Aspen Kyiv Challenge on 1+1: How Teenagers Are Already Transforming Their Communities

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” This idea—and how it comes to life in practice—was the focus of a conversation on 1+1 TV, featuring Yuliya Tychkivska, Executive Director of Aspen Institute Kyiv, together with Aspen Kyiv Challenge participants Dariia Riabokon and Bohdan Ivakhnenko.

“The idea behind Aspen Kyiv Challenge is to show that you don’t have to wait for someone else to solve your community’s problems—you can start acting yourself. We brought together teenagers from Bucha and Borodianka and invited them to identify the challenges facing their communities—from supporting veterans to creating opportunities for young people. But the programme was never just about discussing those challenges. It was about developing solutions and putting them into practice. What we witnessed was the remarkable ability of these young people to create meaningful change and help build the communities where they want to live,” said Yuliya Tychkivska, Executive Director of Aspen Institute Kyiv.

One of the projects developed through the Aspen Kyiv Challenge youth leadership programme is the Interactive Memory Route of Borodianka. Dariia, Bohdan, and their team guided the initiative from start to finish—from identifying a local challenge to designing and implementing a solution.

The project grew not only from a desire to bring together Borodianka’s many stories into a shared narrative, but also from the participants’ own wish to better understand their hometown and show that Borodianka is defined by far more than the experience of occupation. The team created an interactive map with QR codes that reveals these stories while guiding visitors along a route through the town, encouraging them to see familiar places from a new perspective.

Much of the research was carried out by the participants themselves. They worked with archives and libraries, interviewed historians and local residents, and reconstructed historical context that could otherwise have been lost.

Aspen Kyiv Challenge is implemented in partnership with the Aspen Institute Centre for Rising Generations, with support from the Aspen Institute International Partners Global Fund, and in collaboration with the Klitschko Foundation.