Historical and cultural heritage in the development of local communities in peripheral areas in Western Ukraine

Purpose: The objective of this study is to present historical and cultural heritage as a development asset for local communities in peripheral areas in Western Ukraine. The author analyzes how chosen local communities make attempts to use historical and cultural heritage in order to reestablish local development resources. Design/methodology/approach: In order to achieve the objectives of this paper, the methods of content analysis and virtual ethnography were appointed. The study involved content analysis of secondary data (literature and available reports), ten online semi-structured interviews with local activists, youth workers and workers of the sphere of culture conducted in June 2020 and netnographic study online communities representing chosen research sites. Findings: The question of peripheral areas development concerns the mobilization of local resources and given examples illustrate, that this process has already started in Ukraine. Analysing the role of cultural and historical heritage in local development in the context of current political, economic and social framework, provides an interesting outlook on the processes of social change and community development. Cultural and historical heritage as an asset contributes both to socio-economic conditions improvement and community building processes. Research limitations/implications: The limited amount of data collected for this study and limited research methods appointment determines the classification of this study as preliminary. The research question is current and the in-depth study of the issues is needed. Nevertheless, findings contribute to research on social change processes. Social implications: The rural - urban development disparities in post-Soviet countries are still remarkable, therefore research focused on analysis of overcoming development divisions contributes to the question of social change processes in former Soviet countries. Originality/value Theoretical and empirical identification of cultural and historical heritage on community development in peripheral areas.