“Where words end, memory begins…” This is the core message of the project “Joint Memory: Voices, Places, Paths,” implemented by the “Northern Cultural Capital” with the support of the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine program. The program is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden, in cooperation with the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine, the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chernihiv City Council, the Chernihiv District Council, and the Ivanivka community.
Since 2023, as part of the “European Heritage Days,” we have traveled September cycling routes: Chernihiv — Kolychivka — Ivanivka — Lukashivka — Anysiv — Chernihiv. Special thanks to Olha Vovchenko for the warm welcome at the lavender oasis in the village of Kolychivka. Initially, these were cycling trips taken by Oleksandr Shevchuk, Kateryna Lytvyn, Oleksandra Fedorenko, Alex Siryk, Valentyn Bobyr, Yana Bobyr, Lesya Maltseva, and Tetiana Kuznetsova-Molodsha to Hryhoriy Tkachenko in the village of Lukashivka—conversations, stops, questions, and the silence that followed the stories we heard. This brought a very clear understanding: these places must not only be remembered, but they also need to be marked, documented, heard, and passed on.
Because the spring of 2022 left its own markers here: in Lukashivka, the destroyed church stands as a painful symbol of the loss of cultural heritage; in Anysiv, the “road of life” will forever remain more than just a line on a map for those who survived; in Kolychivka, Ivanivka, and Chernihiv, these are stories of shelling, combat, ruined homes, destroyed infrastructure, human losses, mutual aid, and the strength to hold on.
Now, in 2026, we have reached the point where the phrase “this must be preserved” transitions into practical implementation.
Ahead lies work with local communities, meetings with residents, sociological surveys, scientific expeditions, identifying memorial sites, preparing a map, a guidebook, an academic publication, information stands, and an electronic platform where we will gather as much material as possible about the events of spring 2022 in Chernihiv and the Chernihiv region.
The first official step was the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the project partners:
The Chernihiv District Council, represented by Chairperson Tetiana Kuznetsova-Molodsha; the Ivanivka Village Council, represented by Community Head Olena Shvydka; the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chernihiv City Council, represented by Director Oleksandr Shevchuk; and the NGO “Northern Cultural Capital,” represented by organization representative Kateryna Lytvyn.
This Memorandum represents shared responsibility: to the people who lived through the spring of 2022; to the communities whose stories must be heard; and to the places that have already become part of our collective memory.
Together with the community, we intend to preserve these voices, mark these paths, and do everything possible so that memory does not remain solely within the personal pain of survivors, but becomes understandable, accessible, and worthily represented to others.
Preserve to remember. Remember to pass on.
The project “#JointMemory: Voices, Places, Paths” has officially launched.
The Partnership for a Strong Ukraine program is a multi-donor initiative funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.
