From a destroyed greenhouse to a growing public garden: how donations found new life in Lviv

CCB • December 18, 2025

In 2022, amid the devastation caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a small but meaningful crowdfunding initiative - #ASeedForReblooming - was launched to support landscape architect Nina Radchenko. Today, that initiative has evolved into a powerful contribution to urban sustainability and community resilience in Lviv.

Nina Radchenko’s professional and personal journey has been deeply shaped by the war. Originally from occupied Horlivka, she relocated in 2014 to the village of Oleksandrivka in the Donetsk region, near Sviatohirsk. There, over eight years, she built the Oleksandrivka Garden Center, developing greenhouses and cultivating ornamental plants and vegetables with the support of international grants.


In the spring of 2022, the garden center, greenhouses, and Nina’s family home were destroyed due to the war. Forced to evacuate, Nina and her family eventually resettled first in Rivne and later in Kyiv, while Oleksandrivka became inaccessible due to the proximity of the front line and widespread landmining.


During a meeting in May 2022 in Järna, Sweden, Nina and her colleagues from Coalition Clean Baltic launched a crowdfunding campaign to help restore one of the destroyed greenhouses. Over two years and three months, the campaign raised €7,000. However, as the security situation worsened, it became clear that rebuilding in Oleksandrivka was no longer possible.

A thoughtful redirection of support


Faced with this reality, Nina proposed redirecting the collected donations to a project that could continue the spirit of her work — nurturing plants, people, and sustainable environments — in a safer place. The funds were transferred to support “Rozsadnyk,” a public space for eco-therapy and environmental education located in Zalizni Vody Park in Lviv.


"Probably when you lose a lot, you want to give something back. Every initiative should be long-term. After losing everything for the second time, I am very cautious about this. And I understand that it the activity must be in a safe place. This is a relatively safe place for now, although Ukraine as a whole is not a safe place at the moment. I want it to bring joy." said Nina.


Established in 2021 on the site of a former municipal flower farm, Rozsadnyk has grown through collaboration between local residents, NGOs, city authorities, international donors, and socially responsible businesses. To date, the space has hosted more than 220 public events — from clean-ups and gardening workshops to garden therapy sessions, literary meetings, and concerts — engaging over 4,000 participants.


The Green Bank: a new chapter


Redirected donations are now strengthening the creation of the Green Bank, the first public garden center in Lviv and in Ukraine. This initiative focuses on building a stock of planting material based on the principles of sustainable gardening: perennial, non-invasive plants that are resilient to urban conditions, require minimal maintenance, and help cities adapt to climate change.


The Green Bank is rooted in plants already growing on the site — many inherited from the former flower farm — and continues to expand through new purchases and community plant-donation campaigns. Volunteers and coordinators care for the plants together, turning the process into both a learning experience and a collective act of stewardship.

Who benefits and why it matters


The Green Bank supports initiative groups, schools, cultural and healthcare institutions, and the wider Lviv community by providing young, rooted plants for greening projects upon request. Beyond plants, it shares knowledge.


In the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, cities urgently need greener spaces. Traditional approaches (sterile lawns, annual flowers, and imported species) are costly and often ineffective. The Green Bank offers an alternative: nature-oriented, ethical, and cost-efficient urban greening.


Weekly open meetings, held every Wednesday during the summer, allow residents to learn hands-on techniques for propagating plants without peat, chemicals, or tap water, and to understand sustainable gardening as a daily practice, not just a theory.


Progress and impact so far


The first full season of the Green Bank (February–October 2025) has already delivered impressive results:

  • 282 participants involved in events
  • 23 events held
  • 24 plant species established
  • 1,195 plants successfully grown
  • Around 200 plants shared with the community


The season will conclude with further workshops, including a dedicated session led by Nina Radchenko, bringing her expertise full circle into this new chapter.

Strong partnerships for the future


The initiative is implemented in partnership with the NGO Plato, within Rozsadnyk, with the support of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv City Council and the territory’s balance holder, State Enterprise “Park – Vysokyi Zamok.” At the end of 2024, these partners, together with NGOs Plato and Ecoterra, signed a five-year cooperation agreement, securing the long-term development of Rozsadnyk as a space for environmental education and nature therapy.


From one greenhouse to a citywide impact


While the original greenhouse in Oleksandrivka could not be rebuilt, its legacy lives on. By redirecting donations to the Green Bank, supporters have helped transform loss into growth — not just of plants, but of community, resilience, and a greener future for Ukrainian cities.

Co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them. 

Tampering with EU Fisheries Policy would ‘open Pandora’s Box’, NGOs warn

By CCB • March 30, 2026
Brussels, 30 March 2026 - Today, Fisheries Ministers from EU Member States meet with the European Commission for the AGRIFISH Council. On this occasion, Oceana, BLOOM, ClientEarth, Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB), Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Seas At Risk and WWF EU, handed a symbolic ''Pandora’s Box'' to the EU Commissioner Costas Kadis, sending a clear message as the European Commission prepares its 2026 evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The box represents the risks of revising EU’s main fishery policy framework: once opened, competing demands from Member States, industry, small-scale fishers, and coastal communities could quickly spiral into division, regulatory delays and uncertainties. This would put at risk the hard-won progress made in restoring Europe’s fish populations and improving the profitability of the fishing sector. NGOs urge decision makers to build on the progress made to date and to prioritise the full and timely implementation of the existing rules. Reopening the CFP and its related provisions would undermine ocean health and the long-term future of Europe’s fishing communities. '' Europe's fisheries policy is facing a credibility test. The law is already there. The tools to rebuild our seas already exist. What's missing is the political will to deliver. Overfishing should have ended by 2020 at the latest. Reopening the CFP would signal that missed deadlines carry no consequences, erode trust, revert the progress made, and put the future of our fisheries and coastal communities at stake ’’, said the NGO coalition. *** Oceana: Vera Coelho, Executive Director and Vice President in Europe BLOOM: Claire Nouvian, Founder and General Director ClientEarth: John Condon, Lead of Marine Ecosystems Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB): Ida Carlén, Co-Chair Environmental Justice Foundation: Steve Trent, CEO/Founder Seas At Risk: Dr Monica Verbeek, Executive Director WWF EU: Ester Asin, Director

CCB´s submission to the EU Call for Evidence on the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)

By CCB • March 10, 2026
Uppsala, March 2026 - CCB has closely worked with the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) ever since its adoption and welcomed the opportunity to give feedback to this crucial directive for marine biodiversity and ocean health through the EU Call of Evidence . Evaluations conducted by the EU Commission previously found many positive effects for EU marine waters stemming from the directive, but also that the directive has some shortcomings. CCB however, maintains that the largest obstacle to fully implementing the directive and achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) is the lack of political will among Member States to do so. This forthcoming revision must therefore result in a framework directive that is more easily enforceable, measurable and implementable, accompanied by sufficient funding to carry out the measures. Furthermore, in order to achieve GES as fast as possible other key pieces of EU legislation must also support reaching it and focus on achieving the goals of the MSFD in their objectives. Seeing that European seas generally are in poor condition and under mounting pressure from human activities and that in the Baltic Sea the situation is especially dire there is an urgent need for truly ecosystem-based management of our seas and for reaching GES. The revised MSFD can help us achieve this, but only if it includes the points outlined below and the directive is fully and swiftly implemented: *** [Short version]*** Operationalise the overarching GES goal: EU sea areas were supposed to reach GES already in 2020, but due to low political ambition, sadly did not do so. Member States should therefore strive to reach GES as fast as possible now. Setting a new overall deadline for when to reach GES is not the answer on how to achieve this goal most efficiently, instead tools that address pressures and measure progress and ensure actual, timely implementation of ambitious measures must be included in the revised directive in order to operationalise achieving the overall GES goal. CCB therefore recommends making the existing and forthcoming threshold values for the descriptors and their criteria legally binding and part of the main directive. Improving regional coordination and implementation: To improve the coherence, coordination and effectiveness of MSFD implementation, assessment of GES, monitoring and the national PoMs the role of the Regional Seas Conventions (RSCs) must be clarified. CCB would welcome collating all the national PoMs into one regional PoM for the Baltic Sea, which should be aligned with, in addition to reaching the goals of the MSFD, with achieving the goals of the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP). Land-sea interface: For the Baltic Sea to achieve GES it is key that land-based pressures, primarily nutrient runoff from agriculture causing severe eutrophication, is also addressed and that implementation of the MSFD goes hand in hand with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The goals of the MSFD and achieving GES should also be included when implementing and shaping the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as any synergies with implementing the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan which are also important to identify and utilise. The Baltic Sea also has a too high prevalence and level of other pollutants and hazardous substances affecting marine life. Fisheries and aquaculture: As one of the main pressure factors on the marine environment in general, as well as in the Baltic Sea, fisheries and aquaculture and the effects they have on the marine ecosystem and its biodiversity must be addressed in order to achieve GES. This is especially crucial when considering the MSFD descriptor for Biodiversity (D1), Fish and Shellfish (D3), Food webs (D4) and the one for Seabed integrity (D6). Climate change: Climate change is also affecting the Baltic Sea faster than other marine regions and must be factored in when managing the sea area and its resources to ensure EBM and the full implementation of the MSFD and achieving GES. The effects of the climate crisis should be accounted for when setting pressure reduction targets and threshold values for the descriptors and their criteria, in a way that when an effect cannot be measured nor predicted the precautionary principle must be used. Revising Art. 14 of the MSFD: Article 14 in the MSFD outlines the acceptable exceptions when reaching GES is not possible. The article needs to be revised in the forthcoming revision, since it contains too many and too broad in scope possibilities for exemptions (e.g. in Art. 14(4)), which jeopardise the implementation and fulfilment of the directive as a whole. A possible way of modifying it would be to introduce an obligation for Member States to demonstrate that they have taken all measures within their control nationally and that they have tried to address the problem and advance solving it on a regional level through cooperating with other Member States, before they can apply for a possible exemption. Make the Programme of Measures contain ambitious & concrete measures: One of the cornerstones of the MSFD is the national PoMs that are published every six years and are precluded by an assessment of GES in national waters and a monitoring programme. Unfortunately, the current approach to PoMs where Member States freely can choose measures has led to an overall too low level of ambition in the PoMs, and to large differences within regions and between neighboring countries in terms of which measures are included. In order to fully implement the directive and to achieve GES it is of paramount importance that the national PoMs have a high level of ambition and contain concrete, implementable measures and that there is regional coordination. Easing the reporting burden: One of the results from the evaluation of the MSFD was that the current reporting burden is considered to be too high and a possible way to address this is to align the reporting obligations of the MSFD to more reassemble those of the WFD, that has a more simplified 6-year cycle compared to the MSFD. The implementation cycle however should not be revised or at least not in a way that delays reaching GES. Improve coherence with other legislation: To ensure that the revised MSFD is fully implemented it is essential that coherence with other relevant legislation is improved. The MSPD (foundation for the forthcoming Ocean Act) is also currently being revised and to reach the goals for both the directives achieving GES needs to be a cornerstone of the Ocean Act. This is the only way to deliver truly ecosystem-based management of our seas, and the revision of both directives should therefore be coordinated and focused on achieving GES. CCB looks forward to continuing to provide input to the revision process of the MSFD as well as working with the implementation of the MSFD, especially in the Baltic Sea. CCB expects that the revision will result in a more enforceable directive that leads to the fast implementation of ambitious measures to improve the state of the Baltic and European Sea areas and to the achievement of GES. The full text of the submission is available here . *** Links to supplemental documents supporting our positions: CCB’s submission to the Call for Evidence for the Ocean Act Guiding Recommendations for Source-to-Sea Restoration in Riverine, Coastal, and Marine Ecosystems (Coalition Clean Baltic, 2025) Position Paper on Marine Protected Areas (Coalition Clean Baltic 2024) Don’t sink the Common Fisheries Policy – fulfil its potential (joint NGO Briefing 2025) Blue Manifesto (joint NGO paper)