Lviv wants to open a therapeutic garden inspired by Brno's Open Garden

Representatives of the Partnership Foundation welcomed a delegation from Lviv in Brno. The delegation came for inspiration from the Open Garden to build a similar center with a therapeutic function in Lviv. During their four-day stay, the delegates visited, besides the Open Garden, also the Nature House Dúbrava in Bažantnice, Sluňákov in Olomouc, and an herb garden in Valtice. The planned garden in downtown Lviv will become part of the Unbroken rehabilitation center to help people affected by the war.

Therapy in greenery

“It’s easy to think about Ukraine from the comfort of our homes only as a battlefield. To imagine only soldiers fighting and forget those returning from the front and those waiting for them. Few consider what will happen once the war ends. Yet every day people in Ukraine deal with the war's aftermath, often indirectly, and it’s important to help them return to normal life after traumatic events,” says Miroslav Kundrata, Strategic Director of the Partnership Foundation and leader of the Partnership for Ukraine program.

That’s why a delegation of Lviv city officials and NGO representatives traveled to Brno to draw inspiration for building an environmentally educational garden with a therapeutic program in downtown Lviv.

The planned therapeutic garden will complement the healthcare and rehabilitation ecosystem of Unbroken, founded by the city of Lviv, which focuses on many veterans and their families affected by the war.

“Currently, Lviv is a medical hub where many people undergo various forms of regeneration and rehabilitation,” adds Taras Kubaj, Director of Natural Resources, Construction, and Community Development at Lviv City Council. The garden is planned near the city center in Zalizna Voda Park. “Right now, about 150,000 refugees are in Lviv, but the real number is much higher. During the war, Lviv became a humanitarian hub through which about 5 million people passed, moving westward and to other countries.”

The main inspiration for the new garden came from Brno’s Open Garden of the Partnership Foundation, thanks to the mayor of Lviv’s spring visit. “The Open Garden was a pilot project that successfully tested adaptation measures for climate change and based on it, launched grant programs for city residents,” added Filip Chvátal, Brno’s Deputy Mayor for the Environment, who welcomed the delegation on behalf of the city.

This followed the June memorandum of cooperation between Lviv and Brno signed by mayors Markéta Vaňková and Andriy Sadovyi. On this occasion, the mayor of Lviv also visited the Open Garden for the first time and recognized its potential for therapeutic work with veterans.

Besides the Open Garden, the delegates recently visited the Nature House Dúbrava in Bažantnice, Sluňákov in Olomouc, and the herb garden in Valtice.

The Partnership Foundation's collaboration with Lviv began through the Partnership for Sustainable Reconstruction of Ukraine project, through which, since 2023, the Foundation has brought carefully selected local leaders—mayors, officials, and NGO workers from across Ukraine—to week-long inspirational internships in the Czech Republic. These internships provide local leaders with ideas on rebuilding damaged infrastructure to modern standards and avoiding mistakes that occurred in similar Czech projects.

“An equally important goal of the program is to help initiate specific projects in Ukraine and especially to connect our internship graduates long-term with Czech institutions and investors. But primarily, to link them with each other, creating a broad network of competent, motivated leaders who will influence Ukraine’s recovery locally and turn war destruction into opportunity!” adds Miroslav Kundrata, Strategic Director of the Partnership Foundation.