From February 1, 2021, the Agency for the Development of Private Initiatives (ARPI) was able to continue its activities aimed at supporting local communities in the preservation and promotion of local heritage, thanks to a new grant from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

The project aims to engage the potential of youth and provide young community leaders with the skills to wisely manage heritage potential in the interests of local development, as well as create opportunities for them to implement their own creative initiatives in their communities.

Implementing the project "Heritage for Development: Increasing Public Participation in the Preservation and Use of the Heritage Potential of Local Communities" with the support of NED in 2019-2020, we involved 20 CSOs, who, having acquired the necessary competencies, became active ambassadors of the idea of ​​developing heritage democracy and transferred to their communities the experience and knowledge gained during joint activities in the project. CSOs prepared local heritage interpretation plans for 15 territorial communities, and 5 of them received grant support to implement the most creative heritage interpretation projects with the participation of local authorities, active residents and businesses in target communities, including Tartakiv and Pomoryany in Lviv region, Bratslav in Vinnytsia region, Kostryzhivka in Bukovina and Nadvirna in Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Why is youth the focus of the new project?

While coordinating the activities of CSOs in small communities and working directly with newly formed communities of Ukraine in other programs and projects, we have become convinced that despite the lack of vision for the successful use of heritage potential, adherence to nationally biased approaches to heritage protection, and ignoring the potential of active residents in heritage management, communities have other equally important problems that hinder or block progress in this area.

Unfortunately, today, when making decisions by local communities, the potential of youth is underestimated, and in some cases ignored, which weakens the connection of young people with communities and their sense of involvement in their fate. By removing young people from active life, the community is deprived of a significant incentive and resource for producing innovations and creative ideas for local development, and does not fully realize the potential of public participation - the basis of local democracy.

What is the connection between the problems of youth in local communities and problems with cultural and natural heritage?

Research and “field” work of the ARPI team in local communities showed some disappointing trends, in particular, that local youth do not see prospects for realizing their potential in small communities not only due to the lack of jobs and the lack of prerequisites for business development, but also due to the general depressive atmosphere, which is exacerbated by outdated post-Soviet infrastructure, neglected natural and cultural landscapes, the lack of spatial planning and modern aesthetics even in new architectural solutions.

The human capital of youth as creators of the future is often underestimated or even ignored by local government bodies when developing scenarios for the future of communities. Children and youth are now, as in distant Soviet times, mainly considered by officials not as participants in the process of making strategic decisions, but as volunteers on call for environmental actions or subbotniks, as declaimers or artists at village festivals or town events.

On the other hand, local governments and civil society organizations working in the field of local development of small communities lack professional knowledge and experience for effective heritage management and making relevant management decisions. As a result, decisions appear at the local level that are unable to launch anchor projects of local development, and thus preserve and increase heritage for future generations, turn forgotten objects into a matter of pride for communities and a factor in raising their image. And in some cases, such decisions are wrong or even threatening for the heritage itself - an example is the project to rebuild a separate tower on the ruins of the Pniv Castle in the Nadvirna district of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, which leads to the destruction of the organic landscape, actually levels the true value of the monument and deprives the community of chances for development, and young people - of involvement in this development.

What does the project offer for young project participants and their communities?

Talented and proactive youth lack and often have nowhere to acquire the practical skills and experience to successfully implement their own creative, often completely innovative, at first glance, too bold ideas for “reincarnation” of communities. The project will create opportunities for effective public participation of young local activists, giving them the opportunity to develop and implement modern solutions for the interpretation of cultural heritage, which are urgently needed by their community. Young project participants will gain knowledge and skills in effective management of heritage resources during the training program and will develop plans for the interpretation of the heritage of their communities with the involvement of local stakeholders, primarily youth, in the planning process.

A small grants program among CSOs will also be aimed at implementing the selected youth ideas, which will prepare interpretative plans for the designated communities. It is planned to provide grants aimed at developing and implementing the most creative initiatives for heritage interpretation, involving local youth, who will thus feel a real involvement in the future of their communities. Thanks to small grants, it will be possible to implement the most successful, non-standard initiatives for the preservation and interpretation of local heritage on the basis of public participation.

The results of the implementation of youth local initiatives will be presented and discussed at the national forum of young community leaders, which will bring together experienced practitioners, successful representatives of the creative industries, scientific and cultural establishments.

What are our next steps?

In the nearest plans, “Heritage for Development” - a competition for the selection of participants in the educational and grant program of the project. It is planned to organize a program for youth leaders who have the need and desire to reanimate/strengthen the potential of local heritage and the management capacity of the communities they will represent. The main criterion for the participation of applicants will be their understanding of the value of local heritage. It is expected that the participants of the competition will not only be concerned about the state of heritage in villages and small towns of Ukraine, but will consider it as an asset, resource and a significant factor of local development, as a phenomenon that can and should be used in local interests. The terms of the competition of youth ideas will be published on the website and on the FB page of the Agency for the Development of Private Initiative in April 2021.

The implementation of the project will be an organic continuation of the Agency's activities, launched within the framework of the project "Heritage for Development: Increasing Public Participation in the Preservation and Use of the Heritage Potential of Local Communities" with the support of NED and will allow to consolidate and strengthen the effect of previously achieved results.