About the website

Who is it for?

This website is for all the people of Kiev (the capital of Ukraine) who are experiencing a decline in the quality of their local environment, especially for those who are concerned about environmental destruction and want to do something about it.  

It is for everyone who wants to know more about the environmental problems that significantly decrease the quality of life in our streets, neighbourhoods and in the city as a whole. It explains the sources of some of these problems, and their consequences, and offers you information to enable you to participate more in eco-political discussions and in decision-making. It also tells you where to go and who to contact in order to change things once you are equipped with relevant knowledge.

 We hope it will be useful to the general public as well as for special interest groups and stakeholders such as local officials, school children, students, NGO activists, politicians, journalists and even scientists.

 You have rights and especially you have the right to know, to act and to defend your environment as laid down in the Aarhus Convention  that has been signed by Ukraine. Use the website to use your rights. 

What does it cover and what is it for?

The website does not aim to tackle all aspects of the environment that has deteriorated in Kiev. Instead it focuses on a few indicative problems: motor vehicle pollution and air quality, water pollution, soil contamination and land use, and waste.

 Motor vehicle transport has increased far beyond tolerable limits. This has resulted in frequent traffic jams and atmospheric pollution, despite the introduction of catalytic converters. Do you know what the main pollutants are and how many people they kill every year?

 Water quality is another issue of concern. Tap water quality has improved but is far from perfect, especially during summer. The use of water from the Desna and Dnepr rivers, instead of cleaner ground water, is a problem and will continue to cause problems in the future. Water from deeper artesian wells is usually of better quality, but not always. City rivers and lakes suffer from storm water discharges, oil pollution, degradation and the culverting of river beds into concrete channels.

 Similar problems have arisen with waste. Since independence, the amount of waste that we produce has increased enormously and whole valleys continue to be converted into landfill sites to dispose of it. The strongly polluted waste water in these sites has reached volumes that can no longer be accurately handled and this infiltrates and contaminates the environment. 

Meanwhile, waste incineration plants spread dioxins over Kiev and many people just throw away all kinds of waste, including toxic materials, into our city parks and rivers.

 And what is worst of all? It is the fact that we are not well informed about these pollutants and their impacts on our health and the wider environment. Kiev officials often provide outdated information that is sanitised for political reasons. Benz-a-pyrene, ozone and dioxins are not controlled or results are not published, decisions are taken without adequate public participation - and much damage is irreversible.  

If all this is a matter of concern to you, then make use of the website and its information - enter the website now. But not only that - you should also take action. Observe your environment, share your observations with others, join a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and contact the authorities. 

You will be surprised just how effective this can be. For example, if you write a report based on background information that you find on our website, or elsewhere, then the authorities will take this is a serious matter of concern. And very often they will even be grateful for this kind of support and will be ready to address the issue. This is one of their most important roles.

 How do I use it?

 You can use the interactive maps and related information in many different ways and we hope you will - whether it’s for personal discovery, part of your studies or as a tool for campaigning and getting the environment improved.

 You can use the maps to locate potential environment polluters and, in some cases, find out about the air, soil and water quality around that place. But perhaps more interestingly, you can also use the maps to combine various types of environmental information and thereby obtain new insights and understanding into our environment, the influences upon it and the effects of these pressures.  

·                    Discovering and exploring, and then sharing

 Depending on your priorities and areas of interest you can first browse the maps and locate ‘hot spots’ on the city map that shows administrative regions and streets. Then compose your own maps. For example, for air related problems you can combine information on traffic with industrial air polluters, then read texts about air quality parameters and check what results on air quality controls are available and what is missing.  

Report your findings on the electronic noticeboard , phone the authorities, contact other people and a NGO in your neighborhood. When describing your findings, it will be helpful to cover information about what, when, where, who etc and to include a photo.

·                    Building on your information

 If you know about a problem and where it occurs but need background information, read the articles on the website and compare your information with what is documented on the website maps. Then identify what is missing and report it on the electronic noticeboard

 ·                    Making the website your own

 Most importantly, we are aware that the website, as it is, is just a start. Its future depends on you and your contributions. To make it successful and keep it useful, join other city residents in collecting information. Don’t use the website like a book that you put on the shelf once you’ve read it but visit it on a regular basis, checking what is new and what is coming up. Use it to share information with others about things such as pollution, plans to change the city landscape, fish kills, proposals for environmental action, views on the way people should behave and so on.

Get involved and bring the website alive. Join others, organise a group of interested neighbours, inspire a group to get active, write an article for your favourite newspaper, phone local radio or television stations and suggest issues that they should investigate and report on.

 Overview of website content

 The website begins with the legal background, covering national directives, norms, right to know and international conventions, and emphasising the role of the Aarhus Convention. Next, the user is given information about, and contact details of, the responsible authorities, NGOs, journalists, and others. All users are encouraged to join forces and to exchange and disseminate information through the electronic noticeboard..

 The main environmental areas covered are motor vehicle pollution and air quality, water pollution, soil contamination and land use, and waste.  The website combines geographical visualisation of environmental data presented on interactive maps with related information and also with some general background information for context. Make your selection from the menu!

 There are however several limitations and it is important to keep these in mind:

 1.       Available information is scarce. There are many geographical and chronological gaps.

2.       Information is not collected centrally to reduce the number of gaps.

3.       Existing information is often not accessible

4.       Information is out of date (up to several years) or selected according to political needs

5.       Information assessment is not sufficient for many reasons

6.       There is inadequate knowledge of the ways in which human health is affected by the interaction between various environmental factors, or when the population is exposed to a combination of pollutants. It cannot be reported here, for example, how the daily intake of pesticides in food strengthens the effect of bad air quality (benz-a-pyrene) or what is their importance compared with nicotine or alcohol misuse.