Cosy Kindergartens Watch video

Transforming underground shelters into cosy and playful spaces.

Ukrainian educational institutions are having to work in new conditions, and many of these are underground shelters. Spending time underground as a child is never the preference, but for now, safety must come first.

However, for children, these spaces urgently need improvement from a sanitary and psychological health point of view, so that children feel emotional safety when entering the spa...

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Ukrainian educational institutions are having to work in new conditions, and many of these are underground shelters. Spending time underg...

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Join the communities already benefitting from starting a Cosy Kindergartens

You'll get guides and resources on how to bring this idea to life.

There is no funding available for this idea, but these resources will still help to make your project happen!

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When the alarm sounded for the first time, the children did not get scared, on the contrary, they lowered themselves and began to look at the walls. They were jumping up and down, happy that everything was so painted, interesting, colourful.

Cosy Kindergartens
Tetyana Morozenko
director of the "Kozachok" kindergarten

How to start a project on ChangeX

  • 1

    Create your project page

    Click the green start button to register and set up your project page. It’s quick, free and easy.

  • 2

    Complete a 30 Day Challenge

    Complete simple steps in 30 days to get your project off the ground.

  • 3

    Activate your project

    Follow the 5 Step Guide and your action plan to bring the project to life.

  • 4

    Share impact

    Share impact by posting a summary and photos and completing a survey.

Great for

  • Someone who works with or has access to children in underground shelters
  • Someone who is passionate about doing what they can to protect children from the psychological trauma of war
  • Someone who wishes to make underground shelters more child-friendly

Cosy Kindergartens project essentials

5 Step Guide

  • Identify the shelter you'll transform
  • Brainstorm your vision for the shelter
  • Plan for functional needs in the shelter
  • Get creative with how you might beautify the space!
  • Spread the word to those who could benefit

Time

Suggested: Transforming your shelter can take as short or as long as you would like it to. We'd suggest setting aside two weekends. Using the first weekend to plan out the transformation and sourcing materials, and the second weekend to implement your vision. That way you also wouldn't disrupt children who might use the space during the week.

Resources

More information on how to get started and any resources shared by the Cosy Kindergartens

38 Cosy Kindergartens projects have already been started

See where

Meet the Social Innovator

These recommended steps and guides have been collated from a variety of open-source articles written by Ukrainian community members. We encourage you to check them out to draw inspiration for your own transformation of an underground shelter!

38 Cosy Kindergartens projects have already been started

See where

Members

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why a 30 day challenge?

    The 30 Day Challenge was developed by our Team based on our experience working with communities. We’ve learned that the first weeks are critical to build momentum and get off to a good start with any community project. Teams who complete these steps within the first month are much more likely to successfully complete their project!

    The Challenge is a series of simple steps that each applicant has to complete to get their project off the ground and unlock funding, if there is funding currently available for that idea in your region. Steps include watching a video and/or reading content, having a call with a ChangeX team member, forming a team so that you have support, having your first team meeting, sharing a team photo, and sharing a project action plan.

  • What can funding be used for?

    Once funding is received it can be used to cover direct set-up costs of the new community project. For example space rental, insurance fees, seeds and planting materials, tools, training fees; pretty much any materials you might need for a project that benefits your community.

    Funds cannot be used for the costs of work that has already been carried out, costs unrelated to the setup and maintenance of the new project, payments to group members for their work on the project. Funds can’t be used for the promotion of religious causes, non-charitable activities, sponsorship or fundraising events. Please read the terms and conditions for further details.

  • How do I know if there is funding available?

    On idea pages, if there is funding available for the idea in your region you will see “Funding available” and the region listed in the turquoise box. When you first login you will also see a green banner at the top of the screen saying “live funds near you” if there is funding available in your region. The ChangeX homepage will feature those live funds near you.

    A note on the waitlist: when all the funding has been allocated to applicants, new applicants will go on a waitlist. If some applicants that are in the fund don’t successfully complete the 30 Day Challenge their funding will be released and can be then allocated to those on the waitlist. To see if you are going on a waitlist check the main fund page, ideas fully allocated will have the note “Join the waitlist” instead of “Apply to start”.

  • What is ChangeX?

    ChangeX is a platform that connects communities to proven ideas and funding.

    By empowering local changemakers with proven ideas from social innovators and accessible funding from our partners, we aim to build healthier, more inclusive and sustainable communities. Our work is aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and together with our partners, we aim to impact 1 billion people globally by 2030.

    • Communities: Get the funding, resources and support you need to start impactful projects in your community.
    • Social innovators: Connect with local changemakers, access funding to scale your idea, and impact more communities globally.
    • Funders: Fund the themes and regions they care most about, with measurable impact, and at global scale.

    We believe that by bringing the best social innovations and the world’s changemakers together in a shared community, we can accelerate the spread of innovations across the world and have a bigger impact. Together we aim to unleash the potential of changemakers by enabling collaboration, by sharing knowledge and resources, by connecting changemakers across different disciplines and innovations and by opening up access to the world’s best proven social innovations to everyone.

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