Ukraine developed an educational video that was aired on the 1st National Channel of Ukraine and in 29 partner municipalities. Billboards and public outreach have also raised the visibility of responsible water stewardship.
“For me, this project means that more people will understand the meaning of each drop, and that water is the most precious thing that mankind has.�
Moving forward Strong community engagement has been essential to the success of Every Drop Matters in Ukraine. By involving local authorities and communities from the outset, the project fostered a strong sense of local ownership — a prerequisite for sustainability.
Olena Umanets, student.
The restoration of natural springs and the high level of community participation demonstrate the potential for community action around water quality issues in Ukraine. The project's community-based approach helped communities overcome their deep-rooted sense of dependency on authorities and has encouraged them to develop commonly agreed initiatives to address vital social needs. The success of the Every Drop Matters approach to project implementation has inspired communities to seek solutions for other issues. The spring rehabilitation project spurred the village of Bryn in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast to scale up a local development initiative into a bigger project. A community organization has restored the local kindergarten and initiated a health-post renovation. The renovation of the spring and the creation of a surrounding recreational area in Ivano-Frankivsk also revealed a need to further improve the natural water drainage system to ensure proper water supply for the spring and the neighbouring lake.
Highlight The 'Rational Usage of Water Resources' lessons developed as part of a teacher training module have been integrated into the natural history, foundations of consumer knowledge, and health care curricula, and were approved for the extracurriculum in five partner municipalities (Novograd-Volynsky, Rubizhne, Rivne, Kirovske and Saky). Water consumption in participating schools dropped by 20 percent thanks to the water-saving initiatives that were developed and introduced through the 'Rational Usage of Water Resources' lessons.
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