Gorlova N. I., Kovalchuk A. P. Volunteering as a means of promoting tourism in rural areas // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №2. P. 197-211.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-2-197-211

Annotation

One of the main goals of the Russian volunteer movement to develop environment in small rural areas. The authors assess the current state of the Russian volunteer movement in the context of developing rural areas and local communities, emphasizing the activities of the all-Russian social movement ‘Volunteers of Culture’. The authors identify functions and directions of the proactive citizens’ volunteer efforts and the role of volunteer practices in increasing regional tourist attractiveness and hospitality of local communities; argue that the tourism sector became a priority on the social agenda of the volunteer movement and work. On the example of socially significant projects implemented in Russian villages, the authors show both the results of the integration of volunteer activities into the rural tourism field and the positive effect of such volunteering for the development of local rural communities. Thus, volunteer activities reflect the degree of public participation in solving significant rural problems, and the authors emphasize educational, methodological and motivational measures to support and popularize the role of the volunteer movement in promoting rural tourist facilities and routes.

Keywords

Volunteering, volunteer work, social movement ‘Volunteers of Culture’, local territories, rural tourism, tourist routes, sustainable development.

About the authors

Natalya I. Gorlova, DSc (History), Associate Professor, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Stremyanny Per., 36, Moscow, 115054, Russia.
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Andrey P. Kovalchuk, PhD (Economics), Associate Professor, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Stremyanny Per., 36, Moscow, 115054, Russia.
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Korolev C.M. Casus Pyalmiae: A city dweller and his village // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2023. V.8. №4. P. 152-173.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-4-152-173

Annotation

On the example of the Karelian village Pyalma, the author considers the construction of the image of the Russian traditional Northern village by former city dwellers. Based on their own ideas about the rural authenticity, they represent rural traditions to urban tourists, whose knowledge of the rural is determined by popular culture and is not supported by practical skills. By comparing the history of Pyalma with other examples of the contemporary public work with natural-cultural heritage in North-West Russia, the author shows that the typification and museumification of traditional rurality in many villages are determined by the individual desire to preserve them and ensure their development by attracting tourists and introducing activities of the ‘economy of impressions’. The author notes that for most ‘seasonal’ residents (local and urban summer residents), the historicity of the place is not as important as the natural-infrastructural features of the village location. Thus, today urban projections of rurality in historical settlements are clearly divided into general and private, commemorative-tourist and personal economic practices, which together form a post-productivist ‘new rurality’ of historical villages in the Russian North.

Keywords

New rurality, rural tourism, Russian village, Russian North, heritage, naturalcultural landscape.

About the author

Kirill M. Korolev, PhD (Philology), Head of the Patria (“Fatherland”) Center for History and Culture. Nab. Obvodnogo Kanala, 15, bldg. 1, lit. A, Saint Petersburg, 190002.
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