How can a public space contribute to the physical and emotional well-being of city dwellers? In Kyiv, we created a pilot Therapeutic Garden for injured military personnel and their families – a public space designed to support recovery, resilience, and emotional healing. The garden offers a restorative environment for veterans, defenders, and anyone in need of care and reconnection. As the number of people in Ukraine recovering from war injuries continues to grow, therapeutic gardens can become an essential part of both physical and emotional rehabilitation.

The therapeutic garden is in the VDNG Exposition Center – the most popular park in Kyiv. The territory designated for the therapeutic garden is surrounded by a forest, in a serene spot of the park, further from the crowds. ‍The main idea behind such a garden is that nature restores human health by interacting with visitors through the five senses and engaging them in community activities, creativity and physical exercise. This helps reduce stress, improve mood, speed up recovery after illness or surgery, and improve overall well-being.

Main functional areas of the Therapeutic Garden:
-‍ Gardening area for recovery through work with the earth and plants;
– Area of physical practices such as yoga, ergotherapy, etc.
– Green room in the forest ‘Circle of Warmth’ and place for group meetings where therapeutic practices take place, in particular around the fireplace;
– Adaptive sports ground where activities are used in rehabilitation;
– Playground for children whose parents participate in the workshops;
– Pavilion (under construction) for community events, cooking and eating together, as community is the best tool for socialisation and one of the most important aspects of reintegration/recovery;
– All spaces of the garden are designed barrier-free and accessible for everyone.

Plants in Therapeutic Garden

The plants in the Therapeutic Garden have been selected to promote a sense of calm and immersion in nature. In addition to the trees that originally grew on the site, 16 more trees, about 700 shrubs, and over 12,000 perennials have been planted. The selected plants have different shapes, colors, flowering periods, thanks to which the space remains alive and interesting throughout the year. The trees and shrubs in the garden will also bear fruit that is familiar from childhood.

All five senses are stimulated in the Therapeutic Garden:
– Plants can be seen (various colors, shapes, and plants blooming at different times);
– Touch (barefoot path, various surfaces, textures, materials);
– Hear (water, insects, acoustic sculptures, wind-blown sculptures);
– Smell (fragrant, flowering, or medicinal plants);
– Taste (vegetables, fruits, and cooking activities in the pavilion).

Stakeholder participation

A wide group of stakeholders participated in codesigning and implementation of the project. The program of needs was refined through dozens of interviews and focus groups with veterans and families of fallen defenders, ensuring the garden met their real-world needs. Furthermore, psychologists, psychotherapists, art therapists, hospital staff, and rehabilitation specialists working with military personnel helped shape the garden’s design. We fine-tuned the spaces in the garden and pavilion according to the programs they created. The main difficulty involved balancing strict clinical requirements for PTSD safety with the openness of a popular public park.

Assessment

Opened in October 2025, the Therapeutic Garden successfully proved that recovery environments can seamlessly coexist with urban leisure.

The project is implemented by the National Complex ‘Expocenter of Ukraine’ together with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs as part of the National Strategy for creating a barrier-free space in Ukraine at the initiative of the First Lady Olena Zelenska. The therapeutic garden was designed by design studios from Ukraine and Lithuania – Big City Lab and PUPA / Life Over Space. The project is supported by Visa, PrivatBank, Work UA, Expolight, and the Ukrainian Red Cross.

The pilot project will be replicated in other cities of Ukraine. Therapeutic gardens could appear near hospitals and rehabilitation centers, as well as in public spaces of the city.

50.37369250881008, 30.483450686398683