Global News – MARIUPOL REBORN LAUNCHES URBAN RECOVERY ACADEMY WITH OXFORD TRAINING PROGRAMME

January 30, 2024

Source: Mariupol Reborn Academy

The Mariupol Reborn Academy brings together knowledge of urban regeneration following conflict for the first time
Unique resource for cities across Ukraine rebuilding after the impacts of the war

Kyiv, 29 January 2024 – Mariupol Reborn has run its first training course on urban recovery, under the new Mariupol Reborn Academy. The Academy pulls together all the knowledge the Mariupol Reborn team has developed as it has planned the fast recovery and long-term regeneration of the post-war Mariupol. It now provides a platform for communities across Ukraine to learn together and to expand the body of knowledge.

The first training course was run under a new programme set up by Associate Professor of Sustainable Urban Development at Oxford University, Vlad Mykhnenko. The course lasted for three days in the format of online Lunch Talks.

Mariupol Reborn was created by the Mariupol City Council, led by Mayor Vadym Boichenko, to build expertise in rebuilding the city after the war. It has worked with urban planners, experts in desovietisation and cities across Europe that have experience of rebuilding after war, building unique knowledge. The team is now making that available, through the Mariupol Reborn Academy, for all de-occupied and temporarily occupied communities across Ukraine.

Natalua Yemchenko, member of the Supervisory Board of Mariupol.Reborn and Director of Communications at SCM, said, “We are creating an educational process where we will gather the best expertise from Ukraine and beyond to answer specific questions. For example, what is the best energy system to use when restoring cities? What is the best way to rebuild and manage the water infrastructure? And that is just the very beginning, to stablise the situation before moving to regeneration. This knowledge exists, but not in one place and not in an easily-accessible way. There is no package of solutions for rebuilding a city and no manual. The Mariupol Reborn Academy is creating a center of expertise that brings all the knowledge together in one place while also providing the opportunity for further knowledge acquisition and sharing.”

The goal is the expansion of knowledge and the exchange of experience in recovery issues. One of the central activities is School of Urban Recovery, which is designed for municipal leaders and professionals involved in the high-quality restoration and development of the liberated territories.

Vadym Boichenko, Mayor of Mariupol, said, “The reconstruction of Ukraine is one of the main challenges communities will face after the war. There is no doubt that preparation now will pay huge divid