A fictional Ukrainian town Vyshnehrai has a lot of potential but also faces various challenges in the spheres of urban planning, accessibility, and cybersecurity. During a project ideas hackathon, interested citizens developed, pitched, and voted on projects for the town’s improvement. Participants learned how to shape their community's future through collaborative efforts and joint initiatives, as well as got familiar with the Participatory Budget program that exists in many cities and villages of Ukraine. Fun fact: our participant’s spouse, having overheard her discussion with other players on possible Vyshnehrai development ideas, assumed it was a real town and got genuinely eager to move there!
The simulation game was supposed to be conducted for a second cohort of participants on February 24. Unfortunately, the full-scale Russian invasion that morning changed the plan. All project participants are safe.
