The Freedom Diaries project is reaching an important new milestone on its path toward transforming Ukrainian education. The program has officially received the “Approved for use in the educational process” status from the Ukrainian Institute for Education Development under the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

What does this mean for teachers and students?
This decision confirms that the project’s materials meet national standards and are pedagogically sound. The 24-session program, based on reflective graphic works by artist Alevtina Kakhidze, is now officially recommended for use in Ukrainian schools.

Freedom Diaries is not just a set of lessons. It is a safe and practical tool that helps teachers talk to children about complex but essential topics through art and dialogue:

We created this project with one goal in mind — to give Ukrainian children a sense of grounding and support. In times of uncertainty, it becomes especially important not to lose connection with oneself. The fact that this initiative has passed a rigorous expert review shows that art can be both a powerful and a gentle educational tool.

“For us, this recognition from the Ministry is not just a formality or a document. It’s a sign that we are moving in the right direction. We wanted to build a bridge between a child’s emotional experience and the learning process. Now teachers have the official opportunity to use our diaries to help students reflect on their experiences through creativity”, the Freedom Diaries team shares.

On March 25 in Brussels, at La Fabrique (Alliance Française de Bruxelles-Europe), a public conversation took place with artist and Freedom Diaries’ creative director, Mariia Proshkovska. She presented the art-therapeutic educational project Freedom Diaries as a powerful example of how contemporary art can work with themes of trauma, memory, embodiment, and recovery in times of war.

The discussion also featured Ukrainian artist Liliia Chavaha and French art historian Paul Ardenne. Together, they reflected on the role of art during wartime, the experience of displacement, and questions of resilience.

The event took place as part of an exhibition dedicated to contemporary Ukrainian art, which is running in Brussels from March 24 to July 10, 2026.

Among the organizers and partners of the event were Alliance Française de Bruxelles-Europe, Embassy of Ukraine in Belgium, EUNIC Brussels, Institut Français, and Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

For Freedom Diaries, being part of this event became another meaningful step in the international dialogue about the role of art in making sense of the experience of war and thoughtfully integrating it into educational practice.

The Freedom Diaries project has become part of the national initiative Education for Life — a comprehensive policy designed to strengthen the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform and create a more coherent, meaningful learning experience for children.

As part of this collaboration, the project’s creative director, Mariia Proshkovska, together with the team, selected seven Freedom Diaries lessons and adapted them to fit the concept of the arts education field.

From now on, these lessons are integrated into the fourth-quarter art curriculum around the theme of citizenship. Through creative practices, students explore important social and personal themes — freedom, identity, memory, connection, and their own place in society.

This integration into the national curriculum reinforces the core idea behind Freedom Diaries: using art to help children not only process their own experiences, but also grow into an understanding of themselves as part of the Ukrainian civic community.

The educational art-therapeutic project Freedom Diaries and the International Ukrainian School (IUS) have signed a memorandum of cooperation.

The memorandum focuses on building a partnership in the field of education, particularly around introducing and expanding the use of Freedom Diaries materials, created by the Hrystia Hranovska Foundation, in the learning journey of Ukrainian children both in Ukraine and abroad.

As part of this collaboration, the parties plan to integrate the project’s materials into educational environments, support teachers in working with them, and help create safe spaces where children can explore their own experiences, identity, and connection to Ukraine through art.

Signing this memorandum is an important step toward expanding access to modern educational tools and strengthening collaboration between educational initiatives that work with Ukrainian children.

At the Cambridge Ukrainian Language School, Freedom Diaries was presented as part of the school’s spring celebration.

The event brought together the whole school community — teachers, children, and parents — and became a warm space to познакомитися with the project’s approach and see how it can be practically used in working with children.

In the second part of the gathering, everyone joined a shared practice: children and adults immersed themselves in a creative process together, working with memories, imagination, and personal experience. Through drawing, dialogue, and interaction, they explored the themes that sit at the heart of the project — freedom, memory, and identity.

This experience once again showed that art can be a truly effective tool for working with children, creating a safe space for self-expression and for making sense of their own experiences.

We are happy to begin this collaboration with the Cambridge Ukrainian Language School and deeply grateful for their openness to bringing the project into the educational process.

The educational and art-therapy project Freedom Diaries has been integrated into the curriculum of the 4th and 5th grades at the Ukrainian Saturday School in Vienna. The first lessons have already taken place.

The project team attended the open classes and, together with the teachers, led the sessions for the students. The children worked with the theme “Suitcase of Memory”: on a large shared suitcase, they wrote, drew, glued, and placed everything that feels truly important to them today.

For our team, this is a particularly meaningful step, as it involves the largest Ukrainian school abroad in Europe — a space where hundreds of children every weekend continue to preserve the Ukrainian language, culture, and their connection to home.

We are sincerely grateful to the school’s team for their trust and openness to collaboration. The first feedback confirms that these lessons create an important space for dialogue, creativity, and the strengthening of Ukrainian identity.

Together, we help Ukrainian children grow up with a strong sense of who they are.

For two consecutive days, the Freedom Diaries team worked within the walls of this remarkable building. This time, it was not only a meeting with the teachers of the Ukrainian Sunday School in Vienna, but also a full presentation of the project. Creative Director Mariia Proshkovska and Producer Alina Kochemasova introduced the course to the teaching staff, speaking about its concept, methodology, and possibilities for integration into the educational process.

The meeting concluded with a hands-on workshop: the teachers stepped into the role of their students and worked with one of the graphic novel pages — “The Suitcase of Memory.” This allowed them to fully immerse themselves in the process, experience it from within, and feel the atmosphere of trust and co-creation that lies at the heart of Freedom Diaries.

We are grateful to the school for their openness, warm welcome, and willingness to embrace modern educational approaches for Ukrainian children.

Our second day in London — and Freedom Diaries was already meeting the Ukrainian educational community in the United Kingdom.

On October 13, 2025, we had the honour to present the project during the Autumn Conference of the Association of Ukrainian Teachers in the UK, which brought together educators from more than 30 schools across the country where Ukrainian children are studying.

It was important for us not just to show what we create — but to share how Freedom Diaries helps children stay close to Ukraine, even when they are far from home.

Teachers responded with warmth and engagement: Freedom Diaries resonates with themes that deeply matter to Ukrainian children around the world — identity, culture, freedom, and inner strength.

We didn’t just present — we created together.

We held a workshop where teachers could experience how our art-therapy approach truly works.

The Freedom Diaries bird keeps flying on!