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SUPPORT FUND FOR BUCHA SCHOOL, a non-profit organisation working to design and build a school/kindergarten in the city of Bucha (Ukraine), is preparing to welcome a new participant. 2L Architects & Engineers, who have been partners in the design of the school so far, are joining the Fund's participation and decision-making team. 2L Architects & Engineers will contribute its invaluable experience in school construction and will replace Nullus UAB as a founding member of the Fund. The latter's withdrawal was initiated by the mutual agreement of the parties in order to protect the meaningful initiative of the Fund from the reputational risks currently faced by the Nullus' shareholder BaltCap Infrastructure Fond, due to an investigation launched to one of BaltCap's partners. We are pleased that, due to the collegial governance mechanism put in place at the time of the establishment of the SUPPORT FUND FOR BUCHA SCHOOL, the Fund has not suffered any harm and is not part of the investigation.

Due to the withdrawal of Nullus UAB, the SUPPORT FUND FOR BUCHA SCHOOL is no longer eligible for APVA (Aplinkos projektų valdymo agentūra - Environmental Project Management Agency, Lithuania) support under the successful application submitted by Nullus UAB, and therefore the contract between APVA and Nullus UAB has been terminated and, in this context, the amount reserved for the project, but cancelled through no fault of the Fund, will be subtracted from the amount of the donor contributions received to date and the amount of the donors' fixed commitments. On the other hand, we understand that reputation and stability are often more important than the promised subsidies, so we would like to thank the participants of the SUPPORT FUND FOR BUCHA SCHOOL: BT Invest UAB and the public institution 1K fund (VšĮ Vienas K paramos fondas), our partner and new participant 2L Architects & Engineers, who have been actively contributing to our noble cause to date, and those who have supported the fund with their competences, work and funding: Baust architects, hx6n - Hexagon Agency, Panevėžio statybos trestas, Novus Ukraine, FIRST PICK and all donors.

Our sincere thanks goes to all those who donated and believed in meaningful initiative of the SUPPORT FUND FOR BUCHA SCHOOL to build a school fully compliant with the requirements of the Ukrainian law and influenced by the best European solutions and innovations already applied in Lithuania. The school/kindergarten will be energy-efficient, independent of the city's heating network, gas, designed with a solar power plant on the roof of the entire building, geothermal boreholes that will not only provide full heat but also passive cold during the warm season. It will also have a stadium and a bomb shelter, as required in Ukraine, for all the staff and pupils (720 pupils and 160 kindergarten children), which will, among other things, have a number of alternative uses that will allow the use of this part of the building in the day-to-day running of the school/kindergarten.  The school/ kindergarten is planned to be fully finished and equipped and, after commissioning, will be donated to the town of Bucha with all its infrastructure and land plot. We hope that the school project, which has been prepared in accordance with modern requirements, will later be used as a model design for the construction of educational facilities throughout Ukraine.

On November 24, our team went to Bucha to show the school's design to the most important audience — students, teachers, school management, and the Bucha municipality administration. The students examined each floor plan in detail and shared their thoughts with the architects. Our team also gathered feedback on the interior design of the future school and kindergarten from teachers and educators.

Right now we are working on making the school interior, and the team of architects will make sure to include all the great suggestions from the kids and teachers in our next work steps. Meanwhile, the technical design of the school is almost ready, and we are preparing to obtain a building permit.

The big thank you to Bucha Lyceum No. 9 for helping us organise these helpful feedback sessions. And a special shout-out to the 10th-grade students and teachers who shared their thoughts during our discussions!

This September the Franciscan High School in Kretinga, Lithuania, organized a fair for European Countries Day, where students came together to raise money to support the construction of a new school in Bucha, Ukraine. Together students collected and donated more then 700 euros for the Bucha school fund. It is truly fantastic to see the involvement of kids in supporting the rebuilding of Ukraine.

Every donation matters to us! Thanks you all for the contribution to the Bucha School construction.

Dėkojame!

Link to the original post on a Kretinga school website: link.

On October 5 and 6, Ukrainian and Lithuanian architects and educators, representatives of government agencies and NGOs met in Vilnius to launch the «School of the Future for Ukraine» project. During the two-day workshop in Vilnius, participants discussed architectural, educational, social, environmental, and economic aspects of the concept of a new Ukrainian school. This joint study will serve as the basis for determining the criteria necessary for the implementation of the future technical design of a typical school.

We were grateful for the opportunity to join the discussion! Viktorija Blažienė, Head of the Architecture Department of the Bucha School, shared her experience of actively involving key users, including students, teachers, and parents, in the planning and construction of schools.

The «School of the Future for Ukraine» project, initiated by the Lithuanian government, aims to reconstruct Ukraine's educational infrastructure. The program aims to develop a standard technical school design that will save time and money on construction while creating an innovative learning environment.

Link to the article on a lietuva.lt: link.

The project team gathered in Vilnius Gravitas school to meet the kids from Ukraine and asked them – what is a perfect new school? All participants were divided into five groups and had to brainstorm and design ideas for several spaces in the school.

Nowadays, school is not only a second home for students – it is a hub for everything and everyone – sports, leisure and events. So, for best results, everyones‘ in the school community's needs have to be heard!

In collaboration with the Bucha municipality design team, administration members, Bucha school heads, teachers, investors, and project coordinators gathered to think about a new type of school for Bucha. All participants were divided into four groups and had to reflect on the problems and possibilities in existing schools. Their insights will be used to define the main tasks, challenges and needs for the further steps of the design process.

On August 18th, 2022, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Bucha mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk and Aivaras Karalius, a representative of an investment company from Lithuania and Member of the Management Board of Bucha School.

With this memorandum we established collaboration between the charity organisation «Support fund for Bucha school» and the City Council for the construction of a school and a kindergarten in a new neighbourhood of Bucha.

The new school is designed to accommodate 720 children, while the kindergarten will cater to 160 preschoolers. The school will feature thirty classrooms, libraries, computer labs, workshops, a stadium, a running track, gym and a multifunctional hall.

You can watch the signing of the memorandum here.