On May 17, 2026, graduates of the first (bachelor's) level of higher education in the specialty 231 "Social Work" of the educational program "Social Work. Social Pedagogy. Practical Psychology" Polina BUGAIOVA and Anastasia STAVYTSKA took part in the practical stage of the project "Cultural Map of a New Home. Digitization and Preservation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Milov Community".

As part of the project, the participants visited the village of Strykhivtsi, Khmelnytskyi region, where the traditional preparation of kutia of the Luhansk region was recreated. During the meeting, the bearer of the tradition/housewife/(Ms. Anna) shared family practices for preparing the festive dish and talked about the features of the recipe that is kept in her family.

In her family, kutia is traditionally prepared from rice. The woman noted that since childhood, her family used only raisins, without poppy seeds or nuts, and later she also started adding lemon to the dish, which gives a pleasant sourness and balances the sweet taste of honey syrup.

The participants had the opportunity to film the process of making kuty, talk about the traditions of Christmas Eve and learn more about the regional features of the dish. After cooking, there was a joint treat and a brief discussion of the recipe and family traditions.

During the conversation, the issue of the importance of family traditions and the importance of preserving intangible cultural heritage as part of national memory and cultural identity was also raised.

Participation in the practical stage of the project became a valuable experience for the students, contributed to the development of communication skills, the ability to work with oral histories and deepened understanding of the cultural heritage of the Luhansk region.

According to the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology