Pathways to Sustainable Prosperity in Ukraine: IGP launches Building Bridges White Paper at Somerset House

Eva Coulibaly-Willis

The Institute for Global Prosperity has launched its Building Bridges for Ukraine White Paper, the latest output in its initiative with Fast Forward 2030 to support long-term sustainable prosperity in a post-conflict Ukraine. Collaborators congregated at Somerset House to mark the launch of the timely report, which brings together the interdisciplinary insights of over twenty thought leaders, researchers and entrepreneurial innovators from across Ukraine and the UK.

“Building back better is something that Ukraine is involved in every day – rebuilding does not wait for peace,” Professor Dame Henrietta Moore, founder and director of the Institute for Global Prosperity, reminds readers in the opening pages. “Beyond the immediacy of creating shelter, care and safety for its citizens, Ukraine has undertaken an impressive commitment to designing its future.”

A panel discussion, hosted by Fast Forward 2030 co-founder Arthur Kay, explored ways of harnessing cutting-edge design and nature-based solutions to encourage refuge, healing and long-term sustainable prosperity for Ukrainian communities. “It’s about connections between central and local government,” Justin Morey, author of a chapter on Transit-Oriented Development pointed out, “ensuring benefits can be provided locally and to provide jobs in the future – not just for the nation, but for the people who live there.”

To discuss how to achieve this, the White Paper puts forward think pieces from a number of leaders including the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko as well Minister Gareth Thomas MP from the UK Department for Business and Trade, digital infrastructure pioneer Martha Lane Fox CBE and the Director of the new V&A East, Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford OBE. Aligning with their expertise, they explain what they believe reconstruction efforts need to achieve in their respective sectors, the challenges to be addressed along the way, and how cutting-edge ideas can inform successful delivery.

Ideas from a number of innovative enterprises are also platformed in the paper, who are already thinking ahead as they build sustainable and ethical business solutions for housing, urban design and construction. This includes housing laboratory METALAB and landscape architecture firm Kotsiuba, dedicated to transforming Ukrainian cities for their people, alongside companies like Biohm, adapting waste to develop circular construction materials out of bio-based materials.

“With innovative technologies and new approaches to manufacture and development, we can move away completely from requiring any non-renewable resources of any sort,” explained Biohm’s Chief Evolution Officer, Dr. Ehab Sayed during the panel. “And we’re able to achieve that through in-depth scientific advancements across various fields.”

To make the most of the diverse milieu of skills and knowledge between Ukraine and the UK, developing models that reinforce collaborative exchange and citizen engagement will be key. “We use Spiral Dynamics to understand the local context and then build injections of finance and funding to support the dynamic needs of local communities,” Dr. Sayed explained as an example. “It’s [a development model] used in peace negotiations as a way of understanding the world views that exist within a single culture or a single community.”

Building back better for Ukraine requires international support that strengthens the bonds between citizens, their cities and governments, and funding will be key for this. “We have to use that wealth while we've got it to build a really resilient and liveable sustainable country,” Peter Harrington from Arup pointed out onstage. “It's an incredible opportunity to fund the things that we've been talking about; but it's so easy to waste.”

Professor Dame Henrietta Moore, Founder and Director of the Institute for Global Prosperity reminds readers that “beyond the immediacy of creating shelter, care and safety for its citizens, Ukraine has undertaken an impressive commitment to designing its future.”

Read the paper here.