Milestones of Just Transition in the Coal Communities of Lviv Region
Representatives of GIZ Ukraine, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) — represented by Cyriac Massué, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the State Enterprise “Ukrvuhlerestrukturyzatsia,” the Association of Coal Communities of Ukraine, the Lviv and Volyn Regional State Administrations, as well as the Ladyzhyn community, visited the Sheptytskyi and Dobrotvir communities to explore successful projects implemented as part of the just transition.
The delegation visited several key locations, including the Just Transition Hub in Sheptytskyi, the Renewable Energy Center at the Chervonohrad Vocational Mining and Construction Lyceum, the dormitory of the Chervonohrad Vocational College of Mining and Economics, an air quality monitoring station, and the dormitory of the Dobrotvir Lyceum.
"We are grateful to GIZ Ukraine and the German government for organizing this visit and especially for supporting the implementation of projects that we can see now and evaluate in person. Thanks to the joint efforts of our German partners, local authorities, and active communities, we are already able to showcase successful examples in coal communities that have embarked on the path of just transition. The experience and outcomes we’ve gained inspire us to take even more ambitious steps — to develop and implement larger-scale projects in the near future," stated Andriy Tabinskyy, CEO of the Association of Coal Communities of Ukraine.
At the end of the visit, the delegation stopped by the “Field of Happiness” — a picturesque lavender field near Lviv. The choice of this final stop was highly symbolic, as lavender cultivation is one of the methods used for mine land reclamation in Germany. Lavender thrives in poor, sandy soils typical of former mining sites, requires minimal irrigation, and helps breathe new life into degraded landscapes by attracting tourists and supporting the local economy.
