When a city is temporarily occupied, you cannot return to it. This does not, however, mean that it disappears—only the physical ability to be there is lost. The city lives on in its people—in their memories, in their culture, in the sense of belonging.
Everyone knows that Mariupol is temporarily occupied. Everyone knows about the drama theatre, the “Children” inscription, and even the many YaMariupol centres supporting their people across the country. But there is a part of this story that is discussed much less. And yet it was this part that inspired the project born out of participation in TIPS4UA.
“Everyone thinks of a church that’s been destroyed, or some cultural monument. But few people stop to think about the tremendous amount of intangible culture. Every region has its own unique dishes and recipes, passed over through the centuries from generation to generation. And when these ties are broken — when families no longer gather for holidays, and the older generation no longer passes on traditions to the younger one — much may be lost forever,” says Denys Kochubei, the Deputy Mayor of Mariupol.
This invisible, yet most vulnerable, aspect lies at the heart of a project currently being implemented by YaMariupol Charitable Foundation with the support of U-LEAD with Europe.
When an idea comes from experience rather than from documents
It all began with participation in TIPS4UA, a training and internship programme run by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in collaboration with U-LEAD with Europe and implementing partners in the EU. TIPS4UA helps to strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian municipalities in the areas of governance, planning and implementation of municipal projects. The programme combines training in project management with internships in European municipalities.
The choice of a partner for the placement seemed logical at first glance — Malta and Mariupol are both port cities, both by the sea. But when the municipality joined TIPS4UA, Mariupol had already been under temporary occupation for several years.
Denys Kochubei admits that the initial reaction was cautious. In his mind, Malta meant tourism — and didn’t really fit with the situation Mariupol was facing. But as he prepared for his placement, he found that the real connection between the cities had nothing to do with geography.
“I remembered the major migration crisis that Europe faced due to the war in Libya. The migrants’ route passed through Malta — a country with a population of, roughly speaking, half a million people, yet in just a couple of years it took in almost a million migrants. And I realised that in terms of expertise in helping people adapt, their experience had to be valuable. That indeed turned out to be the case,” he says.
During their internship in Malta, the visitors from Mariupol were struck by one more thing, the level of horizontal cooperation between local authorities. Small municipalities team up for joint projects, seek funding from European funds together, and sometimes build shared infrastructure — because the island is so small that it is sometimes difficult to even draw administrative boundaries between municipalities.
One phrase really struck a chord with me: Mario Fava, who heads the local association, said that they weren’t just small here — they were tiny. That was a real eye-opener for me,” says Kochubei. For him, this provided a framework for thinking: instead of focusing on limitations, look for the added value that can be created through partnership.
This framework became the basis for a project idea, which later developed into a grant agreement with U-LEAD with Europe.
A demand that has long been brewing
Alongside the internship, the team re-evaluated what the project should actually entail. The initial idea had shifted.
Mariupol municipality has been systematically monitoring its residents’ needs for several years now — through dialogue sessions at YaMariupol centres, active in 22 cities across Ukraine, as well as through sociological surveys. These studies revealed a consistent theme: people want to preserve their identity.
“Parents would say, ‘My child was two years old in 2022. She’ll soon be six. And I’d like her to know about her native city.’ People recognise the need to move on and integrate. And they are integrating. But while doing so, they also wish to remain part of Mariupol. These aspects coexist peacefully,” Kochubei explains.
Culture is not an additional factor here, but a central one. Mariupol, with its Azov Greeks, its Greek-Cossack cultural synthesis and its multi-ethnic urban fabric, is a heritage that stands to disappear along with its people if it is not preserved now. Collections have been destroyed, archives scattered, and intergenerational ties severed.
That is precisely why the project has taken on a different scale: not merely an event or a platform, but a structured space for preserving and transmitting memory — through exhibitions, discussion forums, digital archives and collaborative work with artists, researchers and the people of Mariupol themselves.
From idea to agreement
Not only did TIPS4UA provide experience, it also provided direction. The project proposal, conceived in the course of the programme, was evaluated and received funding. For YaMariupol, this is not a fresh start, as they have been working to preserve memory for a long time. However, the partnership with U-LEAD with Europe provided the scale and resources needed to move forward.
“We are already restoring intangible heritage sites. We found craftsmen who, using 19th-century drawings, have restored the collection of painted Easter eggs, Ikanycha-style pysanky — a unique ornament born from the fusion of Greek culture and Ukrainian tradition, which no longer exists anywhere else in Ukraine,” says Kochubei.
The project is already underway: with the first tranche received, the team has begun preparatory work. The agreement will see the creation of the Space of Local Identity, as well as the development of a comprehensive concept for the preservation of historical memory, which will serve as a guide for cultural events, digital archiving and municipal dialogue. A separate initiative is the Digital Steps programme for internally displaced elderly people that includes training in digital literacy, online safety and methods for preserving personal memories and archival photographs. A travelling art exhibition and a virtual tour of Mariupol are also in the plans.
The exhibition’s first stop will be Gdańsk, a long-standing sister city of Mariupol. There, the partners have agreed to hold a strategic session in cooperation with the Museum of the Second World War and the Solidarity Centre. Mariupol State University, which has relocated to Kyiv, has also joined the project.
For U-LEAD with Europe, supporting such a municipality is not an exception to the rule, but part of the mission.
“Decentralisation and municipal capacity are not just about land management; they are, above all, about people, institutions and the ties between them. Mariupol today exists scattered, but this municipality is alive — preserved in its people, in their interactions, in their longing to return. This is why supporting municipalities like this is part of our work: we help them retain their agency and prepare for the day of recovery,” says Viktoriia Trotsenko, the Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in Donetsk Oblast.
A project that lives on
Although the grant agreement is set to cover six months of active implementation, the elements it encompasses—archives, strategy, partnerships and community engagement—are designed to last much longer.
“We sought to show other municipalities that a devastated city is not the end. Government is, first and foremost, about people. If there is a community ready to take joint action, the municipality can be rebuilt even in exile. It is important to care for it in more ways than just financially, since people remain the bearers of identity and culture,” says Denys Kochubei.
These types of projects — ones that do not end with the grant — are a priority for U-LEAD with Europe.
“It is important to us that the initiatives we support spark lasting change, rather than being one-off activities. In the case of Mariupol, this involves building a comprehensive ecosystem for preserving identity, which has already brought together various partners and will continue regardless of funding,” adds Viktoriia Trotsenko.
