STEAM Lab Goncharyk — a project by the NGO “Vy.Mova” — has become an example of a new model of learning during wartime. Over the course of several months, the educational hub’s team in Mykolaiv held more than 280 classes in English, LEGO engineering, and creative workshops. A total of 224 children took part in the program, including many internally displaced children. The project’s goal was not only to provide knowledge but also to create a safe and supportive environment where children could feel calm and cared for.
“Goncharyk became a place where a child could finally breathe freely. There was no competition here — everyone supported each other. We saw how even those who were silent or avoided eye contact at first gradually began to speak, laugh, and help others. For us, this is not just an educational outcome — it’s a deeply human experience of community,” says lab mentor Kateryna Tlumak.
The lab combined learning with psychological support. Children were taught to communicate, work in teams, and overcome anxiety and insecurity. During the lab’s operation, there were 128 English lessons, 108 LEGO sessions, and 48 creative workshops. But as the team emphasizes, the most important results were the changes within the children themselves.
“Our goal was not just to complete a course. We wanted to create an environment where knowledge meets emotional safety — a place children want to return to not because they have to, but because they want to. And it worked. Kids who were once shy started speaking English in front of the class. Those who were afraid to make friends became team leaders,” says Tlumak.
About one-third of the participants were internally displaced children who had relocated to Mykolaiv from other regions of Ukraine. For many of them, Goncharyk became the first place since relocation where they felt stability and friendship.
“Many of our participants are children who lost their homes. At first, they were withdrawn, but gradually they began to smile, joke, and build LEGO cities together with local kids. They started to trust people again. And that, for us, is the main purpose of our work,” shares the mentor.
One of the key goals of the team was to change children’s perception of learning — to show that education can be engaging, dynamic, and emotionally fulfilling.
“We gave children the feeling that learning is freedom, not obligation. English became a tool for discovering the world, LEGO — a way to think like engineers and collaborators, and creative workshops — a space to express themselves. It was education through play, through experience, through life,” Tlumak explains.
The experience of Goncharyk became valuable not only for the children but for the entire community. Mykolaiv now has a new educational model — flexible, adaptive, and focused on development and emotional well-being.
“We proved that even in wartime it’s possible to create innovative solutions. High-quality free education, modern methods, and care for children’s emotional state must become the new standard. We’re proud that this experience can now be shared with other centers and schools,” concludes Kateryna Tlumak.
The Goncharyk project was implemented within the framework of the multi-donor initiative “Empowering Communities in Southern and Eastern Ukraine through Local Initiatives (EMPOWER)”, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ) together with the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
