The event brought together representatives of civil society organizations, educators, scientists, creative industry professionals interested in preserving heritage even during war, as well as representatives of local and regional authorities, local governments, and was the logical conclusion of the two-year activity of the Agency for the Development of Private Initiatives with the support of NED to build a network of CSOs to support communities with heritage Go!Heritage, review its experience and innovative practices.

Recall that the project was a continuation of the project “Heritage for Development: Increasing Public Participation in the Preservation and Use of the Heritage Potential of Local Communities”. The goal of the project was to attract the potential of youth and provide young community leaders with the skills of smart management of heritage potential in the interests of local development, as well as create opportunities for them to implement their own creative initiatives in their communities.

Like the previous initiative, the project provided for practical training of CSO leaders in the basics of heritage interpretation, preparation of interpretive plans for communities and provision of sub-grants for projects aimed at starting the implementation of these interpretive plans. In particular, in June 2021, a workshop of heritage interpreters was organized and held for 20 leaders of youth initiative groups from 14 regions of Ukraine. The initiatives of the workshop participants on involving the public in the preservation of local heritage through its interpretation were carefully selected. As a result, grant support for the project was provided for 5 initiatives, including “Mamont Fest Festival – a calling card of the Ponornytsia community” (NGO “Mamont Family”, Chernihiv region), “Creating a virtual tour of the Pryluky fortress of the 17th-19th centuries” (BO “Mystetski Barvy”, Pryluky city, Chernihiv region), “Cultural Heritage Festival Kizim Yushka Fest” (BO “Transformation”, Bilozersk TG, Kherson region), “Novyi Rozdil – a city born of sulfur” (BO CF “Heritage. UA”, Novyi Rozdil city, Lviv region), “Volunteer laboratory for the sake of saving the heritage of Krasnodvir castle” (NO “Nadvirna Tourist Information Center”, Nadvirna city, Ivano-Frankivsk region).

Overall, taking into account the results of the previous stage of the project, the sub-grantees achieved significant results, which became possible only thanks to the joining of efforts, partnership building, professional connections and opportunities created by Go!Heritage. Thus, from 2019 to 2022, the network leaders prepared cultural and natural heritage interpretation plans for 18 communities from 13 regions of Ukraine, and also achieved significant progress in involving community residents in the preservation of local histories, antiquities, and in the revitalization of “communal” castles and palaces.

The achievements of the sub-grants are eloquently demonstrated by the numbers: 8 memoranda/agreements between implementing CSOs, local and regional authorities on joint initiatives around heritage, 6 volunteer units for heritage rescue, over 2,250 visitors to presentation and educational events, training and 10 presentations involving the press, 25 sponsors and patrons of volunteer initiatives, in funds - 150 thousand UAH. involved in heritage restoration, 11 panels on abandoned sites, 10 expeditions (interviews) with heritage bearers to create stories for interpretation, 2 elements of site improvement (fence, paving stones), 8 promotional banners, 3 interpretive videos, 1 full-length interpretive film, 2 creative photo zones, 10 sets/costumes for performances, 2 exhibitions at heritage sites, 4 types of interpretive publications (5,000 copies), 3 new tourist routes, and even 1 chamber concert on the ruins of the castle.

Unfortunately, the project failed to implement the “live” final conference, which was planned as a large-scale promotional event for Go!Heritage, due to the brutal invasion of the Russian Federation and martial law in Ukraine. We had to review our activities and reformat them with maximum benefit in this tragic time for the country and people. In particular, we organized tours for internally displaced persons temporarily residing in Ivano-Frankivsk region to places of local cultural and natural heritage. For this purpose, those IDPs from the East and South of Ukraine who are related to the creative industries were invited. In this way, the project team and Go!Heritage found like-minded people capable of generating the necessary social changes. On the other hand, the tours had a significant therapeutic and integration effect for their participants.

Through participation in four trips organized within the project, they met storytellers, craftsmen, other local celebrities, tried to “dive” into the local lifestyle and master traditional cultures of work. Thanks to their involvement in living heritage, they gradually healed from traumatic experiences and easily integrated into the local social environment.

At the final online event of the project, they noted the uniqueness of the experience gained and their willingness to join as volunteers in projects related to using the potential of local heritage Go!Heritage.

The success of the project became a prerequisite for its continuation. The next ARPI initiative with the support of NED “Heritage Advocates” will begin in September. Read about its goal, objectives and implementation plans in the following publication.

We invite you to follow our resources on social networks and on the website: arpi.org.ua. The recording of the round table with key presentations and discussions is posted on YouTube https://youtu.be/6TBTWh1Ac2A.

We thank everyone who shared the pleasure of implementing this initiative with us. We also invite partners to continue to support our joint activities, and new participants to actively participate. We sincerely hope that together we will free the country from the consequences of hellish chaos and preserve the Ukrainian identity, our tangible and intangible heritage from irreparable losses.