The «Association of Friends of Saint James Way in Ukraine» NGO, established in October in Vinnytsia, is expanding its activities throughout Ukraine. It was publicly presented on October 25 during the workshop on European Cultural Routes. Local activists of Camino Podolico, led by Vladyslav Pidhaiets, who represents one of the communities on this path – Severynivka – spoke about the goals, objectives and the next steps and plans of the Association.

To unite the efforts of local governments and activists, at the opening of the workshop «European Cultural Routes: A Path to Sustainable Development of Ukrainian Heritage», a protocol was signed in the presence of Andrii Ocheretnyi, Vice President-elect of the European Federation of Saint James Way in Ukraine, on the accession of the Association of Friends of Saint James Way in Ukraine to the Memorandum of Cooperation for the development and promotion of the pilgrimage route, concluded on November 1, 2023. This was followed by a presentation of the newly created Association.

«The main goal of our organization is to make as many people as possible aware of the Saint James Way in Ukraine. We have a general plan for 2025, and we are ready for dialogue and cooperation. That's why we took part in this workshop – we wanted to learn more about the problems, what needs to be addressed first, and what needs to be strengthened so that Camino Podolico becomes an model for all the future routes in Ukraine. We will work to create a powerful team of specialists and enthusiasts who will promote the Ukrainian routes and make efforts to make them known in Europe», – said Vladyslav Pidhaiets, head of the Association of Friends of Saint James Way in Ukraine. 

The Association plans to do the following:

• Developing information centers and a network of local coordinators of Saint James Way in Ukraine.
• Cooperating with European associations to exchange ideas and improve Saint James Way in Ukraine.
• Cooperating with local communities and religious organizations.
• Integrating the community: organization of lectures, seminars, festivals, and environmental events involving local residents to develop rural green tourism.
• Cooperating with businesses to create infrastructure for pilgrims (accommodation, food, etc.).
• Involving volunteers to support pilgrims, eco-initiatives, restoration of monuments and organization of events.
• Promoting the route and engagement of experts to strengthen capacity.
• Funding through membership fees, grants, invitations to partners and benefactors to host events and support projects.

«The mission of our Association is to promote and develop pilgrimage routes in Ukraine, preserve cultural heritage, support pilgrims, develop infrastructure and, in the future, international cooperation. But for the next year, the main goals will be twofold: support for pilgrims and infrastructure development. The route has just been launched, and there is still a lot of work to be done on the ground in the communities. Therefore, signposting the route and its popularization not only among the pilgrims but also among the locals will be key now. We will explain to people why it is beneficial for them (for example, to create places to stay, open rural guesthouses, and provide related services to pilgrims). And, of course, we will cooperate with business and local authorities. The Association should be an intermediary to help develop the route and establish communication», – said co-founder of the Association Oleksii Bevz.

In addition, the workshop guests had an opportunity to watch online presentations of the activities of Associations of Friends of Saint James Way in Europe: the president of the European Federation of Associations of Friends of the Saint James Way Camino Europa Compostela Jorge Martinez-Cava, the head of Belgian Association of Friends of Saint James Way Pascal Duchêne, secretary of the Confraternity of Saint James Way in Croatia Vedran Prazen and Vice-President of Romanian Association of Friends of Saint James Way Gabriela Greu spoke about their many years of experience and successes. All of them expressed interest in establishing cooperation with Ukraine.

«During the first full season of pilgrimage this year, we realized that we would not be able to effectively develop neither the Camino Podolico nor the following branches if we did not have a team of friends from the civil society who would support this route and look for opportunities to improve it. That’s why, we introduced the participants to the activities of the Associations of Friends of Saint James Way that already exist in Europe, in order to demonstrate what we can adopt for the newly created Association of Friends of Saint James Way in Ukraine», – said the deputy director of the Department of City Marketing and Tourism of Vinnytsia City Council Svitlana Tsyhankova.

Those interested in joining the work of the Association can contact its Board by e-mail camino.friends.ukraine@gmail.com . The Facebook and Instagram pages of the Association of Friends of Saint James Way in Ukraine have also been launched and will be actively updated.