On March 28, in the basement of the central library of Igor Sikorsky KPI, a press conference was held with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Education and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the leadership of the polytechnic institute, the company CLUST, and the chief architect of the Peker&Partners studio. During the meeting, the speakers discussed the issue of new safety standards in the Ukrainian education system using the example of the innovative bomb shelter CLUST SPACE, which will soon appear in the KPI library.
The bomb shelter conference was organized by representatives of the company CLUST together with KPI to draw attention to the issue of shelters at higher educational institutions and find common safety solutions that can be scaled across the entire territory of Ukraine.
According to the Head of the Department of Civil Protection Events Organization of the State Emergency Service in Ukraine, Oleg Stovolos, as of the beginning of September 2022, only 50% of higher educational institutions have found premises that can be used as shelters during alerts. This means that only half of the academic institutions could provide educational processes during full-scale warfare, which is ongoing.
However, having a bomb shelter is only part of the solution. To ensure continuous and comfortable learning, it is essential to create conditions. Therefore, Ruslan Tymofieiev, the founder of the company CLUST, came up with the initiative to reorganize existing bomb shelters and turn them into modern educational hubs that will work both during alerts and in peaceful times.
“We know for sure that as of today, no Ukrainian has a grey area. There is only black and white. Ukrainians no longer allow businesses to say, ‘I’m here just to make money.’ Businesses have the opportunity to help implement systemic economic changes. An incredibly large number of Ukrainian businesses are currently doing this. We want to be an example of such business in the field of education and become a driver of a new approach to safety in the field of education, which is why we initiated the CLUST Space project,” commented Ruslan Tymofieiev.
The first multifunctional space will appear within a year at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute – in the basement with a total area of 600 m². The smart shelter will be divided into several zones:
- A large open space for learning and lectures
- A reading area
- A room for video calls
- A small cafeteria
- A gaming zone
- Inclusive restrooms
All conference participants had the opportunity to assess the design project and innovative solutions of the working group thanks to virtual reality technologies.
“Right now, you are in a space that doesn’t inspire creativity: peeling walls, outdated light bulbs. It’s tough to discuss the birth of some interesting breakthrough ideas here. And it is precisely the environment that often inspires the creation of new ideas. And the tasks – combining comfort to ensure and develop new ideas – were the foundation of the first project, which today is called the smart shelter CLUST Space,” commented Vitaliy Pasichnyk, Vice-Rector for Research at Igor Sikorsky KPI.
In his speech, Oleg Khymenko, Head of the Main Department for the Implementation of Policies in the Field of Science and Innovation of the Department of Science and Innovation, emphasized:
“Until this moment, only the issue of safety was raised, that is, only the need to guarantee the safe stay of people. But the combination of the possibility of implementing several functions, not only vital but also those that allow using this time productively, that is, leaving one comfortable environment and coming to another comfortable environment, for me, this is very cool. So I would like this experience to be scaled.”
The meeting was also attended by architect Pavlo Peker, who has experience working on similar projects in Iraq and Libya. It was his studio that developed the design project for the multifunctional shelter. He noted that it is personally very important for him to encourage young people to stay in the country, give them meaning, and create conditions for this. And quality education is a necessary component of this process.
“The idea was to create a shelter that wouldn’t look like a dreary basement. The task was to create a space where students would want to go, where they would feel safe conditions, and where being here wouldn’t be associated with something stressful so that new engineering inventions, new ideas, and new creative relationships would be born here.
This project is a symbiosis of a shelter built according to standards and a coworking space with smart zoning, where you can learn, attend lectures, hold seminars, and more.”
According to the architect’s estimate, the project will cost approximately 350,000 euros, plus or minus 15%. He named the most significant technical challenge as engineering solutions because currently, there are no communications in the basement premises, so they will have to be laid from scratch.
The project leader of Smart Shelter CLUST Space and Head of CSR CLUST, Anastasiia Voitkevych, gave the final presentation. She emphasized that Ukrainian businesses should now help the country and take on social responsibility.
“The main goal of the project is to ensure continuous educational processes in Ukraine. This is important because education is the foundation for changing the country for the better and implementing effective changes. Education is everything. And this is the main value of our company. That’s why we have received such a great response. Responsible businesses should invest resources in such initiatives.
The project leader noted that the company is already receiving requests from other universities in Ukraine, so the team is looking for partners among public organizations, government agencies, and business representatives to implement the innovative shelter project and scale the experience across the entire territory of Ukraine.
Information Note:
The conference was attended by:
- Vice-Rector for Research at Igor Sikorsky KPI Vitaliy Pasichnyk
- Head of the Main Department for the Implementation of Policies in the Field of Science and Innovation of the Department of Science and Innovation Oleg Khymenko
- Head of the Department of Civil Protection Events Organization of the State Emergency Service in Ukraine Oleg Stovolos
- Founder and initiator of the innovative smart shelter project Ruslan Tymofieiev
- Chief Architect of the Peker&Partners studio Pavlo Peker
- Project leader of Smart Shelter CLUST Space and Head of CSR CLUST Anastasiia Voitkevych
CLUST is an ecosystem for the growth of IT products.
Photos from the press conference.
