Age: 28
Education: Novovolynsky Electromechanical College
Profession: Founder of Youth Resource Center “New Wings”
Did you know? Whenever it’s a friend’s birthday, Medyna and his friends drive to their respective cities and organize a night of festivities with hired artists, poets and musicians. The next day they all drive back home.
When Pavlo Medyna was a college student, he realized that if there is something you want to change, you have to do it yourself.
That was exactly his mindset when he founded the youth resource center “New Wings” in the industrial border city of Novovolynsk. The city is known for its problems with drug addiction and crime among youth. Located in far northwestern Volyn Oblast, Novovolynsk also has the highest crime rate in the region.
Medyna’s projects are a response to these bleak statistics, and his work aims to create spaces throughout the city for the youth to gather, enjoy themselves and learn.
The idea to start community spaces blossomed when Medyna and friends were sitting in the center of the city and trying to think of a place they could go. While deciding between a cinema and a café, he realized how limited the options were for youth to hang out and have something useful or interesting to do.
That’s when he decided to create the New Wings resource center.
One of Medyna’s first projects was Poetic Alley, an installation in the city’s central park that features poems in different languages. He fondly remembers building that alley with his friends in unbearable summer heat when an old lady approached and asked them to include a few lines by Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko in exchange for a bag of apples and a book of poetry.
Medyna works so that young people have the opportunity to learn and develop. He is actively implementing educational, cultural and environmental projects by turning abandoned places into spaces where young people can watch films, create English-speaking clubs and have space to gather and develop ideas for changes they can implement themselves. He did this by using spaces like the “Mystetsky Dvor” in the central park of the Novovolinsky Electromechanical College campus, which had not been renovated in over a decade.
In another project, SELO HUB, his team took a half-abandoned club in the Lezhintsa village and transformed it into a youth space with a library, projector and games.
These projects not only focus on his own city but are implemented throughout the whole country. The eco-project #svoyo_gornyatko (which translates to “your own mug”) encourages people to drink from reusable mugs and thermoses instead of one-use coffee cups. Dozens of youth centers and drink sellers in Ukraine supported the project, and in 2019 three festivals became partners, exposing more than 20,000 people to the campaign. So far, the project has won two awards: “Best Youth Practice Ukraine 2019” and “Best Local Community Initiative.”
His team members now travel widely, participating in youth exchanges, programs and forums across Europe. They also actively travel and study in Ukraine, mentoring others working on similar projects.
With other partners, Medyna’s organization also helped create the Princes’ festival, which provides an interactive exploration of history and antique crafts. In an open forum, famous Ukrainian writers, poets, musicians and leaders present their work.
The Cabinet of Ministers recently awarded Medyna with a prize for the contribution of youth to the development of Ukraine.
Medyna is just getting started. He is motivated by other people’s energy to create change and is currently planning to open a student hub that provides workspaces but will also be a venue for students to discuss independent projects with Medyna and his team as mentors.
Medyna is now the deputy chairman of the youth council at the Volyn Regional State Administration, where he will be developing programs for the region’s youth until 2025.
