With the support of the International Renaissance Foundation, the SaveDnipro and UAnimals teams presented a VR installation about the consequences of the war for the nature of Ukraine in the Ukrainian pavilion at the COP29 global climate conference.
This installation is a combination of 360⁰ immersive technology, VR glasses and stereo sound. More than 700 guests of the Ukrainian pavilion from all over the world were amazed by what they saw. Forests burning, animals dying, missiles hitting – all in a panoramic video, complemented by a three-dimensional soundscape. Some were excited, some were shocked, and some could not hold back tears.
The guests of the pavilion told about their impressions in this video (video author: UAnimals).
Representatives of Brazil, Malaysia, Madagascar, Germany, Kazakhstan, India, Bolivia, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Indonesia, Thailand, Lithuania, Italy, Uganda, Canada, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Slovenia, Norway, France, and other countries gained experience of immersion in virtual reality. Among those who watched the VR content were high-profile guests:
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm, US Secretary of Energy;
Kerry McCarthy, Minister of State for Climate Change, UK;
Simonas Gentvilas, Minister of the Environment of Lithuania;
Anton Gerhard – Member of the German Bundestag;
Seymour Mardaliyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Ukraine;
Jeffrey Payette – Assistant Secretary of State for Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, and others.
All of them received a list of steps proposed by Ukraine that will punish the aggressor and help nature heal its wounds.
Iryna Chernysh, the head and co-founder of SaveDnipro and UAnimals, talks about the idea of two NGOs to use VR experience:
‘SDG29 is an international platform where Ukraine should be heard. But when you talk about the catastrophic impact of war on the environment for the third year in a row, the world, unfortunately, gets used to it. That’s why we, SaveDnipro and UAnimals, turned to technology that literally immerses the viewer in the reality of war-torn nature. We believed that the guests of the Ukrainian pavilion, who would literally feel the pain of the Ukrainian environment, would heed our calls to force the Russians to compensate for the damage and help restore the destroyed ecosystems.’
The immersive content was created by Mriya Production, the best Ukrainian immersive communications developers, winners of international creative festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Ciclope Festival (Berlin) and others. The immersive 360⁰ artistic video sequence is complemented by spatial sound, which enhances the emotional impact on the viewer.
Artem Ivanenko from Mriya Production shares his observations:
‘We are often asked why we chose this format. To which I answer that over the past three years, the topic of war has become peripheral for most people in the world, they are ‘tired’ of war. That is why we chose to influence the basic feelings of the audience. With this immersive experience, we pass information through the heart of the viewer, keeping him or her as the main character in the centre of the events. And this is what makes the emotion last for a long time, and with it, the information we want to convey to everyone.’
The author of the idea and project manager Olena Romaniukova from SaveDnipro emphasises that when creating the VR content, they researched photo and video materials from the affected regions of Ukraine, which ensured maximum authenticity of the visualisation.
The mission of the project was not only to demonstrate the damaged environment, but also to advocate for justice for Ukraine. UAnimals founder Oleksandr Todorchuk spoke about this component of the project:
‘Even when the fighting stops, and the shells and missiles stop exploding, humanity will still feel the consequences of Russia’s crimes against nature. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, UAnimals has been seeking the recognition of ecocide as a crime and calls on the world to act now. Reality is not created by artificial intelligence, but by people. The future we live in depends on us. For now, our reality is a world where Russia destroys everything around it with impunity.’
After the VR content screening, Victoria Voitsitska, Advocacy Director of SaveDnipro, and Anastasia Skok, Environmental Director of SaveDnipro, spoke to the audience. They explained how important it is to support Ukraine in compensating the aggressor country for the damage and further restoring the environment. The guests left their wishes in a special guestbook.
The project was implemented by NGO SaveDnipro and NGO UAnimals with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation and CEO Club. Thanks to the cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the project team was able to represent Ukraine at the COP29 as part of the official delegation.
