The Grassroots Institute specializes in developing the skills and potential of individuals and attempts to deliver multicultural education and training. Capacity building activities include facilitation of effective human resource, democratic participation and community involvement in field programs, improved quality and equity in community initiatives, and integration of advocacy perspectives. It offers uniquely relevant, international-quality and professional education opportunities for the potential leaders, managers and field personnel of development projects of government agencies, support agencies, academic institutions, NGOs other civil society organizations.
Our training and capacity building activities are divided into a) International Trainings; b) Project-Based Trainings & CB; and c) Customized Trainings.
The Grassroots Institute organizes for global audiences and trainees the following two types of programs.
Majority of our field-based projects operating under “Action & Field Programs” inculcate the trainings and capacity building of the stakeholders and participants of the projects. We thrust upon the active participation and involvement of the beneficiaries and local communities/citizens. Depending on the nature of the field-based project or a study project, we propose the capacity building actions within the design of the project. The examples of the field-based projects are listed below.
Series of Eco-Lessons for School & University Students
“ECO-AWARE: School of Conscious Decisions” and “Eco-Explorers: The School of Conscious Choices” initiative was conceived and planned in the spring of 2025 by The Grassroots Institute. The initiative was designed to encourage young people to critically evaluate the promises and challenges of renewable energy while cultivating an ecological culture and a sense of civic responsibility. Through these programs, students were not simply given information but were invited to participate in meaningful debates, reflection, and analysis. The discussions aimed to highlight both the potential benefits and the unintended consequences of energy projects, while also linking environmental education to broader issues of democracy, civic engagement, and Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. These programs demonstrated the Institute’s philosophy that environmental education must go beyond the classroom, building a foundation of ecological awareness that empowers students as active citizens and future leaders. By partnering with schools, teachers, and administrators, the Grassroots Institute created a supportive environment where young people could learn, question, and contribute to conversations that affect the future of their communities and the nation.
Eco-Lessons on Wind Energy
As part of the broader educational programs, the Grassroots Institute organized eco-lessons on the theme “Wind energy – for or against?” The first lesson took place on April 1, 2025, at Uzhhorod Lyceum No. 3, where students, teachers, and Institute representatives discussed the benefits and potential risks of wind power. Students considered not only how wind farms operate and their role in renewable energy, but also how poor planning could harm local landscapes and ecosystems. Real-life examples, such as controversial wind farm proposals in the Borzhava and Runa Mountain ranges, helped students connect global energy debates with the challenges facing their own region. The second eco-lesson, held on May 23, 2025, at Uzhhorod Lyceum No. 15 and led by Olha Volodymyrivna Donets, expanded the discussion to Ukraine’s green energy transition, post-war recovery, and future job opportunities in the renewable sector. Later, the program reached Kyiv Lyceum No. 179, where students themselves presented research on alternative energy sources, illustrating the effectiveness of the participatory model. Across all schools, the eco-lessons successfully fostered dialogue, analytical thinking, and student engagement, while teachers and administrators played a vital role in embedding ecological learning into school curricula. Looking ahead, the Grassroots Institute plans to expand these eco-lessons to more schools in Zakarpattia and beyond, ensuring that young people gain the knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to make conscious decisions about sustainability, energy, and environmental stewardship in their personal and professional futures.
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Empowering Youths through Capacity Building
The Grassroots Institute has supported and participated in the Carpathian Rural Expeditions, facilitated by Dr. Pavlo Leno, and coordinated by Faculty of History and International Relations at Uzhhorod National University. The Carpathian Ethnographic Expedition was undertaken for 3 months (May to July 2025). According to the working curriculum, orders of the Rector and agreements on practice bases, summer ethnographic expeditions were organized in the Dubrynych-Maly Bereznyi, Bilky and Batiovo territorial hromadas of the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. During the expeditions, the youth participants visited 15 settlements: Smerekove, Bukivtsovo, Chornoholova, Mircha, Bilky, Imstychovo, Velykyi Rakovets, Lukovo, Batiovo, Serne, Hornhlab, Batrad, Danylivka, Barkasovo, Bakosh, Svoboda.
About 25 youths/students who took part were from various educational programs, such as: History and Civic Education, Archeology and Ethnology, and Cultural Studies. In addition to the youths/students, there were teachers of Uzhhorod National University: ethnographers-historians Dr. Pavlo Leno, Dr. Vasyl Kotsan, Dr. Oksana Kychak and colleagues from other scientific and museum institutions. Among them, sociologist Dr. Mykola Gomaniuk (Kherson State University), Dr. John Swanson (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA), Dr. Roman Rudenko (Institute of Management of Non-Profit Organizations, Vienna University of Economics).
The subject of interest was the “material and spiritual culture” of ethnographic groups of local Ukrainians, such as Lemkos, Boykos, and Dolynians. In addition, different ethnic groups living in Transcarpathian border were studied: Hungarians, Roma, Wallachians, and Slovaks.
During field ethnographic research, youths/students and scientists recorded interviews on various topics using questionnaires. The expedition group was interested in the issues of tolerance and multiculturalism and multifaith of the local population. Other topics included traditional and modern farming, crafts, livestock keeping, beekeeping, and agriculture in the context of modern climate change. In particular, it was interesting to visit the farm in Batiovo, where the owners successfully breed new animals for this place: alpacas, dorpers, humpback-nosed goats. It was interesting to see how the new is combined with the traditional. In particular, in the village of Lukovo there is still a working water mill, which is fully functional; thanks to its owners.
In addition, in the context of oral history studies, the group recorded the narrators’ memories of the Holocaust in Transcarpathia, World War II, and Sovietization. Separately, group members talked to IDPs (internally displaced persons) in Transcarpathia. Among the interlocutors were IDPs who fled the war from different regions of Ukraine: Sumy region, Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia, etc. Paying attention to autobiographical (in-depth) interviews, expedition members also focused on collecting factual visual and audio material. The ethnographic and oral-historical material was collected and processed by youths/ students (including more than 200 interviews, thousands of photographs and dozens of videos) replenished the funds of the Laboratory of Ethnography and Local History. All the gathered information and material are deposited with Faculty of History and International Relations.
The Grassroots Institute helps ensure that managers develop the specific skills for shaping the organizations. Its trainers and professionals bring with them a core set of proven strategies and approaches based on research and rich personal experience for developing leaders. TGI is a community of practitioners whose purpose is to build a better world by providing education and training to individuals in intercultural understanding and global development. All programs are built on the participants’ prior development work experience and their ability to contribute directly to strengthening the capacity of their own organizations. TGI provides managers of NGOs with the intensive education and intercultural training that is essential for enhancing their own performance and their organizations’ effectiveness.
The various organizations, especially supporting agencies, seek Customized Trainings to their staff personnel or partners. The Grassroots Institute offers tailor-made trainings, study visits and TOTs. The Tailor-made Trainings and TOTs are developed in close consultation with partner organizations, ensuring that participants can apply the things they learn in the situation back home.
On demand of Government Organizations, Donor Agencies, Support Agencies, Academic Institutions, INGOs, Aid Agencies, NGOs, CSR Groups and other organizations including Government-run Development Projects, the Grassroots Institute prepares, designs, reshapes and revises a number of ‘training packages’ for their partners, managers, field personnel and executives. Budgeting of such training packages is done on the basis of their needs and demands. The Grassroots Institute conducts such trainings at the places convenient or strategic to the client organizations. In case, the logistic arrangements are all made by the client organizations, the Grassroots Institute simply delivers the trainings on the place of their choice.
The following are some illustrative training packages:
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