Stefan Melle: “The competences of the Union play a very important role for the project, because the potential of rural tourism in Ukraine is extremely large”

Dear readers, colleagues and colleagues!

We, the management and staff of the DRA in Berlin, sincerely congratulate you and all citizens of Ukraine on the 30th anniversary of the declaration of Independence. It is a big and significant step that since then your country has been following its own path and since 2013-2014 has resumed its progress, referring to the democratic image of society and the state, which combines the sustainable development of all regions and the interaction of the state and civil society on all significant topics for people, economy, politics and environment.

The development over the last thirty years of a strong, democratic and integrated Ukraine, in which freedom and rights are guaranteed, as well as the possibility of participation and self-realization of citizens, where communities become stronger and more effective, is undoubtedly important for all other people and countries of Europe. We are sincerely glad that, working together with you, our partners and, in particular, with the Union of Rural Green Tourism of Ukraine, we continue to contribute to these processes. We wish Ukraine and all Ukrainians that further development will continue to take place both in cities and in rural areas, despite difficult conditions, including despite the war that the leadership of the Russian Federation still continues to wage in the East of Ukraine, and taking into account the challenges of the economic of a nature that can be gradually overcome in the coming years.

Our organization – DRA – is an international, non-governmental and non-profit organization located in Berlin, which aims to cooperate and strengthen civil society and its thematic and professional competences, as well as combining the experience of experts and actors of civil society in Eastern and Central Europe. Since the 1990s, DRA has been working together with partners in this region and supports open and peaceful cooperation, in particular between Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of the Eastern Partnership – in a democratic Europe without borders. DRA started its efforts for the protection of the climate and the environment, as well as for sustainable development, back in 2009, and during this time managed to implement numerous programs, the focus of which extended from supporting the activities of local initiatives to promoting the participation of civil organizations and journalists in the climate summit UN.

We sincerely hope that our joint project “Perspectives for the Sustainable Development of Rural Areas” will have a positive impact not only on the development of Ukraine as a whole and on strengthening the potential of its residents, but also on improving the chances of coexistence and survival of people and nature in a global context. Our project is aimed at strengthening initiatives to promote sustainable development in rural areas of Ukraine. Together with partner organizations, DRA organizes additional education programs for local representatives of rural regions, supports them and facilitates the establishment of contacts between them. This serves not only to help local residents to identify the interrelationships between the processes of global ecological, economic and social development and opportunities for activities at the local level, but also to develop sustainable solutions for the region.

We are very glad that the Union of Rural Green Tourism of Ukraine has joined the project team and that we have the opportunity to implement a number of different activities until the end of 2022 for the development of sustainable rural tourism in Ukraine. The competences of the Union play a very important role for the project, since the potential of rural tourism in Ukraine is extremely large. Its peculiarity is that it is not only a form of sustainable tourism, but can also become a tool for the sustainable development of rural regions as a whole.

We express our sincere gratitude to the Union of Rural Green Tourism of Ukraine for its contribution to our joint development and look forward to further cooperation.

Sincerely,

Stefan Melle

Director of DRA