In July 2024, the NGO Agency for Private Initiative Development (ARPI) held a series of training workshops as part of the project “Revealing the potential of heritage for the economic development of small communities”. The initiative is being implemented by the ARPA with the support of the HOVERLA USAID Project (Enhancing Local Self-Government Work and Accountability Efficiency).

Representatives of 12 partner communities of the USAID HOVERLA Project, which are directly involved in the ARDI project, were invited to participate in the training workshops: Dykanka, Sencha, Orzhytsia communities of Poltava Oblast, Teteriv, Cherniakhiv and Khoroshiv communities of Zhytomyr Oblast, Hoshcha and Bilokrynytsia communities of Rivne Oblast, Zymnytsia and Shatsk communities of Volyn Oblast, Dovzhany and Horinchiv communities of Zakarpattia Oblast. A total of 58 representatives of partner communities took part in the training workshops.

The training workshops included a two-day program in four territorial communities. The first day of the workshops was held in the Vyhoda community, and the second day in the Pasichnyanska, Nadvirna and Kosivska communities of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.

The purpose of the first two workshops, which were dedicated to the implementation of anchor projects for the development of heritage tourism products, was to provide the partner communities of the USAID Hoverla Project with effective tools for local economic development and to increase the capacity of communities to manage and use cultural heritage and natural resources for the benefit of the entire community. In turn, the third training workshop, entitled “Women's Participation in Local Economic Development Based on Heritage,” was aimed at providing women from the USAID GOVERLA Project partner communities with effective tools to participate in planning and managing local economic development related to tourism and hospitality focused on cultural and natural heritage. The organizers and speakers of the workshop sought to promote women's civic participation in initiatives related to the preservation and use of local heritage, to inspire them to come up with new project ideas or creative innovations for the economic development of their communities.

Read more about the results of the training workshops on the implementation of anchor projects for the development of heritage tourism products here:  https://arpi.org.ua/%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8/815-hoverla_workshops.html

The results of the training workshop “Women's Participation in Local Economic Development Based on Heritage” are available here: https://arpi.org.ua/%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8/817-hoverla_women_workshop.html

ARPI continues to work with the communities participating in the project. In particular, a rapid assessment of the economic potential of cultural and natural heritage and the preparation of analytical reports with targeted recommendations for each community are underway. Also, during the project implementation, three communities will receive support in creating plans (local targeted programs) for the interpretation of cultural and natural heritage with practical recommendations for the development of tourism products.

The project “Revealing the potential of heritage for the economic development of small communitieS” aims to increase the economic sustainability of target communities by rapidly assessing the economic potential of their heritage and developing the capacity of local authorities to assess, manage and use existing heritage, as well as to develop effective local development programs aimed at utilizing the potential of local heritage. The objective of the project is to provide the partner communities of the USAID GOVERLA Project with effective tools for local economic development and to increase their capacity to manage and use their cultural and natural heritage for local development.

This publication were developed by NGO Agency for Private Initiative Development within the project Revealing the potential of heritage for the economic development of small communities and were made possible by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the generous support of the American people through USAID HOVERLA Activity. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

For more information, please contact the project coordinator Iryna Malynovska, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

USAID HOVERLA page on FB:

https://www.facebook.com/USAIDhoverla

@USAIDHOVERLA