However, now we have to ask questions - what's next? What will happen to the water supply of Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhia, and other settlements? How will the disappearance of the reservoir affect the food security of Ukraine and the world? Eliminating the catastrophic consequences of the dam breach will take years, perhaps decades, and will require vast sums of money, technology and equipment, and appropriate specialists. But above all, working in the aftermath of the tragedy will require culture. This may sound strange against the background of a series of humanitarian, environmental, and anthropogenic problems. But we cannot understand culture only as a show, propaganda, or the chirping of intellectuals. So what exactly is the situation about, and what are the criteria for a quality cultural approach to the situation?
Culture will seem like something optional if we reduce it to a set of arts, information spaces, and traditions. Culture begins to "work" when we perceive it as a system.
A system (from ancient Greek σύστημα - "combination," "whole," "junction") is a set of interconnected elements that form a single entity, with the environment and each other, and have a goal. The aspects of culture are practices that form habits or patterns of behavior, norms (ethical, legal, what sets a set of limitations), and senses (what we think and what actually sets the goal for the system). The collection of senses forms a picture of the world that helps to navigate and explain it; the collection of norms creates rules that dictate how people use the map and interact with each other. Finally, the collection of rules is what we do in practice and what techniques and tools we use to achieve goals.
Such a project is unlikely to be accomplished without international technical assistance.
Of course, culture is not limited to this. There are still those who create and transmit it. We can call the first creators or cultural heroes and the second mediators. The latter consists of a whole set of roles. Their job changes as the culture develops and "matures." There is also a landscape or physical space in which cultural heroes act. And heroes generate not only cultural practices and senses, but also artifacts. A space filled with artifacts is a projection of the world. And vice versa - a space filled with artifacts, stories, and repeated human behavior affects how an individual thinks (especially if they are a newcomer to culture, like children), what they believe in, and how they will behave in the future. The circle is closed. The system reproduces itself.
What other system reproduces itself? Nature. More specifically - a set of local ecosystems: forests, seas and oceans, mountains, steppes - all of these are examples of ecosystems. But ecosystems can also arise in landscapes altered by humans. For example, a pond with springs fed by reeds and other vegetation, fish, and aquatic birds is an ecosystem. A reservoir is a more complex ecosystem. The Kakhovka reservoir, during its years of existence, has become an ecosystem that has replaced the primary river-floodplain ecosystem. Floodplains in the lower reaches of the Dnieper are a very ancient and influential ecosystem.
And the consequences should be considered not only from one perspective, but from many in turn, taking into account the primary connections between them. In other words - an ecosystem. This requires trained, mature thinking. In asking about what and how to deal with a destroyed dam a month after the explosion, a year, three years, there are many strategic "stretch marks" and lost anchors from the past regarding the territory of the former reservoir. Let's say, rewilding or conservation for an indefinite period. The quality of decisions, and the thoroughness of working out all possible options, will depend on whether there are intellectual marathon runners among working group members or whether "experts" imitating their thinking will defend the most convenient, habitual option for themselves.
Are these ideas close to modern Ukrainians?
About lost anchors, for which, however, one can cling and get caught up, and wind circles instead of moving forward. What beliefs ("anchor" ideas) were the Kahovska hydroelectric plant built on in the 1950s? Not waiting for "mercy from nature, but taking them by force." Everything is permeated with the idea of total control and distrust of the spontaneity of self-organization. "Construction of the century," for which the Party's leading role is necessary. Allegedly, people, peasants do not see further than their own noses, and wise party leaders are enlightened enough to plan for the centuries. Centralization of resources and power; mobilization of a massive number of people forced to work almost for free. Then include the price of fear of punishment and naive belief in the promise of a "bright future." Perhaps adepts of "great construction" will like such ideals, but will it be an authentically Ukrainian vision of relationships with the environment, way of life, and management?
The answer can be found in the cultural content accumulated over the centuries. Making decisions within the country is just a tiny part of the equation with many unknowns. Such a project is only possible with international technical assistance, grants, investments, and credits. And the question is: under what conditions these funds will be received? And what about establishing justice and proving the fact of the military crime by representatives of the Russian Federation?! After all, this will also affect the conditions, volumes, and speed of providing resources. To what extent does this all work for a country known only for its problems on the world stage, and almost nothing is known about its contribution to the global discourse or the hypothetical "world treasury?" In turn, a country's brand, a convincing story from its representatives at various levels, and the ability to offer its own vision for solving global problems can encourage and inspire a desire to become involved in something significant with cultural representation. After all, culture is ultimately about the purpose, meaning, and sense of fullness of life.