Geoworks Ukraine: Rocks, Rivers, and Culture

Greetings all,

Things have been quiet on the Clean Rivers project in Ukraine, given that it's been winter and the holidays.  In the meantime, Dr. Ihor Bubniak and I have been planning on expansion of the project in the upcoming year.  Here's what we have in store for 2026:

• Greenworks Project Design offering to students to develop proposals for new expansions of the project
• Additional teacher training, led by Ihor, to increase teacher capacity in project-based teaching, especially with partners in the Kamianets-Podilskyi Geotourism Lab and Precarpathian Professional College of Forestry and Tourism
• Fieldwork with students in the Sukel' River region, expanding to surrounding rivers and national parks
• New fieldwork with students in the Podilia region of Ukraine (plains east of the Carpathian Mountains)
• Teaching of community members in both the Carpathian and Podilia regions how to develop citizen science projects

Because water quality and rivers are so closely tied to the geology of a region and the preponderance of tourism partners in the project, we decided to rebrand the project as Geoworks.  The name better reflects the expanding scope of the project (as well as fitting nicely under the Greenworks label).

Little by Little is coming up the week of March 17th.  During this campaign, donations up to $50 will be matched at 50%.  I hope you'll consider contributing to Geoworks (formerly Clean Rivers) to help us grow the project in 2027!

With gratitude

Lev

Greetings all,

I hope the fall season has been treating you well so far.  We spent the tail end of the summer season visiting our various Greenworks partners, including the Clean Rivers project in Ukraine.  We started our visit in Lviv, where we conducted a weeklong teacher development workshop with teachers from Lviv Polytechnic and Lviv National University, where we reviewed active learning methodologies and the Project Design curriculum.

Afterwards, we spent a week out in the field in Kamianets-Podilskyi (near the Moldova border) and Bolekhiv (in the Carpathian Mountains).  In both locations we explored geotourism attractions and cultural centers and schools that are working to incorporate more geology and Earth system science into their activities.  We were able to see the impacts of the Clean Rivers project in the Sukel' River valley.  Additionally, we interacted with many artists in the area to better understand how they incorporate geology into their art and discuss future art-science collaborative opportunities for education.

The most moving experience was meeting with village elders in the village of Bukovets' after church on our last Sunday there.  In the Latin American extension model, field projects are built in close conversation and collaboration with local villages, which tends to be uncommon in Europe and the US.  By bringing this model to our Ukrainian project, we were able to reveal a new perspective for our teacher partners.  They were moved by the conversations, which covered the Germanic history of the village, the inequity of the foresty industry in the area, the loss of beloved children and grandchildren to war, and their own relationships with the water and rocks of the area.  Moving forward, the teachers and their students are aiming to have many more conversations with the villages to better help them develop the Clean Rivers project.

Giving Tuesday is coming up December 2nd, right after Thanksgiving.  We're working to top off the Clean Rivers fund for our colleagues for 2026.  I hope you'll consider donating on that day, when your donation will be partially matched.  Of course, donations are welcome any time, as they have helped make this extraordinary work possible over the past couple of years.

With gratitude,

Lev