Start of construction of the Therapeutic Garden at VDNH
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The project is being implemented by VDNH together with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs as part of the National Strategy for Creating Barrier-Free Space in Ukraine at the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska. The therapeutic garden for VDNH is designed by Big City Lab in partnership with PUPA architectural bureau. The project is supported by Visa, PrivatBank, Work UA, and Expolight.
We are starting to build a Therapeutic Garden at the National Complex “Expocenter of Ukraine” (VDNH) – a public space for the recovery of military personnel, veterans and civilians.
This space will combine horticultural, body, and art therapy, as well as areas for individual relief and a location for children. Here, specialists will work with military personnel, veterans and their families in specially designed therapeutic programmes. Moreover, the space will be safe, accessible and open to everyone.
On 19 May, we presented the concept and map of the future Garden and showed what the space will look like. As part of the event, the first plants were placed on the territory of the future garden.
The presentation was attended by First Lady Olena Zelenska, representatives of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, the Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Coordination Centre for Mental Health under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Advisor and Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Accessibility, VDNH and Big City Lab teams. Veterans, military personnel, and families of active and deceased defenders also attended the event.
“This space is about dignity. The dignity of a person returning from the frontline or recovering from an injury. The dignity of our society is to be there for them, to create conditions that help. So, I hope it becomes a model that can be scaled up across the country”, – Olena Zelenska said during the event.
The concept of the garden was developed by the Big City Lab team in partnership with the PUPA architectural bureau. A multidisciplinary team of experts, together with veterans, defenders, and their families, worked on the project.
“The Garden will be based on areas for horticultural therapy, body practices (yoga, ergotherapy, adaptive sports ground), art therapy, and areas for individual relaxation. The garden should become a beautiful, visited and loved place that heals through visual, sound, and tactile contact with nature through specially selected plants. It will be convenient and barrier-free”, – explains Max Yakover, founder of the urban bureau Big City Lab.
We want the Therapeutic Garden to become an open, cosy and favourite place for Kyiv residents, the military and their families. And at the same time, we want this space to be extended throughout Ukraine. We want representatives of other cities to come here and say: ‘We want to have a space like this in our city.’
Therapeutic gardens should be located next to hospitals and rehabilitation centres, in places where they are visible and needed by people.
The Therapeutic Garden at VDNH can become a meeting place for international delegations to meet with the Ukrainian military.
The Therapeutic Garden is scheduled to open in August 2025.