Oneworks illustrates second phase of Mykolaiv Reconstruction Masterplan

On 3 May 2023, the “Build Back Better – A vision for Mykolaïv” workshop was hosted the Oneworks headquarters in Milan. With the participation of the Mayor of Mykolaïv Oleksandr Syenkevc, the workshop officially opened the second phase of the work for the development of the Masterplan for the reconstruction of the Ukrainian city.

The intervention is part of the “UN4Mykolaiv” project born under the aegis of UNECE, which operated as the matchmaker between the institutions of UN4Mykolaiv and Oneworks, partner of the Center of Excellence on sustainable finance for infrastructures and smart cities (ExSUF) of UNECE and LIUC – Cattaneo University.

In particular, during the Workshop, Oneworks and its academic partners Politecnico di Milano and LIUC University, the technical partners GISDevio (digitization), Systematica (traffic models), LAND (landscape), illustrated the results of the first phase that sees them all involved pro-bono, together with the authorities and institutions of the city of Mykolaïv, in an impressive work of analysis and preliminary planning for the reconstruction of the city,  among the most important cities in Ukraine and among the most affected by the war.

A very indispensable and strategic phase in order to offer background information on the physical, social and economic context, in constant transformation, as well as to share the common objectives defined with a participatory approach between institutions and population. The results of this work represent the basis for allowing the team of local experts together with the international one, which already sees the participation of the Danish company COWI and which will be expanding, to collaborate to develop, ideally by next year, the real masterplan that, in the coming decades, will guide the reconstruction of Mykolaïv.

The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Syenkevc, commenting on the work of the workshop, said: “During our collaboration, Oneworks has done a huge amount of preparatory work for the creation of a new masterplan of the city. For our part, we have provided the company’s specialists with all the necessary information and access to our georeferencing system. A particularly important part of the work for the residents of Mykolaiv was their involvement in studying the situation in the city. It is important for them to understand what changes await the city, and participate in the reconstruction process. I am sure that the specialists from Oneworks and the partners it involved were able to better understand the context thanks to the results of the survey. The international technical team also intends to involve the universities of Mykolaiv and local experts, in order to encourage the development of the skills of the city community. I am pleased to have met, during my visit to Milan, the entire team working on the future of Mykolaïv. I was happy to see a very prepared team covering a wide range of skills. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Oneworks and the entire team to achieve a resilient and successful recovery for the city of Mykolaiv through the development of this innovative planning tool. So, as they say in Ukraine, let’s keep working!”

After the conclusion of the first phase of the work that could be carried out thanks to the pro bono involvement of the initial core of the partners, and that in line with the mission defined by UNECE with the “UN4” program, immediately involved public organizations and private companies, the second phase of development of the reconstruction masterplan will require sufficient financial resources to cover the entire design needs, overall estimated at around 5 million euros.

To this end, Oneworks, as coordinator of the team, will promote the establishment of a Foundation in which, in addition to conferring as an asset the work already done by the founding partners, the funds that will be made available by public and private entities for the development of the reconstruction Masterplan that will follow a model of Public-Private Partnership will be paid. In addition, the funds raised will allow the design development of the pilot interventions already identified, in line with the methodology proposed by the Norman Foster Foundation for “UN4”: an approach that aims to immediately involve architects, engineers and international consultants in the grounding of design solutions, in specific areas, to generate a virtuous learning process that allows to apply the principles to the whole city, accelerating its reconstruction.