The smallest town in Belarus, Disna, links its sustainable development with tourism and assistance to people with disabilities

October 1, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The smallest town in Belarus, Disna, is linking its sustainable development with tourism, environmental protection and assistance to people with disabilities, the chairperson of the Disna City Council, Olga Moroz, told a BELTA correspondent. The authorities of Disna and the public have joined the work on developing a local sustainable development strategy - the Local Agenda 21 and ecological tourist routes, the so-called green routes. According to Olga Moroz, by focusing on tourism, it is possible to count on the activation of small businesses in the service sector, the development of craft activities, thereby ensuring employment for the population. The first step in this direction has already been taken: in September of this year, the only agro-estate in Disna, "Dabrabyt," began operating, and its first guests were 47 Swedish tourists. The coastline along the Western Dvina within the city limits is 9 km long. By turning it into an embankment, local authorities hope to solve several problems at once: to clean up the coastal strip, to create an interesting green route, convenient for parents with young children and for people with disabilities. It is worth adding that the authorities of Disna already have experience in working on local agendas 21. Several years ago, a Local Agenda 21 for the Disna region was developed, which defined the development priorities not only for Disna but also for the nearby rural councils - Perebrodsky and Yaznensky. These administrative-territorial units have also joined the joint Belarusian-Swedish-Latvian project "Dvina/Daugava Panorama." In the near future, Disna will host a seminar-training "Local Agenda 21: Work Organization Scheme and its Thematic Blocks" within the framework of the European Union and UNDP project "Sustainable Development at the Local Level," Olga Moroz reported. This project involves close cooperation between authorities and local communities at the regional level. Of the 35 administrative-territorial units of the republic selected by the competition commission for participation in the project, 6 are located in the Vitebsk region: Barana (Orsha district), Disna, Perebrodsky rural council (both - Miory district), Lepel district, Novopolotsk, Rossony district. All of them will receive methodological, organizational, and informational assistance in developing the Local Agenda 21 and green routes, as well as financial support on a competitive basis for mini-projects in the field of sustainable development. -0-