“Clean Air for Ukraine” is a joint program of the NGO “Arnica” (Prague, Czech Republic) and a network of local non-governmental organizations from different regions of Ukraine, which has been operating since 2017.
The goal of the program is to improve access to environmental information and involve the public in decision-making, to unite citizens and strengthen public initiatives in industrial cities suffering from air pollution, as well as to help communities affected by war.
Our main achievements:
- Creation of the largest and most modern Ukrainian air quality monitoring network EcoСity, the data of which is available to everyone on an interactive map. Currently, more than 250 stations are installed throughout the country. They assess air pollution and transmit the data online in real time. In this way, Ukrainians can protect themselves from the harmful effects of polluted air.
- Capacity-building support for dozens of civil society organizations through a program of small grants, information and resource support, organization of cooperation between public organizations, scientists and authorities.
- Numerous scientific studies on the analysis of air, soil, river sediments and food products in Ukraine.
- Development of the Ukrainian Air Quality Index, the Smog Alarm notification system and the EcoCity application, which notifies the public about air pollution, including chemical threats and radiation. The data is updated every minute.
- Assessment of the impact of war on the environment.
Since 2017, the “Clean Air for Ukraine” program has focused on the support and development of a public air pollution monitoring network. We continue to work actively to improve regional air quality management programs, but since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Program has expanded its scope of work and begun to analyze the damage caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
So, starting in 2024, we will start the two-year project “Green reconstruction of Ukraine: sustainable recovery of war-affected regions”.
The main goal is to assess the threats to communities affected by the war, to form plans for the sustainable reconstruction of these communities, and to implement pilot projects of technical assistance using green technologies and environmentally friendly solutions.
The preparatory stage of the new project was:
- carrying out analysis of sediment and silt from the bottom of the Kakhovka reservoir near Zaporizhzhia;
- a study of soil samples from craters formed after the impact of Russian S-300 missiles in Zaporizhzhia;
- carrying out an assessment of the damage to the environment from the war, as well as pollution and stress related to past and present activities in the communities of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Kharkiv regions.
We offer the transformative experience of the European Union and the Czech Republic, engage academics and experts in public campaigns and offer solutions.
Program partners
NGO Arnica (Prague, Czech Republic) was founded in 2001 and unites people who strive for a better environment. He believes that natural wealth is not only a gift, but also an obligation to preserve it for the future. Since its foundation, Arnica’s work has been based on three principles: involving the public in decision-making, an expert approach to problem solving, and maximum media coverage
Conducts public campaigns at the international level. In general, the organization focuses on the topics of conservation, toxic substances and waste, access to information and public participation in decision-making. In Ukraine, the “Clean Air for Ukraine” project has been developing for the seventh year in a row.
The national partner of the program in Ukraine is the NGO “Free Arduino” (Ivano-Frankivsk) – a team of technical experts on public monitoring of air quality in Ukraine. Produces monitoring stations accessible to the public and coordinates an all-Ukrainian web-resource to inform the public about the level of pollution and atmospheric air quality in Ukraine. Actively involves students and young people in their own activities based on social entrepreneurship. Together with Arnica, they developed a new generation of Oxygen, Air Fresh Max, and Sapphire public monitoring stations that allow for a comprehensive assessment of air quality, as many as 19 different pollutants.
The public organization “Green World – Friends of the Earth” (Dnipro) is a non-governmental non-profit public organization that was the first in the Dnipropetrovsk region to start working in the field of sustainable development. Involves the public in active activities to solve environmental problems and protect the natural environment, carries out public control over compliance with environmental legislation and rational use of natural resources, implements national and international environmental legislation. The organization runs a number of ongoing campaigns on sustainable development, renewable energy and green technologies, biosecurity and environmental protection and biodiversity, human rights and urban planning and transport infrastructure.
The Environmental Monitoring Center (Dnipro) was established in 2017 with the aim of promoting the transition of the Dnipropetrovsk region to sustainable development. The enterprise provides collection, processing, storage, exchange, analysis and assessment of data on the state of the environment of the region. The main tasks of the Center are the development and improvement of systems for automated monitoring of emissions into the atmosphere of major air pollutants and the organization of a regional information and analytical center for environmental monitoring. At the same time, CEM is the developer of the environmental monitoring system for the Dnipropetrovsk region as a pilot project based on the experience of similar systems in Europe and the USA. Theoretical studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine were also taken into account.
If environmental pollution concerns you, join us!
