Svitlana Spazheva,

Head of Pokrovska amalgamated hromada,

Dnipropetrovska Oblast 

Self-confident and demanding to herself and others, Svitlana Spazheva comes from an intelligent family where both parents worked for local government bodies for years. Inspired by her parents’ professional activity, Svitlana decided to pursue higher education at the university and make career in public administration.

Svitlana could always rely on her family and had a strong desire to change living standards and conditions in the native town of Pokrov.

When Svitlana Spazheva was elected as the head of the Pokrovska amalgamated hromada in 2016, she decided to invest into education and development of youth. With the support of international partners and together with young people, the hromada started an eco-project “Green patrol”. Nowadays, all schoolchildren of the Pokrovska hromada have the chance to join interactive trainings and workshops where they get acquainted with the basics of environmental legislation, bio-waste composting, garbage sorting and recycling, as well as ways of combating plants’ pests. Taking their hromada as an example, children work on finding ways to save and clean it.

“Today we do not push children to participate in hromada cleanups or drag them to take part in environmental days – they come because they wish to. Through the children we want to influence adults’ behaviour and, thus, save the environment for future generations”, says Svitlana.

Svitlana Spazheva assures that there are no easy recipes for success. Only hard work and gradual change of established management habits can bring favorable changes for the hromada.