Project “Prospects of sustainable development of rural areas”

During July 2021 – February 2022, the Union of Rural Green Tourism of Ukraine participated in the project “Perspectives for the sustainable development of rural areas”, aimed at promoting the sustainable development of rural territorial communities and increasing their capacity through the development of rural tourism and hospitality. On the territory of Ukraine, the project is implemented by the NGO “Ekodiya” together with the NGO “Ukrainian Network of Rural Development” and the NGO “Association for the Development of Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine”, in cooperation with DRA eV and with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.

As part of the project, the Union carried out activities in several directions:

Comprehensive training course for communities on the development of rural tourism

A survey of community representatives was conducted to determine the specific needs of communities in knowledge and with the aim of forming an actual training course program.

The survey on participation in the training course on the development of rural green tourism and rural hospitality was conducted from August 16 to 23, 2021. 39 communities from 20 regions of Ukraine, which unite more than 900 settlements, and a representative of the All-Ukrainian Association of OTG (total of 40 respondents) took part in the survey.

The survey results revealed that community representatives would like to consider the following topics regarding the development of rural green tourism and rural hospitality during the training course:

  • where to look for resources for the development of rural tourism in the community – 85%;
  • road map (instructions) for the development of rural tourism in the community – 82.5%;
  • marketing, branding and promotion of rural tourism services – 80%;
  • normative and legal regulation of rural tourism – 75%;
  • rural tourism and sustainable development – 72.5%;
  • clusters of rural tourism: what, for what, the basis for the formation of a cluster in the community – 70%;
  • how to open a country estate from scratch – 67.5%.

In addition, the respondents highlighted other topics of interest to them. 

The comprehensive training course for communities on the development of rural tourism took place in two stages:

1st class – Fundamentals of sustainable development of rural green tourism, 10 thematic webinars + 2 additional meetings (September-November 2021) – for those who do not have experience in the development of rural green tourism;

2nd class – Rural green tourism: professional development, 6 thematic webinars + 2 additional meetings (November-December 2021) – for those communities that already have experience in organizing rural tourism, have basic knowledge and want to familiarize themselves with new practices and trends .  

The topics of the courses included coverage of such aspects as:

  • Modern trends in the field of rural hospitality
  • Successful practices of creating rural green estates
  • Legal basis for provision of rural green tourism services
  • Quality standards in the field of rural green tourism
  • Marketing, branding and promotion of rural tourism services
  • Modern information technologies in the development of rural green tourism.
  • Creation and development of rural tourism clusters
  • Road map of the development of rural tourism in the community
  • Creation of a successful tourist destination and its development
  • Personal development of the owner of the guest house and others

In addition to the thematic webinars, the course also included two online meetings with a German expert on the topic of promoting regional development in rural areas with the help of sustainable tourism.

Owners of rural green estates, representatives of united territorial communities, scientists and public activists took part in the course. A total of 72 participants pre-registered for the first class, 53 for the second class.

20 Ukrainian experts were involved in the course, both from the Union and from outside, who also provided support to the participants throughout the course. 

At the end of both courses, participants performed and defended practical tasks and passed tests.

Practical tasks in the form of project works were developed by the course experts so that the participants could apply the knowledge gained during the course as effectively as possible and take the first step towards the development of rural tourism in their communities. Instructions on how to perform a practical task were provided to participants during webinars during the course, and they could always turn to project experts for advice and get the necessary support. 

Practical tasks in the form of presentations were defended by participants during final meetings within the course.

On November 23, an online meeting was held with the participants of the first class of the training course, during which 10 presentations on the creation of competitive tourism products were presented and defended.

The possibilities of creating a competitive tourist product were presented by representatives of the communities of ten regions of Ukraine – Ovrutskaya (Zhytomyr region), Raigorodskaya (Vinnytsia region), Mangushskaya (Donetsk region), Malobilozerskaya (Zaporizhia region), Borivskaya (Kharkiv region), Palanskaya (Cherkasy region), Pidhorodnyanskaya ( Ternopil Oblast), Kamin-Kashirsk (Volyn Oblast), Dunayevetska (Khmelnytsk Oblast), Novo-Odesa (Mykolaiv Oblast).

On December 14, a final online meeting was held with the participants of the second class of the training course, during which 8 presentations aimed at presenting a new or already operating tourist product in the community were defended.

Innovative and competitive tourism products were presented by representatives of eight communities from seven regions of Ukraine: Staroushytsk (Khmelnytskyi region), Ovrutsk (Zhytomyr region), Pokrovsk (Donetsk region), Kamin-Kashirsk (Volyn region), Vyhodsk and Burshtynsk (Ivano-Frankivsk region), Mykhailo-Lukashivska (Zaporizka Oblast), Pidhorodnyanska (Ternopil Oblast).

In general, all participants of the training course, who developed and presented their tourist products, successfully coped with the assigned tasks.

According to the results of the course, certificates of successful completion of training were issued to the participants. A total of 67 certificates were issued: 1st class – 42 certificates, 2nd class – 25 certificates.

Regional educational trip for community representatives

From October 13 to 15, within the framework of the project, an educational trip was held to Hrytsivsk United Territorial Community in Khmelnytskyi Region.

The purpose of the trip is to share experiences in the field of rural tourism and get acquainted with successful tourism practices in rural areas.

The destination for the trip was chosen on a competitive basis. The Hrytsiv community has considerable experience in the development of rural green tourism. It was there in 2002 that the first cluster of rural green tourism in Ukraine “Oberig” was created, which united more than 30 participants – owners of agro-villages, producers of agricultural products, providers of tourist services, etc.

11 participants, representatives of communities from 10 regions of Ukraine, took part in the trip. The main criteria for selecting the participants were the level of motivation, interest and desire to use the knowledge and experience gained during the trip in the future for the development of tourism in their communities.

As part of the trip, the participants visited several villages of Hrytsivska and neighboring Sakhnovetska communities, talked with representatives of local authorities and activists, took part in educational and educational activities.

The interview of the participants of the trip was covered in the report of the program “All over the country” on Ukrainian Radio. You can listen to the recording of the broadcast at the link:  https://cutt.ly/jY0xSEy

Preparation of six issues of the electronic magazine “Rural Green Tourism”

The popular scientific periodical subscription magazine “Rural Green Tourism” was published in paper format from 1997 to 2014. During this time, 57 issues with a circulation of over 200,000 copies were issued.

The first issue of the updated magazine was published in August 2021 and is dedicated to recommendations that are designed to help rural homestead owners prepare households to provide rural green tourism (rural hospitality) services in the corona- and post-coronavirus period. The magazine also presents successful stories of estates that have already implemented these recommendations in practice to minimize the risks of the pandemic.

New issues of the magazine contain recommendations, success stories, experience, challenges and achievements, legislation, topical development issues at the local and national level, and other topics for beginners, community representatives and all those interested in the development of sustainable rural tourism and sustainable rural development.

The fifth issue contains the materials and results of the project round table, which took place on December 17, and the sixth issue contains the results of the project implementation, feedback from participants and experts, etc.

You can view all issues on the website of the Union in the “Library” section.

Creation of educational videos about successful guest houses

As part of the project, two videos were prepared, the purpose of which is to show the successful experience of the creation and operation of rural guest houses, which also take care of the interests of the community and the development of the countryside. The stories of the development of the hospitable personal peasant farm “Poliska Khata” and the hospitable estate “Kit Bayun and Krivenka Kachechka”, both located in the Zhytomyr region, were presented.

Filming took place between November 1 and 15, 2021. Owners of farms and members of their families, as well as representatives of local authorities and active members of the community were involved in filming at both locations.

Both videos were presented at the round table of the project, which took place on December 17, and distributed to the participants of the round table on flash drives. In the future, it is planned to place videos freely available for communities and rural population on the renewed website of the Union as educational materials on the development of rural green tourism in Ukraine.

Advocacy work

During the entire period of project implementation, advocacy work was carried out in the following directions:

Legislative project work

  • Amendments to the draft Law of Ukraine No. 4162 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Tourism” and some other legislative acts regarding the basic principles of tourism development” have been prepared.  Currently, the draft law is being prepared for the second reading.

Expert work

  • Examination of the first edition of the project of the national standard DSTU XXXXX:202_ “Tourist services. Rural tourism. General requirements. Classification of means of accommodation” (task topic – 1149-2020).  Currently, the standard is adopted without taking into account the comments of the Union.

Letters and appeals

  • A letter was prepared and sent to the State Production and Consumer Service of Ukraine with a request to provide an explanation regarding the application of the Law of Ukraine “On Basic Principles and Requirements for the Safety and Quality of Food Products” by the owners of OSH – natural persons who provide services for catering to tourists. 
  • A letter was prepared and sent to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine with a request to provide clarification on the need to comply with the requirements of the Procedure for Provision of Temporary Accommodation (Accommodation) Services, approved by Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 297 dated March 15, 2006, on keeping a book of feedback and suggestions by persons who carry out activities in the sphere of NWT and provide services for temporary accommodation of tourists in collective means of accommodation. 
  • A letter of inquiry was prepared and sent to the Federal Tax Service with a request to provide clarification on the procedure for charging and paying the tourist tax by the owners of OSG – natural persons who carry out activities in the sphere of NWT and provide services for temporary accommodation of tourists. 
  • A letter has been prepared to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with a request to provide an answer: at what stage is the consideration of the draft law “On stimulating the development of rural hospitality in Ukraine” in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 
  • A letter was prepared to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in support of the draft law “On stimulating the development of rural hospitality in Ukraine”. 

Work on the development and updating of internal documents of the Union

  • The Protocol on the safety of rural green tourism (rural hospitality) in the corona and post-coronavirus period has been brought into line with the current legislation of Ukraine. (The protocol is published in the first issue of the updated e-magazine “Rural Green Tourism” No. 1 (58) for August 2021).
  • Recommendations for the owner of a personal peasant and/or family farm on the provision of rural green tourism services have been developed. (The recommendations were published in the electronic magazine “Rural Green Tourism” No. 5 (62) for December 2021).

Implementation of an online platform with educational materials on rural  green  tourism  for communities and the rural population

The results of a comprehensive training course for communities on the development of rural tourism and a survey of communities showed that today there is a significant need for representatives of communities and residents of rural areas for knowledge about various aspects of the development of rural green tourism.

To this end, as part of the project, the creation of an educational platform on the portal  www.greentour.com.ua  for community and rural population access to knowledge, up-to-date information, domestic and foreign experience, etc. continues.

On the portal, in a separate section “Education”, the developed materials of the project will be freely accessible – videos about the successful experience of the creation and operation of rural guest houses, training courses “Fundamentals of sustainable development of rural green tourism” and “Rural green tourism: professional development” (webinar recordings , presentations, educational materials, practical tasks).

The educational platform is planned to be implemented by the end of March 2022. 

Final round table for project participants and mass media

On December 17, 2021, a round table of the project “Perspectives for sustainable development of rural areas” was held in Kyiv. The main goal of the event is to organize a dialogue between communities, central executive authorities and project partners to create new opportunities for the development of communities by improving their agritourism image.

135 participants took part in the event in various formats:

– 13 offline participants – representatives of central authorities (the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and the State Tourism Development Agency of Ukraine), partner organizations (National Tourism Organization of Ukraine, GS “Ukrainian Network of Rural Development”) and six communities from different regions of Ukraine;

– 9 online speakers who joined the discussion using the Zoom platform – representatives of partner organizations (DRA eV, NGO “Ekodiya”, UNDP), Union experts and community representatives; 

– 113 pre-registered online listeners.

The main program of the event consisted of two parts:

The first session entitled “Dialogue, access to knowledge and information”, which was aimed at the need to implement the policy of forming a bifunctional model of a family hospitality household, simple and clear requirements for the provision of quality and safe hospitality services, eliminating the gap in legal awareness of communities.

The second session “Community Resources: People, Nature, Heritage”, which discussed the analysis and sharing of best practices available for implementation by communities that are potentially ready to improve the image of agritourism, as well as familiarization with success stories and creative projects for the development of rural tourism in communities .

The event also presented a report on the results of the “Prospects of Sustainable Development of Rural Areas” project as of the end of 2021, which contained the results of the activities of the Association of Rural Green Tourism in the main directions.

The event was broadcast online on the Ukrinform website and YouTube channel. The recording of the round table broadcast is available at the following link:

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