On 17-21 November 2015 representatives of local authorities, nongovernmental organizations and business participated in study tour to Lublin area in Poland, organized by Development Policy Foundation.
This study tour was held as part of the project “Design the Change: Revitalization of the Neighborhood Common Space in Gola Prystan, Kherson oblast, Ukraine” co-financed by the Polish development cooperation programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
Study tour's aim was to show good practices in organizing agriculture tourism, local products support and possibilities to attract EU funds to develop own ideas and projects.
First stop was at in Celej?w Agrotorism farm Agroturystyka Pod Jab?oni?, which is fame for its apple gardens and certified local products. Katarzyna Siwiec, the hostess of the hotel, shared her experience about creation and development of agroturistic farm, about challenges on their way and first success stories. Also farm owners regaled the participants with culinary homemade masterpieces, which is possible to taste only here and nowhere else.
Next stop was in Karmanowice – Agroturystyka Przy W?wozie. Hosts of the farm presented attractions of their place, such as cuisine, mini-zoo, hand-made workshops, bike rent for tours to neighborhood villages. Participants were invited to taste local, very special dumplings and then to participate in workshop on modeling of salty dough. This workshop caused a wide range of positive emotions in people involved in the process.
The first day of the study tour ended at Stacja Badawcza Ekologii w DOLINIE SZK?A in K?b?o. At the research station, participants passed a workshop on creating herbal teas, having in their disposition more than 15 different samples of herbs and plants. The owner of the station told about the herbs that are grown here, presented the work of the station and proposed to degustate 5 delicious herbal liqueurs, made by the Stacja Badawcza Ekologii w Dolinie Szk?a.
Next day morning started with introduction of the pension Zagrodowa Osada, Pensjonat, Restauracja Regionalna. Previously it was just an empty field and now there are winter and summer stables for horses, paddock and shelters for pets. The place is also known for its art-therapy practices, hand-made workshops, improvised theater.
Very interesting and tasty was visit to fish farm Pstr?g Pustelnia, where carp, sturgeon, trout and catfish are bred. The owner of the farm talked about peculiarities of fish farming, natural smoking and unique fish products, distribution on local and international markets. Participants could buy fresh and smoked fish right there at farm to enjoy once again its mouthwatering taste.
At cosy and comfortable Sadyba Rozalin participants had useful and informative meeting with Grzegorz Teresi?sk i - an expert in obtaining EU funds for UKR micro and small entrepreneurs, told the participants how to organize business, PR campaign and emphasized the importance of cooperation between micro and small business, local authorities and society. The hosts of Sadyba Rozalin regaled the participants with home made dark and white chocolate, cakes made by one of the best сhefs of Poland.
The second day of the study tour ended at Ku?nia Wojciech?w (http://www.czerniec.pl/). The blacksmith made bright and memorable presentation of his art, involving visitors in the process. Three rooms with outstanding smithy art works also impressed participants very much.
On the last day participants visited Family bakery in Kraczewice, observed bakery workshops for children, discussed local market peculiarities, shared recipes of the local products from their regions and tasted special local bakery product – cebularz lubelski.
Then study tour continued at wineyard Winnica Rzeczyca,which had started not so long time ago as an experiment of owners who was curious about, which grape can be grown here, and which sorts of wine is possible to produce in this region.
Last stop of the last day was ecomuseum of art and craft products Siedlisko Ma?gorzaty (http://siedliskomalgorzaty.pl/). Participants had an opportunity to watch old, well-preserved crafts, typical for this region, try their skills on the loom and listen to the story of the hostess about creation of ecomuseum.
Visiting Agrofarms, Ukrainian group get known with Ekomuzeum Lubelszczyzny, a cooperative that gathers together local farm owners to share the cultural heritage of Lublin region through their traditions, food, workshops and presentations.
During the visit also fundraising workshops were held to discuss ideas for the development and implementation of projects in Ukraine. Participants came a long way to accumulate knowledge and gain experience.
The whole tour was very useful in terms of gaining new experience and ideas, seeing bright examples of organizing agritourism in Poland.
We would like to express our gratitude to our hosts – Development Policy Foundation for their hospitality, perfectly organized and extremely interesting program of the study tour.