Project No. 23 – “Light Through Touch” Center in Konotop city

Restoring Independence for People Who Have Lost Their Sight

Municipal Institution of the Sumy Regional Council “Konotop Special School”

In the aftermath of war, thousands of Ukrainians — children, civilians, and veterans — are living with life-altering vision loss caused by explosive injuries, shelling, and trauma. Beyond the physical injury lies a profound loss of independence, dignity, and the ability to participate fully in society. Light Through Touch is a response to this urgent national challenge.

Our goal is to establish a modern Rehabilitation Centre under the motto “Feel the world to live confidently in it”. The Centre will help people who have lost their sight — completely or partially — regain independence, mobility, and the skills needed to rebuild their lives.

Konotop Special School is the only specialized educational institution in Sumy region serving children and young people with visual impairments. It currently educates 162 students with special educational needs, including 26 with disabilities.

The school already employs highly qualified teachers, specialists in special education, and medical staff (including a paediatric ophthalmologist). Crucially, it holds an official Ministry of Health licence to provide professional medical practice, including pleoptic and orthoptic treatment.

This existing foundation — combined with a 6-hectare park area that can become a therapeutic landscape — makes the school the ideal regional hub for visual rehabilitation. Accessibility elements such as ramps and contrasting markings are already partially in place. Targeted modernization will transform the institution into a fully inclusive rehabilitation ecosystem serving both children and adults affected by war.

The Rehabilitation ecosystem

The project will create four interconnected areas designed to restore personal independence:

1. Medical correction area (assistive technology room)
   Equipped with modern devices (Vizotronic, Amblyocor, magnetic stimulation systems) to stabilize and maximize residual vision.
2. Daily living adaptation area (training apartment)
   A realistic living space where beneficiaries learn essential independent living skills. Design principles include fixed furniture placement (to build muscle memory), tactile markings on appliances, rounded edges, and non-slip flooring for maximum safety.
3. Intellectual & information hub (media library)
   Equipped with Braille displays, audio systems, and accessible learning resources to support education, professional retraining, and access to information.
4. Spatial mobility area (orientation training ground)
   A unique outdoor facility simulating real urban environments. It will feature different surface types (asphalt, gravel, paving stones, manholes), tactile maps, and audible beacons so beneficiaries can safely practise white-cane techniques and spatial orientation.

Projected impact

• 2027: Services for 162 students of the school + an initial group of 30 veterans and civilians with vision loss.
• 2028: Expanded annual capacity to 210 beneficiaries (162 students + 48 adult beneficiaries/veterans).

By restoring self-care abilities and enabling professional retraining, the Centre will help transform beneficiaries from recipients of social assistance into economically active and independent citizens — reducing long-term pressure on the state budget while restoring human dignity.

Investment required

Total estimated project cost: UAH 26,795,034

Key components of construction and installation works:

• Hard and rubber safety surfaces: UAH 5,252,000
• Elevator extension and platform stair lift: UAH 3,380,000
• Renovation of the assembly hall: UAH 3,192,000
• Training apartment and media library: UAH 2,155,000
• Assistive technology room: UAH 1,428,000
• Other accessibility works (ramps, navigation systems, accessible sanitary facilities): UAH 4,175,000
• Design documentation, supervision, expert assessment, and contingencies: UAH 2,819,195

Light Through Touch is more than a construction project. It is an investment in human capital, resilience, and the right of every person affected by war to live with confidence and independence.We invite international partners and donors to join us in building this vital centre of hope and recovery in Sumy Region.

Together, we can help people Feel the world again — and live confidently in it.

Project sustainability

Long-term sustainability is built into the project design from the outset. The Centre will operate as an integrated extension of the existing Konotop Special School, leveraging its permanent staff, Ministry of Health medical license, established educational programmes, and regional institutional status. This ensures continuity of services beyond the initial capital investment.

Key sustainability measures include:

• Operational integration — Rehabilitation services will be embedded within the school’s ongoing educational, correctional, and medical activities. Existing teaching and medical personnel (38 educators and 11 medical specialists) will be trained to use the new equipment and facilities, minimizing additional staffing costs.
• Financial model — Core operations will be supported through the school’s regular regional and state budget allocations. Targeted services for adult beneficiaries (veterans and civilians) can be co-financed through national veteran-support programmes, social rehabilitation funds, and partnerships with international organizations. Modest cost-recovery mechanisms for specialized adult programmes may be introduced where appropriate, without creating barriers for vulnerable groups.
• Maintenance and equipment lifecycle — The project budget already includes design documentation, technical supervision, and contingencies. A maintenance reserve and staff training plan will ensure proper upkeep of specialized equipment (Vizotronic, Amblyocor, magnetic stimulation systems, Braille devices, and outdoor surfaces). Preference will be given to durable, serviceable technologies with available local or regional technical support.
• Capacity building and knowledge transfer — Continuous professional development for staff, combined with documentation of methodologies, will allow the Centre to maintain high standards and potentially serve as a training and resource hub for other institutions in Sumy Region and beyond.
• Social and economic returns — By enabling beneficiaries to regain independence and re-enter education or employment, the project reduces long-term social welfare costs and generates measurable human-capital returns — reinforcing its value to public funders.
• Environmental and community integration — The 6-hectare park area will be developed as a low-maintenance therapeutic landscape using durable, accessible materials, ensuring the outdoor training ground remains functional with reasonable upkeep.

These elements create a resilient model that can continue delivering impact after donor funding for construction and equipment concludes, while remaining open to future partnerships for expansion or innovation.

Drawing on European best practices

The design of Light Through Touch is informed by proven models of visual rehabilitation developed in Northern Europe, particularly in Sweden, Finland and Denmark — countries widely recognised for high-quality, publicly funded, multi-disciplinary services for people with visual impairments.

Sweden operates a nationwide network of approximately 33 regional Low Vision Centres (Syncentraler). These centres provide nearly free, holistic services through multi-professional teams (optometrists, low-vision teachers, orientation & mobility instructors, occupational therapists and social counsellors). Emphasis is placed on early intervention, optical and electronic assistive devices, daily living skills and mobility training. Resource centres and specialised schools (such as Ekeskolan) support both specialised education and mainstream inclusion.

Finland maintains state-supported schools for the visually impaired (notably the Jyväskylä School for the Visually Impaired and the Swedish-speaking school in Helsinki) that function simultaneously as educational institutions and regional support centres. The Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired delivers individual and group rehabilitation programmes covering mobility, Braille, assistive technology, daily living skills and psychosocial support, with a strong focus on enabling independent living and participation in education and work.

Denmark has developed the Danish Institute for Visual Impairment (IBOS), a national competence and rehabilitation centre with more than 150 years of experience. IBOS offers comprehensive assessment, counselling, specialised courses, rehabilitation and supported living arrangements through a multi-disciplinary staff of around 130 professionals. Services aim at equal access to education, employment and community life, working in close cooperation with municipalities.

Common strengths of these Nordic approaches include:

• integration of medical, educational and social rehabilitation under one roof;
• multi-disciplinary teams and continuous professional training;
• combination of specialised facilities with support for inclusion in mainstream settings;
• strong emphasis on independence, assistive technology and practical skills;
• sustainable public funding models that ensure long-term accessibility.

In the leading Nordic centres (Swedish Low Vision Centres / Syncentraler, Finnish specialised schools and rehabilitation services, and Denmark’s IBOS), rehabilitation is almost never delivered by a single specialist. Instead, a multi-disciplinary team works together around each client. This structure is one of the main reasons these systems achieve strong results.

Light Through Touch adapts these principles to the Ukrainian context — building on an existing specialised school and medical licence — to create a regional hub that combines medical correction, daily living training, information access and orientation skills in a coherent, person-centred ecosystem.

A well-functioning team usually includes the following core roles:

In centres that also serve children or people with multiple disabilities (e.g. Ekeskolan in Sweden or IBOS MDVI programmes), the team may expand to include speech & language therapists, physiotherapists, special education teachers and behavioural specialists.

We plan that a multi-disciplinary team will work in practice at Light Through Touch Centre of Konotop Special School as follows:

Core team structure

Existing staff that can form the foundation:

• Paediatric ophthalmologist + orthoptics nurse (already present)
• Special education teachers (13 specialists in SEN)
• Other teaching staff experienced with visual impairment
• Medical nurses

Additional roles that should be developed or hired (priority order):

• Orientation & Mobility (O&M) instructor – 1–2 people
• Occupational therapist / Daily Living Skills instructor – 1–2 people
• Assistive Technology specialist – 1 person
• Social worker / Rehabilitation counsellor – 1 person
• Psychologist (can start part-time or shared with other institutions)

In the first years, some roles can be combined (for example, one person can cover both O&M and daily living skills training after specialised courses).

Planned team size in 2027–2028: 8–12 core specialists + support from the existing school staff.

How the process would work?

Step 1 – Intake and assessment (1–3 days)

• Medical assessment by the ophthalmologist / orthoptics nurse (residual vision, medical status)
• Functional assessment by the multi-disciplinary team:
• mobility and orientation
• daily living skills
• use of residual vision and assistive technology
• psychological and social situation
• Family or accompanying person is involved when possible

Step 2 – Individual rehabilitation plan

The team meets and creates one clear plan with specific, measurable goals (example: “Move independently around the school and nearby streets with a white cane within 4 weeks” or “Prepare simple meals safely in the training apartment”).

One team member is appointed as case coordinator for that person.

Step 3 – Training phase

Two main formats can run in parallel:

1. For school students (ongoing)

Training is integrated into the school day and week:

• O&M lessons on the new Orientation Training Ground
• Daily living skills in the Training Apartment
• Assistive technology and Braille/media work in the Media Library and Assistive Technology Room
• Medical correction sessions (Vizotronic, Amblyocor, magnetic stimulation)

B. For adult beneficiaries (veterans and civilians) – intensive modules

2–6 week intensive residential or day programmes

Daily schedule example:

• Morning: Mobility training + medical procedures
• Midday: Daily living skills in the Training Apartment
• Afternoon: Assistive technology + individual counselling
• Evening: Peer support group or free practice

Step 4 – Review and follow-up

• Team review meetings every 1–2 weeks during intensive programmes
• Final assessment and recommendations for home/work adaptations
• Follow-up visits or remote support after the person returns home