises of the Bishops Residence of the MGCE (Uzhhorod), and representatives of partner organizations from Georgia and Moldova had the opportunity to join the meeting online. During the working meeting, a specific action plan for the implementation of the project was discussed, tasks were shared among partners, as well as a particular schedule of activities was drawn up.

The support and understanding from German, Georgian and Moldovan partners mean so much to the Ukrainian party of the possibility of implementing such a project in times of full-scale war, where is a huge number of victims among the civilian population, total destruction of Ukrainian settlements and the environment. The IRCEF team (Ukraine) in close cooperation with the experts of the Institute of Ecological and Religious Studies, the Transcarpathian Ecological and Naturalistic Center for Students Youth (TRENSCY), the Transcarpathian Regional Library for Children and Youth, the ecological and educational departments of national nature parks, the Transcarpathian Academic Regional Puppet Theater “Bavka”, public organizations “Helping Hand”, “Parallelny svit” (mean. “Parallel world”) are focusing their attention on conducting ecological and educational activities for children of Roma, Romanian and Hungarian nationalities, special attention will be paid to IDP children who were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter in the relatively safe region like Transcarpathia.
The event was held within the framework of the project “Churches, religious and public organizations for the environmental education of national minorities”, implemented by the Interreligious and Environmental Civil Forum of Eastern Europe (IRCEF) (head by Alexander Bokotey) in cooperation with the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU Bundesverband NABU International ) with the support of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Auswärtiges Amt) project coordinators Ivan Tymofeiev (NABU), Nataliya Kulya (IRCEF).
Informational Service of IRCEF