The new tourism trend of “living like a local” is being strengthened by promoting the value of “solidarity” (Alexova, 2015). That is when a tourist’s motivation and commitment is to engage in volunteer work to help address social, cultural, economic, or environmental challenges of the local destinations (Milne et al., 2018; Brown, 2005). More recently, the concept of Solidarity Tourism (ST) was explored for promoting sustainable models of local and regional development (Phuc & Nguyen, 2020; Benson, 2010)._x000D_
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While the Ukrainian Government considers tourism for post-war recovery, already now, in the non-occupied territories, rural communities experience the benefits of safeguarding cultural and agricultural heritage, valorising natural and social capital, and psychological rehabilitation from the trauma of war that tourism brings. Balancing economic objectives with social and environmental ones, ST has the potential to alternate the future of tourism and become the primary tool for promoting the value of solidarity while bringing multidimensional benefits (Dolnicara&McCabeb, 2022). And Ukraine’s rural destinations can become a pilot case for exploring how tourism can help communities recover from the crisis and build resilience while avoiding negative environmental and social impacts. _x000D_
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The authors performed a preliminary analysis of the war-induced challenges for the tourism industry and rural communities, including smallholders and farmers, monitored local solidarity initiatives, undertook interviews with key stakeholders. The pilot “Network Cooperation on the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Ukraine by Means of Solidarity and Volunteer Tourism in War and post-war times” within Kyiv Oblast was implemented with the expert support of the USAID “Economic Support to Ukraine” project. Based on the findings, a Ukrainian scenario for building rural areas’ resilience and recovery through the ST, integrated with multistakeholder network cooperation, will be presented.
Olena Motuzenko, PhD, Associate Professor in constructive geography of the Faculty of Geography, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Ukraine; Viviana Ferrario, PhD, Associate Professor in Landscape geography of the Department of Architecture and Arts, University IUAV of Venice, Italy; Anna Kanshieva, PhD, Biodiversity Specialist, UN FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia
Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Ukraine; University IUAV of Venice, Italy; UN FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.
ID Abstract: 858