Vidnova Fellows
We are proud to have supported over 230 fellows across all program lines. These dedicated professionals from Ukraine continue to shape civil society through their work in activism, human rights, education, culture, mental health and more.
Our fellows form a growing network — a space for connection, collaboration, and peer learning. We support them through community meetings, networking events, and access to the Bosch Alumni Network.
Our Fellows
Vita is a housing researcher based in Lviv. Before the war, her research focus was developing a social housing system in Ukraine. Now, it has shifted to the right to housing in war-time.
Within Vidnova Lab Vita and Iryna Shapovalova investigate the private rental market in Ukraine as it accommodates most internally displaced people (IDP). They work on creating a prototype of sustainable housing solutions for IDPs.
right to housing
vulnerability
displacement
IDPs
Ganna Bogachuk
Fellowship
Ganna moved from Brovary to Vilnius, Lithuania. She plans to work on the project “Identity”, which investigates the factors that influenced identity formation through the prism of personal memories of women from the eastern, southern, and central regions of Ukraine. Plans to conduct 15 more interviews.
Maria Burmaka
Fellowship
Maria Burmaka was born in Kharkiv and now lives in Kyiv. Musician, author, and journalist, Maria performs at charity concerts to raise funds for the military and people affected by the war. She performed at a charity concert in Lviv, recorded the soundtrack for the documentary film “Azovstal. Shelter of Love”, and also gave an interview for RBC Ukraine about the challenges for culture in the conditions of war.
Yuliia comes from Zhytomyr and moved to Falkensee. Her project in the frame of Vidnova Europe aimed to inform and integrate Ukrainians living with HIV and fleeing from the war to Germany. It focused on the first steps of the Ukrainian community to create a sustainable network of peer counselors in the field of HIV support throughout Germany. The project was realized with the support of Yullia’s host organization, Positive Ukrainer in Deutschland e.V.
HIV
network
Victoria Palma
Fellowship
Victoria Palma is originally from Crimea and later lived in Kherson and Odesa before moving to France. She is a multidisciplinary artist and founder of the literary and exhibition space ART-КHATА. She is working on the project Monochrome of Being, in which she engages in a dialogue on binarity and non-binarity through graphic works. As part of the fellowship, he plans to organize several exhibitions.
social activism
visual arts
queer activism
returnees
Evgeniya Melkonyan
Fellowship
Evgeniya Melkonyan lived in Irpin and moved to Tarragona, Spain. She plans to work as a facilitator on a creative, restorative movement and voice laboratories project that will help people cope with anxiety, find support again, and recover. She wants to hold about three events in different cities of Ukraine.
Lyudmyla Hural lives and works in the border region of Sumy. Fifteen years ago, she made a radical shift in her professional path, leaving university teaching to begin working in the cultural sector from scratch. Today, she is a co-founder of the NGO “Creative Sumy Region Agency,” where she focuses on preserving the cultural potential of frontline territories and protecting and promoting the cultural heritage of the border region. Her work is dedicated to sustaining local identity and resilience through culture in times of crisis.
culture
cultural heritage
local identity
Alisa Zhuravel
Fellowship
Alisa Zhuravel is from Kyiv and lived in Munich and New York after the outbreak of a full-scale war. She is a social researcher and initiator of the TOZHSAMIST project. Of Ukrainian and African descent, Alisa started a discussion about national identity and diversity in Ukraine as part of the TOZHSAMIST project, which aims to promote a sense of belonging and social cohesion among Ukrainians.
national identity
social activism
support for vulnerable groups
returnees
Nataliia Mysak
Lab
Nataliia Mysak is an architect and independent researcher based in Lviv. She is currently developing the Spatial Practices Lab, focusing on alternative approaches to architectural production that can support emerging urban commons in times of crisis. Within this program, she is leading the research project “Architecture of New Alliances,” a horizontal university initiative that explores the commoning of architecture and seeks to uncover the potential of new disciplinary alliances.
participatory urban development
urban commons
spatial practices
participation
Iryna Yakovchuk is the co-founder of Urban Curators, an interdisciplinary team focused on spatial research, participatory urban development, and urban management. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the team shifted its focus to supporting people affected by the war. Alongside Metalab, they co-founded the “CO-HATY” project, which provides housing for those who lost their homes. What began as a volunteer initiative has grown into a professional organization that builds homes and communities with care and dignity. Iryna is now helping develop the CF “CO-HATY” and is part of the team creating long-term housing for around 150 IDPs in Kalush.
#Housing #IDPs #SocialCohesion #CoHaty #VidnovaProgram #VidnovaLab #Vidnova
work with vulnerable groups
housing
IDPs
social cohesion
Khrystyna Semeryn
Fellowship
Khrystyna Semeryn from Ostroh moved to Germany, where she worked at a university. She plans to create essays with intellectual reflection on war and society (“Memory Landscapes, War & Resistance Ecologies of Ukraine”, “Language of Love and Freedom”) and a series of reports on war and memory.
Natalya Korbut
Fellowship
Natalia Korbut was born in Zhytomyr and now lives in Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Region. Natalya decided to focus her activities on supporting people who temporarily moved to Berdychi due to the war. She was engaged in charitable coaching sessions for women who need support, organized clubs for youth, women, and entrepreneurs, and organized an online project on conscious living in 2023.
Iryna Shcherba
Fellowship
Iryna moved from Zhytomyr to Poland, Warsaw. Iryna creates a program of psychological rehabilitation centers for our defenders and their families. She is also working on centers where working mothers can leave their children for the period of work, as well as find hourly work based on these centers.
Ivanna comes from Ivano-Frankivsk and lives in Torino. The initiative “Rozmova: The War, the World and I” took place in Piemonte, Italy, at the end of July, and gathered 17 young Ukrainian activists. It’s aim was to create a space for the participants to meet, share experiences, and make common future actions. The participants engaged in various activities, discussions, personal and group reflections, brainstorming, and mediation. It sparked an active community that keeps meeting and working together.
Ukrainian activists
networking
Anastasia Leonova
Fellowship
Anastasia Leonova moved from Kharkiv to London, Great Britain. Anastasia co-founded the publishing house “IST” (istpublishing.org), specializing in publishing non-fiction literature. She will deal with the publishing process of Susan Sontag’s book “Regarding the Pain of Others”, which touches on military photography and ethics.
Kira Okhriemenko
Fellowship
Public activist Kira was born in the Sumy region and now lives in Brovary, Kyiv region. She created a working environment for elderly women from the villages of Sumy Oblast within the “My.Relatives” project. Kira also became a speaker at the event dedicated to the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, “Cafe Kyiv – We Choose Freedom” on February 27, 2023, in Berlin.
