War scatters not only people but also their inner supports, leaving behind anxiety and fatigue. How can one piece oneself back together when the familiar world is destroyed? Where can one find the strength to dream and move forward? On August 5, 2025, within the walls of Poltava Polytechnic (room 311-C), answers to these questions were sought through art by creating a collective bouquet that symbolised resilience and unity.
This meeting was a continuation of a series of events within the large-scale international Erasmus+ KA220-ADU project “TRUST” – Trauma of refugees in Europe: An approach through art therapy as a solidarity program for Ukraine war victims (Grant No. 2024-BE01-KA220-ADU-000257527).
The project title is decoded as follows:
TRUST
T – Trauma
R – Refugees
U – Ukraine
S – Solidarity
T – Therapy
The project is co-funded by the EU and led by the Centre Neuro Psychiatrique St-Martin from Belgium, in partnership with the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” (Ukraine), Greek Carers Network EPIONI (Greece), Fondazione Don Luigi Di Liegro (Italy), Lekama Foundation (Luxembourg), EuroPlural Project (Portugal).
Under the caring guidance of Associate Professors from the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, Lesia Klevaka and Viktoriia Shevchuk, the participants immersed themselves in an hour-and-a-half process of self-discovery and interaction. The facilitators created a safe space where everyone could freely express their feelings without words, develop empathy, and find support within a shared circle.
The session began with a gentle emotional check-in: each participant chose the image of a flower that corresponded to their mood. This helped to set the tone for the creative process and establish an atmosphere of trust. The psychologists explained the deep symbolic meaning of a bouquet – it is a metaphor for our inner world, where strength, dreams, emotions, and the support we receive from others are harmoniously combined.
In the creative part, everyone began to create their own “bouquet of strength”. Each petal became a silent narrator: one symbolised strong character traits, another represented the people who serve as a support system, and a third embodied the most cherished dreams. Some participants dared to create petals dedicated to their losses – an essential step toward accepting and honouring their own experiences. In one of the groups, a wonderful initiative emerged: participants began to exchange petals, symbolically giving each other a piece of their resource – a wish for warmth, hope, or peace.
The culmination of the session was the unification of all the individual flowers into a single large bouquet. From diverse, unique stories, a powerful symbol of community strength emerged, where every element is essential and valuable. At that moment, the space was filled with sincere conversations: participants shared the meanings they had embedded in their petals and found resonance and understanding in the stories of others.
At the end, during a final reflection circle, the question “What flower do you feel like now?” was met with responses full of new awareness. Some felt like a bud ready to bloom, while others felt like a bright flower unafraid to show its beauty. This reflection helped to solidify the positive effect of the session and to recognise the inner resources that each person left the meeting with.
Such events prove that art has an extraordinary healing power. It not only helps to express what words cannot capture but also strengthens inner support, fosters a sense of unity, and offers hope. Poltava Polytechnic, together with its partners, continues to create a space for recovery and support, where everyone can find their flower of strength.
As a reminder, the faculty of Poltava Polytechnic can participate in academic mobility and internship programs. Students can study abroad through Erasmus+ credit academic mobility grant programs for a semester or a full academic year at leading universities in Austria, Greenland, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.
For more detailed information on current internship, teaching, and academic mobility programs abroad, please get in touch with the International Relations Office (office 213-C, interoffice@nupp.edu.ua) or the coordinator of international activities at the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” – Anna Pavelieva, Ph.D. in Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation (email: kunsite.zi@gmail.com, phone: +38-(095)-91-08-192).
Media Centre of
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
