Sculpture #EnergyWings appeared in Odesa - the first collaboration between DTEK and contemporary Ukrainian art
The sculpture #EnergyWings is in Victory park, near the central bridge. It symbolizes not only the company's bird protection project, but also turns to the image of a stork - a symbol of home, family, and well-being for Ukrainians.
This is a contemporary art* sculpture. The author is a young Ukrainian artist and sculptor Les Panchyshyn. All information about the project, bird safety program, sculpture and artist can be found by scanning the QR code on the plate near the sculpture.
“In 2020, DTEK Odesa Grids joined the ornithological safety program. We started to install stork nest platforms and bird protection devices on the power line. We have installed 26 platforms over the past year. According to ecologists, this protected about 150 storks from death. Such results inspired us to take our efforts beyond,” - says Oleksandr Fomenko, Director General for DTEK Odesa Grids. “In 2021, our company is installing 60 nesting platforms for storks as part of the #EnergyWings environmental education project. We plan to support this initiative in the future, because DTEK Odesa Grids is a modern business that focuses not only on achieving business goals, but also contributes to the preservation of the environment and wildlife for the sake of the future of our country."
The largest environmental educational project in Ukraine #EnergyWings, within the framework of which the sculpture was created, includes several stages. First of all, this is the installation of the largest number of nesting platforms for storks in Ukraine within one month, an environmental educational project for children, a media project and the creation of art objects - #EnergyWings sculptures and their installation in Kyiv and Odesa.
At the opening ceremony, Oleksandr Fomenko, General Director for DTEK Odesa Grids, underlined that DTEK is transforming its business in accordance with the New Strategy 2030, based on ESG principles, values, and business responsibility for progress in achieving the sustainable development goals of the UN Global Compact.
“Today the second sculpture #EnergyWings was installed in Odesa. A week ago, we opened a similar art object in Kyiv at VDNG. Now these two areas are linked by the most ambitious stork protection project in Ukraine, and the works of art are dedicated to this mission,” - says the author of the sculpture Les Panchyshyn. - “Humanity knows its history thanks to art. I am glad I got a chance to write my own page for history in collaboration with the DTEK business and draw people's attention to the importance of sustainable development. What kind of world our children will get depends on each of us."
The company's efforts to install the nesting platforms for storks are in line with the goal of UN Global Compact #15 - biodiversity preservation. DTEK employees, opinion leaders and company customers installed platforms across the Odesa regions. In this way, the company prevents the bird death and power line failures.
As part of the environmental education project, 12 schoolchildren from Odesa observed storks in the summer together with DTEK Grids energy workers and ecologists. Based on their research, children made videos that were published on social networks. This educational project for children is a step of the company to form a new culture of thinking and understanding the sustainable development by the young generation of Ukrainians.
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*Contemporary art is the art of today, which goes back to the beginnings of Modernism. It includes a wide range of techniques due to both the development of technology and self-knowledge.