On December 11-12, 2015 in Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine the Carpathian Heritage Railways Partners’ Networking Meeting was held.
The meeting was held as the final event of the project ‘Carpathian Heritage Railways’ implementing by the Tourist Association of Ivano-Frankivsk region in partnership with the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration, Vygoda Village Council and Maramureş Mountains Nature Park Administration under the Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine ENPI Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013 (www.huskroua-cbc.net) and co-financing by the European Union through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument. During the project implementation period, the cooperation between the narrow gauge railways ‘Carpathian tram’ (Vyhoda, Ukraine) and “Moсanita” (Visheu de Sus, Romania) was established. The main project activity is to create a Vyhoda Narrow Gauge Railway Heritage Centre – a modern attraction that will support the sustainable interest of tourists to the technological heritage of the Carpathian narrow gauge railways.
The networking meeting was attended by the representatives of project partners’ organizations, narrow gauge railways’ operators, experts in the field of railways, industrial and ecological tourism, representatives of the executive authorities, local governments, non-governmental organizations and business entities in the field of railway sector and tourism from Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and Poland.
The event brought together representatives of organizations directly or indirectly involved in the preservation of narrow gauge railways historical heritage. The main aim of the meeting was to establish the cooperation and partnership between the participants and to initiate the forming of a network of the Carpathian narrow gauge railways.
During the meeting, the best practices of the narrow gauge railways’ activities in the Carpathians and other regions of Ukraine were presented. Especially interesting was the experience of the foreign colleagues – Fund of the Bieszczady narrow gauge railway in Poland, working for about fifteen years and accumulating funds for the maintenance and development of forest tracks.
Within the meeting three thematic sections were formed. The potential areas for tourism development, especially the place of the ‘Carpathian tram’ in the Ivano-Frankivsk region development and ‘industrial’ artifacts that can cause the establishment of the narrow-gauge railway in the upper reaches of the Chornyi Cheremosh (Black Cheremosh) in Verkhovyna district were discussed within the section ‘Improving the transport industrial heritage in the tourism’.
The section ‘Creation, development and promotion of industrial tourism products’ was focuses on the value of the historical industrial and railway heritage of Ukraine in the tourism development, the use of social networks in the promotion of routes based on industrial heritage areas. Participants discussed the professional recommendations based on their own experience.
The participants of the section ‘Responsible tourism’ discussed the prospects for the development of new tourism products based on the historical heritage (including cultural, culinary, industry and transport heritage) of the cross-border Carpathian regions of Ukraine, Romania and Hungary.
The event was a platform to present the experience of the Carpathian narrow gauge railways operators and to exchange ideas between the participants. During the meeting, the presentations and different discussions related to the capacity improving of the tourism services providers in order to increase the economic development of local communities, to strengthen the position of the cultural and technical heritage and to disseminate the information about the narrow gauge railways on the domestic and international tourism markets were discussed.
The event participants had an opportunity to participate in the trip through the narrow gauge railway ‘Carpathian tram’ in the village Vyhoda and to visit the Vyhoda Narrow Gauge Railway Heritage Centre, establishment of which is at the final stage. The Heritage Center will operate in the building of Baron von Popper, the founder of Vyhoda narrow gauge railway, and will act as the visitors’ center and interactive museum. The centre exhibitions shows the history of the narrow gauge railway, traditional crafts, Boykos culture and crafts related to the wood and natural resources. The event participants also watched a film about the history of Dolyna region, wood processing and Vyhoda Narrow Gauge Railway. This film will be available in five different languages only for Center visitors.
Following the meeting, a Memorandum on establishment of the cross-border network of the Carpathian narrow gauge railways was signed. Representatives of the narrow gauge railways in the Carpathian region launched an informal cross-border association to preserve the efficient operation of the narrow gauge railways as the industrial heritage, agreed the establishment of the regular exchange of business information and dissemination of the best practices of the narrow gauge railways operation in tourism purposes.
As a result, the resolution has been approved by the event participants. They reflected a common vision for the conservation of the narrow gauge railways as a unique objects of cultural and industrial heritage, for the promotion of the joint activities related to the tourism products promotion and the development of territories around the narrow gauge railways as tourist destinations. In the resolution also the need to combine the efforts of local communities, governments, business entities, NGOs and other stakeholders has been emphasized.
