Introduction to the Project

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. 

ERRIN is currently building a community of passionate regional representatives committed to shaping the future of cultural tourism in their territory. The Be.CulTour community will learn about innovative approaches to regional development through circular cultural tourism. To learn more about the application process and the opportunities offered to the Be.CulTour community members, visit this webpage. The call to join the Community will be published around mid-April 2021.

Project Objectives

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.

ERRIN's Role

Leveraging the interest of its Cultural Heritage and Tourism Working Group, ERRIN mobilised pilot regions in Cyprus, 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. 

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  • Ilaria d'Auria
  • Project and Outreach Manager
  • Gaia Marotta
  • Project and Policy Officer
  • Hilary Webb
  • Junior Policy and Communications Officer

ERRIN Members

Benefit & Links

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.

Latest Updates

Be.CULTOUR project – Beyond Cultural Tourism
  • By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha

Be.CULTOUR project – Beyond Cultural Tourism

Be.CULTOUR is one of ERRIN’s new projects led by the Italian Institute for Research on Innovation and Services for Development. It will mobilise five ERRIN members from the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Working Group to offer real-life settings to co-create and test human-centred innovations for circular cultural tourism.

Horizon 2020 Circular Economy Cultural Tourism
  • By Ilaria d'Auria

Are you interested in developing innovative approaches to regional development via cultural tourism?

ERRIN is pooling the interest of Pilot / Mirror Regions for a Horizon 2020 project on cultural tourism.

CREATING DESTINATIONS AFTER A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
  • By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha

Creating destinations after a global pandemic: The new competitive advantage of remote areas

The launch event of the Open Call for local and regional representatives committed to shaping the future of cultural tourism. The informative session will present the Open Call to join the “Beyond Cultural Tourism” Community, as well as the Be.CULTOUR peer-learning programme.