Roundtable with the participation of media, media alliances, media associations, CSOs and representatives of central legislative and executive bodies

Monday, November 30 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM Kyiv time (online)

This will be the topic of the roundtable on the need to change national strategic approaches to heritage in Ukraine, which will be organized on November 30, 2020 by the founders of the Network of Civil Society Organizations to Support Heritage Communities ‘Go! Heritage’ – the NGO “Agency for the Development of Private Initiatives” and the “Tourist Association of Ivano-Frankivsk Region”.

Unlike other informational occasions and discussions that the ‘Go! Heritage’ Network has provoked and continues to provoke, this time we will not simply inform about progressive approaches and initiatives to heritage, once again emphasizing the role and significance of the potential of heritage for the economic development of Ukrainian communities and territories – we aim to focus the attention of the media community on the threats that often arise from management decisions regarding the cultural and natural heritage of Ukraine.

The main reason for such decisions, and therefore the main danger, is the lack of strategic vision or a lack of understanding of the role of heritage for local development. Local authorities and residents, as a rule, declare respect and attention to the heritage of the community and strive to support it, while management decisions regarding heritage are often made practically at random - without proper analysis of the consequences. However, significant, sometimes colossal, budgetary costs and efforts in no way compensate for a clear strategic vision and do not save monuments that continue to deteriorate or lose value. However, with smart management, heritage will not only be properly preserved, but will also be able to launch a chain of benefits for the local economy and generate income for communities.

Therefore, we invite the media, which directly shape public opinion, to the presentation of the results of the annual work of the ‘Go!Heritage’ Network team and to an interested discussion on promoting ideas for effective management of community heritage in order to stop senseless investment, which ultimately does not save from the prospect of destruction of monuments, transforming heritage locations into centers of development and well-being by using its economic potential and creating added value.

The questions that we will highlight and discuss at the round table:

· Why do current national policy approaches not save heritage, but on the contrary deepen the heritage crisis?

· What does it mean to look at heritage with a projection into the future?

· What is the real role of heritage in the economic development of small Ukrainian communities?

· How to get out of this crisis for the benefit of communities and their heritage?

and

· Why do we consider the role of Ukrainian media in overcoming this problem to be extremely important?

Also during the round table we will present the legislative developments of the Network - a draft law on amendments to the legislative acts of Ukraine in the field of cultural heritage management with the participation of territorial communities and civil society institutions, as well as our proposals for national political documents - the State Strategy for Regional Development for 2021-2027 and the National Economic Strategy-2030.

The event will be held in Zoom format from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Kyiv time.

To participate in the Round Table, please fill out the registration form: https://bit.ly/3nAn8V5. After that, we will send you a link to connect online.

Announcement of the event on FB - at this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/421841255480201. Repost - welcome.

Briefly about us:

NGO "Agency for Private Initiative Development" (https://arpi.org.ua/) has been working for 20 years in the areas of local economic development, creation and promotion of innovations in the fields of market economy, entrepreneurship and social development in local communities and at the national level.

NGO "Tourist Association of Ivano-Frankivsk Region" (https://taif.org.ua/) - has been working for a long time to develop the tourism industry as a key factor in sustainable development and improving the well-being of the communities of the region. The organization's objectives are to encourage travel and longer stays of tourists in the region and to form their positive impressions; promote tourist destinations of the Carpathian region in Ukraine and beyond; improve transport, logistics and information accessibility; form a national and local policy favorable to the development of tourism.

Since 2018, these organizations have founded and coordinated the activities of the All-Ukrainian Network of CSOs to Support Heritage Communities ‘Go! Heritage’, through which they implement initiatives and systemic changes aimed at the effective management of natural and cultural heritage in Ukraine.