Icelandic Ramp Up project: partnership for a barrier-free Ukraine
13.10.2025
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A meeting was held in Lviv dedicated to the implementation of the Icelandic Ramp Up project, which plans to install over a thousand ramps in Ukraine, particularly in the Lviv region. One hundred of them will be installed in Lviv, where the construction of the first ten ramps to public facilities on Sichovykh Striltsiv Street has already been completed.
The project aims to create an accessible environment for people with disabilities, war veterans, and all groups with limited mobility.
Mykola Nadulychny, head of the Luhansk Association of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, took part in the meeting and emphasised the importance of international partnership for real improvement in accessibility in Ukrainian communities:
‘Iceland's experience in creating an inclusive space is extremely valuable for Ukraine. Together with our partners, we strive not only to build ramps, but also to shape a culture of accessibility — where every person can move freely, learn, work and live with dignity.’
The meeting was attended by the acting head of the Lviv Regional Council, Yuriy Kholod, the Deputy Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iceland to Poland and Ukraine, Reingardur Kolss, and the founder of the Ramp Up project, Haraldur Torleifsson.
Yuriy Kholod emphasised that the development of an inclusive environment is one of the priorities of the regional authorities and proposed to start the regional stage of the project in Novoyavorivsk, where the first proposals for facilities requiring the installation of ramps are already being prepared.
The founder of the initiative, Haraldur Thorleifsson, noted that the Ramp Up Foundation has successful experience in implementing similar projects in various countries around the world, and the cost of one ramp in Ukraine is about a thousand euros.
‘We want Ukraine to become an example of accessibility. We are starting with Lviv, but the goal is to expand the project to other regions,’ he emphasised.
Reingardur Kolso stressed that the Icelandic government supports the initiative, especially given the current needs of communities in small settlements.
Members of the Lviv Regional Council, representatives of the Lviv Regional State Administration and the public sector also took part in the event.
The cooperation between Iceland and Ukrainian organisations, in particular the Luhansk Association of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, is an example of how international solidarity can change people's daily lives, making them accessible, safe and dignified.
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