Acronym

OPALYN

NUMBER

PBU3/1090/20

Project type

Micro-project

STATUS

Completed

THEMATIC OBJECTIVE

HERITAGE

PRIORITY

1.1 Promotion of local culture and history

PARTNERSHIP

PL-UA

LEAD BENEFICIARY

Volyn regional initiatives centre (Volyn Oblast, Ukraine)

BENEFICIARY

Rivne village council (Rivne Oblast, Ukraine)
Ruda-Huta Commune (Lubelskie Voivodeship, Poland)

Project description

It is often claimed that big events take place in big cities. At the same time, some historical events made small towns and villages famous. And some small places, located on the borderland have a long and glorious history. One of such historic places is Opalyn (UA), founded in 1638, known as a centre of trade and crafts. For 300 years, Ukrainians, Poles and Jews had been living together there. During World War II, the settlement was completely burnt down. Currently, in this area there is a small village Vyshnivka belonging to the Rivne territorial community. This part of the Polish-Ukrainian borderland is now a peripheral rural area facing common challenges such as migration and unemployment, its natural and cultural values are hardly known to people.

The partners from Rivne village and the neighbouring Ruda Huta Commune, only 20 km away from each other, want to make this area active and vibrant again, using its full tourism potential. The OPALYN project goal is to increase the tourist attractiveness of rural communities in the Ukrainian-Polish border area by exploiting the common historical heritage. They want to promote the most valuable assets of this area, i.e. recreational resources, historical and cultural monuments as well as local arts and crafts. To commemorate the place where Opalyn town was located before WWII, a memorial stone will be installed. Open events such as art and history festival fair, a cross-border cycling tour, and an art exhibition will help to promote a new destination. Schoolchildren will have an opportunity to try their hand at traditional crafts during the workshops. Also, a book entitled “History of a small town. Opalyn" will be published to reveal the past of this area.

Project implementation of the OPALYN project will make a significant contribution to preservation of the common historical heritage, revival of traditional crafts, enrichment and diversification of cultural life in this area, increasing its tourist attractiveness.