Origination and development of the community
There were some occasional attempts to save the dying town by the initiative of individuals.
First step
Social meetings to collect initiatives for urban revival
In November 1999 Sergey Shimukovich (Ph.D in history, dean of the preentry training department of the Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus) suggested the idea in the town council that Disna can present some interest for tourism development even without big financial investments.
Second step
Finding like-minded people
Olga Moroz, being head of the executive committee of Disna since 1995, was searching for ways to settle the problems of the town: she participated in investment forums, met with emigrants, looked for sister-towns, told about her native town on pages of regional and republican newspapers.
Dmitry Shevyakov – pastor of local church “Vozrozhdenie” (Revival) - drew attention of foreign guests to historical and tourist potential of Disna. His perfect knowledge of a foreign language, oratorical and marketing skills were of a great benefit for the town. As Dmitry says: “The God sent me to this town”. And this is true enough.
Third step
Thorough study of the community
In 2004 Disna region started cooperation with the UNDP project “Sustainable Development at the Local Level”. A local activities team was formed, which carried out a public-opinion poll on development prospects of Disna and its vicinities.
A training course with participation of experts was held in Disna, during which, alongside with the Disna region potential assessment, some seminars and “round table” with participation of general public were organized and SWOT-analysis was carried out. The time when we realized that our town is unique can be considered as the birthday of the active community.
Tourism was determined as the priority for Disna region revival. We started to work out a strategic plan of development for Disna and the surrounding villages. As for the moment of community formation Disna was the smallest town in Belarus.
Forth step
Planning of activities
In November 2005 a presentation of the “Strategy of sustainable development” (SSD) of Disna region was held. The key provisions of LOCAL AGENDA-21 are focused on improvement of the population life quality and environmental conditions, as well as on social and economic development, i.e. on achieving economic efficiency, social justice and environmental security of the region.
The Sustainable Development Strategy of Disna region is a strategic plan of development of our town and the adjacent villages.
Fifth step
Our activities start
Within those 5 years we have managed to attract attention of the public. We started to “promote” ourselves at exhibitions and festivals, tried to capture the attention of Swedish tourist organizations, which granted an “Arnibus” bus to Disna, not to Minsk or Polotsk. This bus has become an information center of the Dvina-Daugava Panorama international project.
At present Disna region is included in tourist routes. We host foreign guests: organize excursions, international bicycle rides, attract volunteers.
The attitude of the locals to the town and its surroundings has changed greatly. The river bank has been cleaned. Before that it reminded a dump. The inhabitants have become more interested in improvement of their yards.
If you want to learn more about Disna, please address Mr.Yandex
Sixth step
Activities assessment
How can the work we have done be assessed properly? For us the assessment indicators are the numbers and facts that can be verified:
- The outflow of population has stopped.
- Increase in demand for real estate and, as a consequence, increase in property value.
- Increase in demand for places in kindergartens and necessity to enlarge the quantity of groups.
- Increase in quantity of homesteads for tourists.
- 4 resort sites were constructed.
- Investments in some projects were made.
- Disna region has been included in tourist routes.
- We were “noticed” by the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, which started archeological diggings in Disna.
The difficulty that we came across
The majority of local population and heads of organizations interpret tourism as sea, mountains and monuments. According to them tourism can’t be related to a town, which was completely destroyed. They keep saying: “Who can be interested in it? Who will come here? Why are you doing all these?” The biggest obstacle is a stereotyped way of thinking.
The fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Strategy presupposes partnership of authorities and the local community. In Disna this partnership has been achieved at different levels, however, misunderstandings were encountered at different levels as well. We can’t say that we were always patient, persistent and ready to meet obstacles.