Human-centred innovations for sustainable and circular cultural tourism
Cultural tourism entails opportunities but also risks. If not managed properly, cultural tourism can easily turn into a “value extractive” industry, generating negative environmental, social and cultural impacts on local communities and ecosystems. This project will develop specific strategies to promote an understanding of cultural tourism, which moves away from a “stop-and-go” consumer-oriented approach towards one that puts humans and circular economy models at its centre, paying attention to nature, communities and cultural diversity. Wide and diversified partnerships of stakeholders from 18 EU and non-EU regions of Northern-Central and Southern Europe, the Balkans, the Eastern neighbourhood and the Mediterranean, will be the driving force of the project. A community of 300 innovators (which includes regional authorities and municipalities, clusters and associations, museums and tourist boards, entrepreneurs, chambers of commerce, citizens, researchers, practitioners as well as project partners) in 6 pilot regions will co-create innovative place-based solutions for human-centred and circular cultural tourism. Collaborative “Heritage innovation networks” will be established in 6 European deprived remote, peripheral and deindustrialised areas and cultural landscapes identified as “pilot heritage sites”: committed to the project’s objectives, they have defined clear cultural tourism related challenges requiring innovation, which will serve as the basis for the collaboration with 12 additional “mirror ecosystems”.
Leveraging the interest of its Tourism & Cultural Heritage Working Group, ERRIN mobilised pilot regions in Spain (Aragon), Italy (Basilicata), Sweden (Vastra Gotaland), Romania (North-East Romania) to build a member-driven Community of Practice which - together with the Vojvodina Region (Serbia) - will be at the heart of the project's activities. Considered as practice partners, they represent the real-life settings in which specific territorial challenges related to the cultural tourism field will be tackled. ERRIN will follow closely these activities, while being responsible for opening additional opportunities for 12 "mirror ecosystems". Via the establishment and management of a Community of Interest of these 12 additional regions, ERRIN will empower local and governments, and their stakeholder ecosystems, to act as catalysts of transformations by offering mentoring and support services to exploit the full potential of sustainable cultural tourism solutions developed in Be.CULTOUR.
The overarching goal of Be.CULTOUR is to co-create and test sustainable human-centred innovations for circular cultural tourism through collaborative innovation networks/methodologies and improved investments strategies. Targeting deprived remote, peripheral or deindustrialized areas and cultural landscapes as well as over-exploited areas, local Heritage innovation networks will co-develop a long-term heritage-led development project in the areas involved enhancing inclusive economic growth, communities’ wellbeing and resilience, nature regeneration as well as effective cooperation at cross-border, regional and local level. 5 members are involves as Full Partners: - Aragon - Basilicata - Cyprus - North East Romania - Vastra Gotaland Further opportunities will be launched to build a community of 12 additional regional authorities.
The project kicks off in 2021, and lasts 3 years. During this period, a series of activities and deliverables will be developed. Examples of those relevant for the broader ERRIN membership entail:
And more to come!
Get in touch with the ERRIN team members in charge of the implementation of Be.CULTOUR
Project Manager
Project & Policy Officer
Administration & HR Officer - Facilitator of the Tourism&CH Working Group
Communications Assistant
Hilary Webb