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When I found out that we have pretty serious environmental problems, I decided to buy a fabric shopping bag and give up using plastic straws. I thought of myself as a kind of hero, who was going to change the world for the best by these simple actions. Now, a year later, I realize that’s really far from enough. But not because I think that I shouldn't be a zero waster or vegan. I think it’s because everybody must be a zero waster and vegan :)
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Carry on living and fighting
I don’t feel scared talking about my status openly in Ukraine. If you are alone, of course, it is scary, but if you have people around you who support you and understand you, it’s not scary at all. Each person needs acceptance and I am lucky that many people accept me. I was lucky at the early stages of forming my openness about the disease. If I was bullied at school for it, for example, maybe I would have a completely different attitude about my openness now. I was always lucky with the people around me. I am lucky that I live in Kyiv and my group of friends knows and accepts me, but if we...
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A healthy planet for every child is a dream worth fighting for
My name is Yana, I am 16, and I live in the small town of Dobropillia in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. I have always been believed that the ecosystem of my city needs a brand-new solution. You could ask: “What can a teenager do alone?” Young people are capable of anything, for the sake of the future of their nearest and dearest, I will answer you with confidence.
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Three youth projects promoting climate action in Ukraine
These three youth projects from Mariupol (Eastern Ukraine) were developed by participants in the UPSHIFT Youth Innovation Programme and received funding from UNICEF and the EU for implementation. The UPSHIFT programme equips young people with the skills and resources they need to identify problems in their communities and offer innovative solutions. UPSHIFT promotes the resilience of young people, and their communities benefit from the solutions they propose. The participating teams of young people receive training in planning, teamwork and entrepreneurial skills, as well as grants to...
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Caring for the mental well-being
In today's world full of stress and disasters, mental well-being is definitely one of the must-haves. It is critical to monitor mental health just like physical health. It’s not “just about wearing a mask”, it’s about taking good care and working on it every day. What is mental health? How do you see and feel it? When we talk about mental well-being, we mean a condition in which a person does not feel psychological pressure, and feels at ease in his or her community and with himself or herself. Alas, we cannot feel the psyche itself literally, but we can see its overall condition when we look...
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Plastic vs Ecosystem, replacing plastic bags with eco-friendly products
Environmental pollution is a common problem all over the world. People have been trying to tackle this issue in different ways: they have been burning rubbish and simultaneously polluting the air; and dumping waste into seas, rivers and oceans, and at the same time contaminating the water. Solving one problem, they created a bigger one. The same thing happened with plastic bags. Paradoxically, they were invented to save the environment. More than 60 years ago, Swedish engineer Stan Gustaf Tulin created a plastic shopping bag to protect the forest from large-scale deforestation. Durable and...
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AmbroSTOPia: Fighting a dangerous air allergen in Ukraine
You cannot accept that there is no solution to a problem that had been bothering you for years just because others around you doubt that you can solve it. A few months ago, our team decided to start fighting ragweed – the most dangerous air allergen in Ukraine. Every year during the period when ragweed flowers, people who suffer from allergies experience runny eyes and noses, itching, breathing problems, coughing, and sometimes hay fever. This plant's pollen can also cause allergic dermatitis and bronchial asthma. I know how ragweed affects human health from my personal experience. Since...
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This is why young people are key to keeping the planet cool
I am 24 years old. I am a member and activist of the Plato NGO, which deals with climate issues in the city of Lviv, Ukraine. I study in the Department of Geography at Ivan Franko National University, where I focus on climate change as part of my master’s thesis. I also study human resources management and labor economy at Lviv Polytechnic National University. I am interested in climate education, nature-oriented solutions, labor migration and vocational guidance. I love to learn about the world through my travels with a tent and a backpack. I love people more than cats.
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Young people are ready to tackle climate ‘code red’
I am 24 years old, and I was born and live in Kyiv, Ukraine. I recently graduated from a Master’s Programme in Environmental Sciences in Netherlands. I currently work for the Right to Protection Charitable Foundation, where I assist in research on the decarbonization of coal regions. For the last few years, I have been actively involved in the climate movement, and I am a volunteer with Ekodia NGO. I also take part in the international initiative Climate Scorecard, for which I write monthly publications on Ukraine’s progress in achieving the Paris Agreement goals. I am currently a participant...
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I want people to breathe clean air
Hi there! My name is Andrii and I wanted to find a way to stop people burning leaves in my hometown of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. I wanted people to breathe clean air, save the environment and keep animals safe. So, together with my friends Maksym and Veronika, I founded the Eastern MAVka project. Not only are M, A and V the first three letters of our names, but Mavka is a type of female spirit in Ukrainian mythology that is considered a guardian of forests and nature. The three of us live in a tiny village near Kramatorsk called Yasnogorka. In small towns or villages like these, people...
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Carry on living and fighting
I don’t feel scared talking about my status openly in Ukraine. If you are alone, of course, it is scary, but if you have people around you who support you and understand you, it’s not scary at all. Each person needs acceptance and I am lucky that many people accept me. I was lucky at the early stages of forming my openness about the disease. If I was bullied at school for it, for example, maybe I would have a completely different attitude about my openness now. I was always lucky with the people around me. I am lucky that I live in Kyiv and my group of friends knows and accepts me, but if we...
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Fighting for a healthy future for Ukraine’s children
The UPSHIFT programme has helped a team of doctors to distribute healthy food boxes to internally displaced children in Ukraine. My name is Ivan Panasko, I am the initiator of the Health-BOX project. My teammates are Vladyslav Tokariev and Catherine Penia. We are all intern doctors in Kharkiv (a neurologist, a traumatologist and a surgeon, respectively). I participated in the first wave of UPSHIFT, an opportunity to support youth and adolescents to become a force for positive social and economic change, contributing to a competitive labour force, sustained economic growth, improved governance...