The magical charm of a starry sky acts as an inspiration for many. After all, communal stargazing is not only a science or education, but also fun and the beginning of many friendships and hobbies. Project will give to people "new point of view" to starry sky and light pollution problems of night nature heritage and show beauty of night nature, especially Carpathian starry sky.
The project is focused on the development of cooperation between Poland and Ukraine regarding:
1) Common environmental research and development of strategy for popularization and preservation of natural and cultural heritage of starry sky in the cross-border area - Bieszczady Starry Sky Park and Transcarpathian Dark Sky Park areas and their surroundings. The artificial light pollution is spread over the borders and coordination of common actions for environment protections is necessary.
2) Realization of the developed strategy illustrated by small pilot project in Ukraine. Project will create the new starry sky educational route at Transcarpathian Dark-Sky Park.
3) Strengthening the institutional capacity of stakeholders in the field of tourism, preservation, revitalization and protection of natural heritage objects. Participants of astro-tourist training (at Bieszczady Starry Sky Park) will receive a practical introduction to the secrets of astronomy, will study under the eye of experts and will work with professional equipment.
4) Increasing information awareness of the population and tourists. Both Transcarpathian Dark-Sky Park and Bieszczady Starry Sky Park will be registered at international database of such parks and will be better known at international astro-tourist and ecologists community.
5) Image cultivation of the cross-border regions in the promotion and natural heritage preservation sphere; increasing the diversity and quality of tourist services.
Project partners
Institute of Development of Carpathian Region (Uzhhorod, Ukraine) – Lead Beneficiary,
Association for Innovation and Technology Transfer "Horizons" (Rzeszow, Poland) – Beneficiary 1.
Project duration
12 months, December of 2020 – November of 2021
Total budget
66,100.00 euros, including co-financing of the European Union 59,490.00 euros.
Overall objective of the project
The project aim is to preserve and promote the Carpathian starry sky as a natural heritage of the Polish and Ukrainian border regions and strengthening cooperation between both regions.
Specific objectives
1. Preservation of natural starry sky heritage and environmental education on light pollution.
2. Stimulation of cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian institutions in the field of light pollution protection.
3. Joint promotion of starry sky natural heritage and its use for development of educational and touristic products.
Main project activities
1. Research on natural heritage objects and night sky quality in the Dark Sky Parks.
2. Preparation of the common strategy "Nature- and astrotourism tourism development in cross-border area of Poland and Ukraine".
3. Creation of new educational tourist route in Transcarpathian Dark-Sky Park.
4. Training for Ukrainian astroeducators.
5. Organization of events to promote natural heritage and astro-tourism.
6. Project promotion and communication.
Project web site
https://carpathiansky.com
