Groundbreaking for Children's Living Places in Ukraine

After a thorough review of infrastructure, security and authorities’ capacity to support housing arrangements for foster families, SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine (SOS Ukraine) chose Dubliany, a suburb of Lviv in Western Ukraine as the first location for the Children’s Living Places project. This project aims to take a leading role in reforming the childcare system in Ukraine, promoting preventive social work and alternative family-based care for children without parental care, rather than placement in institutions.

Lviv City Council recently signed the lease for a land plot, paving the way for construction to begin on October 14^th.

This is what the finished houses are planned to look like. Illustration from EFFEKT.

Children’s Living Places was officially announced at the Ukraine Investment Forum 2.0 in Copenhagen in 2024, with participation of Danish Minister of Business Morten Bødskov, then newly appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine Julija Svyrydenko, SOS Children’s Villages Denmark and Ukraine and several coalition partners.

Groundbreaking marks start of better care and better homes

Facts

The Children’s Living Places project will build new family-based care environments in Ukraine in three different locations supporting the change from institution to foster family care in Ukraine
In November 2024, the “Strategy for Ensuring the Right of Every Child to Grow Up in a Family Environment’ (2024-2028)” was passed by the Ukrainian Government. The strategy includes a comprehensive review of legislation in childcare.
Each cluster of Children’s Living Places houses will consist of three family homes, one social centre, one pavilion and one bomb shelter as per Ukrainian law on three locations across Ukraine
The principles of the Living Places concept are to create homes that are healthy, affordable, simple, shared over time, and scalable
As of February 2025, 236,000 residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed according to Kyiv School of Economics
As of February 2025, the United Nations Development Programme estimates the reconstruction cost will be 524 billion US dollars

The groundbreaking event marks new beginnings not only for the families and their new community, but also for Ukraine’s challenged childcare system, while contributing to the rebuilding of the country’s many destroyed homes.

Foster families, residents from the surrounding neighbourhood, members of Lviv City Council and partners from the large coalition of international partners behind the project will gather at the event to celebrate the new addition to the community.

The homes will be built according to the Living Places principles, an open-source concept developed by the VELUX Group, EFFEKT architects and Artelia engineers, aimed to create healthier, more sustainable homes.

This is the plot of land Children’s Living Places will be built upon.

Construction of the homes in Lviv is expected to be completed in early 2026, while the second and third locations for Children’s Living Places homes in Ukraine will be announced in 2026.

The coalition behind Children’s Living Places consists of SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine, SOS Children’s Villages in Denmark, the Villum Foundation, Viessmann Foundation, Grundfos Foundation, Bitten & Mads Clausen Foundation, DOVISTA, Somfy Foundation, VELUX Ukraine, Artelia, Kromann Reumert, DFDS, iC Cube, Archymatyka and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO).

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We are very pleased to announce Lviv as the hosting municipality for our first Children’s Living Places location. In addition, we are grateful to Lviv City Council, which is very supportive and wants to be an active partner in reforming care for children in Ukraine. We look forward to developing the site with our partners, beginning construction of the houses and identifying the foster families, who will make these houses their homes

Anastasiia Osadcha, Implementing Project Manager of Children’s Living Places, SOS Ukraine