The city’s team took a step back: they needed time to come to terms with this decision and figure out what to do next. After all, it was clear that this was merely a stage. The people who had worked on Lviv’s bid understood that the concept of “Responsibility to Be”, and the ideas put forward in the bid are relevant and important — for cultural actors, the city, Ukrainian society, and on a broader scale. Also valuable was the willingness of some partners to continue working with a culture that “witnesses”, “cares” and “envisions”. 

Recognising this, in December 2025 the city of Lviv approved a special programme entitled “Responsibility to Be”. It integrates the systematic approaches developed for Lviv’s bid for the title of ECoC 2030 into the city’s long-term cultural policy and provides support for the city’s cultural sector and creative industries until 2030.  

The next step is a national-level competition “Responsibility to Be” based on Lviv’s bid book. This initiative is made possible by a partnership between Lviv and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UCF), which is the main state investor in culture. This cooperation was fixed in the bid — a W.C.E. project from the Shared Power programme on co-creation, opportunities for the CCI sector and cultural democracy. Support for projects in the current competition will be provided through co-funding with equal contributions from Lviv’s local budget and the UСF budget.

The “Responsibility to Be” competition explores the core ideas of Lviv’s bid across three thematic areas. These include Active Remembering, which focuses on new approaches and practices of remembrance, the interpretation of heritage, and the archiving of significant cultural phenomena. Culture Cares refers to practices that, through art and co-creation, promote community unity, mental health, dialogue, and care — particularly by involving veterans, people who have lost loved ones to war, and children. And the Imagination Workshop consists of innovative, interdisciplinary, and tech-driven artistic practices with an international component. The competition emphasizes the development of partnerships, thereby helping to spread the idea of culture as a pillar of support in an unstable world. Applications are currently being assessed by UСF experts — the winning projects will be implemented in Lviv by the end of 2026.  

At the same time, work is continuing on several projects from Lviv’s bid. These include, for example, the Literary House as a platform for authors, publishers and readers, participatory projects, international residencies and book-related initiatives. The city is also working on creating a new arts space, the Maisternia (Recovery Atelier in the bid) for veterans and all Ukrainians who have been wounded or affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Here, people will be helped to recover through a combination of artistic and therapeutic practices. The project is part of the UNBROKEN ecosystem of humanity that unites more than twenty projects and provides a variety of services, including treatment, prosthetics, physical and psychological rehabilitation, and reintegration. The Maisternia project is made possible thanks to the financial support of a trusted partner — the German city of Freiburg, Lviv’s twin city.

There are several large-scale projects by Lviv’s bid involving renowned international artists. Consequently, dialogue is ongoing with partners from Germany, Japan and Poland. This concerns a programme by Lviv’s bid entitled Active Remembering. It works with memory as a form of resistance against forgetting, with a complex past, and with trauma. Other projects from the Fables For Robots programme. It focuses on exploring the human and the machine, art and technology, and their roles in remembrance, care, relationships and envisioning the future. These projects are intended to bear witness to this turbulent time for the world, to complex experiences and the search for hope.

At the same time, the idea of “responsible existence” and culture as a space where we can process our diverse experiences and find new meaning and strength is being realised through various initiatives already underway in Lviv.

These include, for example, the publication of art books dedicated to those who shaped Lviv’s cultural identity, and who died defending their home from Russian aggression. These include the cultural critic and soldier Yevhen Hulevych, the philosopher, poet and defender of Ukraine Oleh Kliufas, and the avant-garde artist Yurko Kobenko. By the way, the team representing Lviv as a candidate-city for the title of ECoC 2030 has provided a special financial award from the city to fund the printing of these publications. The art books are now ready for distribution in libraries and cultural and arts centres. This is one way of thanking people of culture, continuing the conversation about them and what matters to them. This is what “active remembering” looks like in action. 

Another project is Streets of Names (from the Active Remembering programme in Lviv’s bid). This is an educational initiative which, through lectures and guided tours, helps people learn about Lviv’s streets and the prominent figures (after whom these streets are named), as well as fostering a sense of connection between residents and the city. This project is popular and attracts history enthusiasts, residents of specific streets, and internally displaced persons who wish to get to know Lviv better. As part of the project, new meetings will be held in April and May leading up to City Day.

Actually, on 2–3 May, Lviv will celebrate its 770th anniversary! The idea of culture as a space for fostering humanity and responsible existence is now one of the cornerstones of city life — first and foremost as a community. It is a story of acceptance, rehabilitation, healing, accessibility, the search for support, understanding and unity. It is a story of humanity and hope, which must be cherished and nurtured despite the most difficult trials.        

“Responsibility to Be” changes forms and formats, but it is ongoing. It lies in culture’s ability to be sensitive to what modern people, communities and humankind are experiencing. It lies in the “cycle” of attention, care and gratitude — through relationships, action and interaction, right here and now.