The event’s participants included team leaders and members who have developed and introduced 4 free walking tours starting from May 2015, as well as the project’s partners and newly engaged volunteers who presented 4 more new tours, which will be offered shortly. All the relevant news is available on the project website – http://travel.ula.org.ua/

A project partner representative from the Kyiv City State Administration’s department of image and information policy presented about the current situation and perspectives of tourism development in Kyiv. The Tourism Department of the Kyiv City State Administration has been an active project partner and stands ready to continue its cooperation with the ULA.

The project management team, in turn, shared success stories and challenges encountered during the project implementation, including

- 7 creative teams are actively working;

- 4 free walking tours have been designed and offered to the public;

-from May 2015, over 50 free walking tours have been offered to the public, and about 890 individuals used this service;

- 4 new tours have been developed and will be offered shortly;

- design of 2 more tours is underway;

-curriculum has been developed for trainings of volunteer tour guides;

- 8 one-day-long trainings for volunteers interested to become tour guides under the ULA project have been offered, and 80 volunteers participated in the trainings. 20 of them have become active project volunteers;

- a training handbook is being designed for professional development of librarians, which includes methodology of library promotion of cultural and historical heritage through local tourism support and development;

-10 Kyiv-based libraries (including national, university, and public libraries) have become hubs for the work of creative teams as well as tour sites, actively introduced a new library service – local tourism, advertised their services and potential, and attracted new library users.

Creative Session’s participants had an opportunity to discuss potential for the project development in 2016 in the World Café format, including logistical arrangements, partnerships and fundraising, information support, and trainings for the tour guides.

Based on the results of the Creative Session’s work, the ULA made a decision to continue project implementation in 2016 and offer free new tours in Kyiv.

Photos are available here.

Project promotion video.

Let’s Create Together!

This year the Foundation has given the financial support for 25 astonishing proposals with focus on culture from across the EU for a Research and Development Grant. ULA submitted its proposal “Library-Supported Tourism in Kiev” on international Idea Camp that took place from 23 to 25 October 2014 in Marseille (France) and further was offered to be awarded with grant to support the project.

There were 25 awarded applicants including us that have been selected among the 50 participants of the contest. Thus, ULA will fulfil the project aimed to develop customised Kiev city tours in 2015. The State Youth Library of Ukraine will serve as a co-working space to host the task force charged with the design of contest for walking tours as well as the virtual ones.

The project will provide tours content development in Ukrainian and English for local residents as well as Ukrainian and international tourists, guides’ training and modern library utilization as “the third space” with a task force charged with the project implementation using the available library resources.

Keep up with information as far as the new project is concerned on the ULA web site and social networks, join us and we’ll gladly meet you on new and interesting tours!

The project is expected to go beyond Kiev and comprise other regions of Ukraine as well where the caring ULA members are concerned with the further development of library-supported tourism.

We wish the new year would bring success to the project team!

Such project implementation by the Ukrainian Library Association (ULA) could become possible due to its winning in contest of projects by the European Cultural Foundation, ECF. The project is directed towards the tourism development in Kiev and has information support by the Tourism Department of Kyiv Municipal State Administration.

The participants of the creative session were divided into the four teams and each of them submitted the tourist route that would be developed during February-March 2015 using the available library resources.

As a result the following 4 tourist routes have been selected:

- “Lost in time” (ethnographic tour-adventure). District: Shevchenkivskyi. The group supervisor: Uralova Olexandra (travel agency “Mysterious Kiev”).

- “Pankivshchyna”: from Latin Quarter to Ukrainian Parnassus” (sightseeing local tour). District: Shevchenkivskyi. The group supervisor: Polyova Victoria (ULA administrative office).

- “Terra Incognita in Kiev center” (cultural and art tour). District: Shevchenkivskyi (Tatarka). The group supervisor: Hrebelnyk Nataliya (Library named after T. Shevchenko of Central Library System of Shevchenkivskyi District).

- “Knowledge getting over the turns of the centuries”. District: Holosiivskyi District. The group supervisor: Vynohradova Lyudmyla (State Youth Library of Ukraine).

In April 2015 there will be on-line service providing information about tours and registration for tourist routes.

Project partners: Tourism Department of Kyiv Municipal State Administration, Daryna Zholdak Foundation.

Click here to find the event photos (https://www.flickr.com/photos/51235748@N04/sets/72157650260371708/).

Keep up with information on the Ukrainian Library Association web site www.ula.org.ua.