Figure 21: Between 25 and 28 March 2020, VIIRS satellite data recorded over 4,000 fires across Ukraine. (Source: NASA)
Each year in Ukraine, between 36,000-56,000 fires burn across the country's open ecosystems, with devastating impacts on air quality, public health, and the environment. But behind these statistics lies a complex cultural practice: burning is not just waste disposal, but a deeply rooted social tradition.[\[1\]](#endnote-1) "We discovered that burning is actually a social act and a cultural act," explains Oleksiy Moskalenko, Head of Solutions Mapping from UNDP Ukraine's Accelerator Lab. "We found songs about standing by the fire. This is not only economically viable, but socially embedded into the structure."
Understanding this cultural dimension was crucial when the Lab set out to address the crisis through data empowerment. Rather than simply tracking fires from above or imposing restrictions, they created a space where communities could engage with data in ways that acknowledged their traditions while revealing new perspectives. "We had to invest more time into training people in communities who would be able to understand the data," explains Ievgen Kylymnyk, Head of Exploration from the UNDP Ukraine’s Accelerator Lab. Working with an NGO partner, they created a prototype dashboard visualizing satellite data for communities (Figure 21). The platform used open-source satellite data, previously inaccessible, to reveal fire patterns across time and geography. This democratized data, allowing residents to see multi-year burning trends and understand how local practices affected broader environmental patterns.[\[2\]](#endnote-2)
Through ten online workshops during COVID-19, over 200 participants learned not just to view the data, but to analyze it themselves. The digital format unexpectedly increased diversity of participation, bringing together community members, civil society representatives, local authorities, and businesses from across the country. Communities began using satellite analysis to identify specific patterns in their regions, discovering how traditional burning practices were creating larger-scale impacts they hadn't previously recognized. For examples, The community of Torchynska, with just 10,000 residents, traced a shift from agricultural to grass-field fires and discovered their burning practices affected over 2,600 hectares.
Through collaborative mapping, communities documented 367 composting sites across Ukraine, revealing readily available alternatives to burning. As Ievgen notes, "Nearly half of them are privately owned, with many owners indicating willingness to accept additional organic waste from community members. This shows there's already infrastructure for shared composting, potentially one site serving several households." The mapping exercise helped residents recognize existing opportunities in their own neighborhoods, shifting perspectives from seeing composting as a new burden to identifying it as an accessible solution already embedded within their communities.
The power of combining cultural understanding with data analysis attracted national attention. The dashboard helped identify at-risk areas that weren't making headlines, revealing districts facing similar risks to those that had already experienced disasters. But the impact went beyond identifying fire risks. "The biggest value that came from here is actually the ethnographical knowledge that we co-created with people," reflects Ievgen. "We managed to bring in a feeling and understanding of complexity of issue to the policy at the national level." This deeper understanding, coupled with the community-tested dashboard, has led the Ministry of Environmental Protection to express interest in integrating these tools into official monitoring systems.
{% hint style="info" %}
## **Key takeaways:**
* **Bridge the gap between data and culture:** Understand how practices like burning can be deeply embedded in community life and social traditions.
* **Make data accessible:** Invest in training and tools that help communities understand and use complex data themselves.
* **Enable collective analysis:** Combine technical data with local knowledge to uncover hidden patterns and opportunities. Create inclusive spaces for diverse stakeholders to collectively interpret data and identify solutions.
* **Ensure practical impact:** Start with prototypes to test and refine data tools with communities. Connect data insights to action, enabling communities to drive practical changes and influence policy.
{% endhint %}
***
## Notes
1. Written at the very beginning of their journey, Udovyk et al. (2020) clearly explain the problem of annual air pollution patterns in Ukraine and outline their initial assumptions for addressing this recurring challenge. [↑](#endnote-ref-1)
2. For more information on this collective approach to addressing wildfires, see Ievgen Kylymnyk’s (2020) blog. Also see Berditchevskaia et al. (2021, pp. 13-15). [↑](#endnote-ref-2)
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