The Foundation for Support of Reforms in Ukraine supports the restoration of cultural heritage sites and infrastructure, because culture is not only about heritage, but also about sustainability and identity.
Recovery Support Unit
An important step in this direction was the creation of the Recovery Support Unit at the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in partnership with UNESCO, which is being implemented by the Foundation for Support of Reforms in Ukraine.
The main areas of work of the Recovery Support Unit:
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Restoration of destroyed cultural heritage sites;
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Providing advice to help communities find new solutions;
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Building the capacity of cultural institutions to become centres of revival;
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Creating conditions for human capital development through cultural services;
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Promoting digital tools that simplify heritage management.
Key achievements of the project
With the support of RSU experts:
- A national survey ‘Challenges for the Development of Culture in Communities’ was conducted, with 855 communities taking part. The results show that, despite the war, there is a growing demand for new cultural services, and communities are seeking to independently establish a network of cultural institutions.
- A landing page has been created for the CuRe cultural recovery platform. The initiative has become a cross-sectoral platform for strengthening the role of culture in recovery, social cohesion and sustainable development.
- The Register of the Basic Network of Cultural Institutions, the Register of Publishers, Producers and Distributors of Publishing Products, and the Register of the Museum Fund of Ukraine have been launched. Digital state registers open the way to a modern model of cultural sector management — one that is transparent and open.
- A guide on rapid response for damaged cultural heritage sites and cultural infrastructure has been developed for communities affected by hostilities or emergencies.
- 18 regulatory acts have been drafted to improve the regulation of the cultural sector.
- The Cultural Resilience Alliance — an international platform for the systematic integration of culture into processes of resilience, recovery, cohesion and innovative development — was presented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025).
- A concept for the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund has been developed—a multi-donor platform for mobilising resources to protect and restore Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
- The educational programme ‘Leadership and Partnership Building for Cultural Institutions’ has been launched, aimed at strengthening cooperation between the cultural sector and the business community.
- A series of thematic events was held: the forum ‘Cultural Decentralisation: Challenges and Prospects for Reform. Community Recovery through Culture’, a round table on ‘Digitisation of Immovable Cultural Heritage: Scanning and Standardisation of Architectural Objects in Digital Format’; the festival of intangible cultural heritage ‘Living Culture – Living World’; a round table on ‘Adapting immovable cultural heritage sites to ensure accessibility and meet the needs of people with reduced mobility’; and a conference on ‘Culture and Investment: Public-Private Partnerships, Philanthropy and Investment Projects’.
- An international conference entitled ‘Cooperation for Resilience’ was organised in Lviv. Following the conference, Ukraine attracted around UAH 100 million in new financial support for culture, expanded the Cultural Resilience Alliance and concluded a number of international agreements.
We believe that culture is a source of strength and unity even in the most difficult times. It helps us survive today and will be central to the country's recovery tomorrow.