How Lviv and its young people are changing the culture of education
In Lviv, the European Youth Capital 2025, learning has long gone beyond school desks and university lecture halls. It begins where curiosity meets courage: with the desire to explore, try, make mistakes, improve and create something new. It is precisely this vision of education that has shaped one of the key directions of the European Youth Capital 2025 programme, as well as the new Lviv youth strategy, which will guide the municipality’s work on youth in the years to come.
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Learn, make mistakes, improve, create
This strategic direction was not created from above. It grew out of the lived experience of young people, especially those who have walked this path themselves and know well what learning through action looks like. Among them is Yana Levytska, ambassador of the European Youth Capital 2025, who joined the creation of the youth strategy at the development stage.
"For me, this is about young people who have the power to learn not only from books but also from experience. It's about not being afraid to make mistakes because there are people to support you. Where you can start over, change your trajectory, and it will be part of your growth, not a failure”, Yana shares.
The spaces supporting learning
Yana’s daily work is related to the Tech Startup School, which supports informal education, innovative projects, and youth entrepreneurship. It is here that she observes how young people try out different fields, create projects from scratch and learn to act — even through mistakes. And there are more and more such opportunities in Lviv.
The TVORY! network spaces are a vivid example. One of these spaces, the MoloDvizhCenter, not only has become a platform for youth initiatives, training, and cultural events, but also a space where every idea can receive support. Lviv Open Lab, on the other hand, is a STEAM space for those interested in science, technology, and startups. Last but not least, Pixlab is a design space that brings together creators and visual art, as well as Urban Camp, a support space for internally displaced Ukrainians and a centre for the development of street cultures, where young people can feel part of a community, implement creative projects and find new meanings. All these spaces shape an urban environment in which education isn’t a formality, but a process of self-discovery and young people are placed at the centre.
It’s not just spaces, but festivals too!
These ideas are also rooted in the events organised in Lviv as part of the European Youth Capital 2025.
One such example is the Open Lab (OL) Science & Tech Fest 2025, which took place in Lviv on 31 May. This large-scale event, brought together over a thousand participants and transformed science into a lively, accessible and creative process. Young people did not just observe, they experimented, asked questions, interacted with experts and technology, and created their own products.
And the festival is not the end of the story
Within this strategy, dozens of initiatives have been implemented that have given young people not only knowledge but also platforms for applying what they learn. Among them is Molofuctures, a hub for creating youth start-ups, which is currently in the process of being launched. In the future, it will become a space for testing ideas, mentoring support, and entrepreneurial endeavours. There is also Go Easy Lviv, an educational and grant programme for youth and community organisations. This initiative has already helped teams develop their own projects, implement them in the urban environment, and strengthen their capacity to act. Both initiatives are about supporting young people to make the first step, mistakes, improvement, and eventually develop. This is the very essence of the strategy: learning through action.
In Lviv, young people do not wait for ideal conditions, they start small. It is a city where learning becomes a personal adventure. A city that gives room for mistakes, support for exploration, and courage for action.
"My message is not about perfection. It is about movement. Don't wait. Don't be afraid. Start. Make mistakes. Improve yourself. And create your future today — in Lviv”, adds Yana.
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