Alun Jones

Loarre and CIHEAM Zaragoza host a European training event on how to promote sustainable cultural tourism

Deja un comentario / General, Huesca, Rotterdam, Scheldeland, Split, Utsjoki, Vicenza / Por

The training took place in Loarre’s Town Hall on 17 March with researchers and experts from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Representatives of different counties of Huesca took part in a parallel training session to test a tool designed to boost sustainable tourism in the province.

The SmartCulTour project, Smart Cultural Tourism as a Driver of Sustainable Development of European Regions, has organized an internal capacity-building event for representatives of the project’s six Living Labs to test creative tools to boost the tourist sector in each of the regions. The training was organized in two working sessions, one in the town of Loarre on 17 March and another on 18 March at CIHEAM Zaragoza. Participants came from Belgium, Finland, Croatia, Italy, Austria and Spain.

The aim of the first session was to provide the project’s partners with context about the tourist sector in Huesca. They worked on tools to favour engagement of stakeholders related to the tourist sector that would enable them to promote their area from a more emotional perspective, linking their past, present and future to their territory.

The second session was held at CIHEAM Zaragoza. Participants worked on methodologies to help territorial managers improve their decision-making by addressing initiatives that would cover the needs identified for development in European regions – including the province of Huesca – as sustainable cultural tourism destinations.

A parallel session was organized on 17 March for representatives of different counties, public entities, and businesses in the province of Huesca who did a pilot test of the SmartCulTour Game, one of the project outcomes expected to have the biggest territorial impact. The idea is to use the serious game approach to draw up policies and engage stakeholders, and at the same time learn about cultural tourism and potential interventions to make cultural tourism more sustainable for local communities, the environment and the business sector.

This training event lies within the activities of the SmartCulTour project, which aims to promote territorial development through sustainable cultural tourism. This model of tourism requires a redefinition of the classical cultural tourism, considering new demands derived from sustainability and the need for supply and demand metrics and impact assessment. The project intends to review theories and make an empirical validation of good practices in the natural surroundings and seek closer collaboration between the local stakeholders, facilitating the development of joint strategies and creating sustainable cultural tourism experiences.

2022 Winter School on Digital Cultural Tourism and Diplomacy

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2022 Winter School on Digital Cultural Tourism and Diplomacy

Indigenous cultural heritage is the legacy of tangible physical objects combining the intangible aspects of a group of society. Objects, artefacts, buildings, places and monuments aside, intangible cultural heritage, also known as “living heritage” or “living culture”, refers to living practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills passed down from generation to generation. This heritage provides communities with a sense of identity and is continuously recreated in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history. It is called intangible because its existence and recognition mainly depend on human knowledge and will, which is immaterial, and is transmitted by imitation and living experience.

The 2022 Winter School of the UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites, is dedicated to investigating how ICTs designed to enhance the tourism experience can help in preserving and transmitting living heritage and bring people to work and live closer together, while at the same time promoting forms of tourism (cultural, historic, religious, gastronomy, wine, etc.) that go beyond traditional “sun sea and sand”, and can verifiably serve as a vehicle of cultural diplomacy. Cyprus, with its richness of tangible and intangible heritage, will provide a suggestive background, as well as an ideal place for the event and offer an environment with various case studies.

More info: https://digitalheritagelab.eu/event2/2022-winter-school-on-digital-cultural-tourism-and-diplomacy/

Deliverable 1.2 – First-policy-report

Deja un comentario / General / Por

This report aims to provide an overview of the specific policy recommendations that originate from two particular tasks in the SmartCulTour project: re-conceptualization of (sustainable) cultural tourism and expectations concerning future trends and developments (WP2), and identification of state-of-the-art interventions in cultural tourism towards sustainable development (WP3).

The report starts by recognizing the potential of cultural tourism in Europe and specifically its framing as a driver for sustainable development and smart regional growth. However, due to an ongoing lack of comprehensive evidence on the benefits of cultural heritage and the observation that, in many countries, cultural tourism is not yet adequately measured, the policy report pays attention to two particular issues:

1. The conceptual fluidity of cultural heritage and, by extension, cultural tourism;

2. The lack of structural evidence on the holistic benefits of cultural heritage for a destination.

In this report we first focus on the question of conceptualization, and through analysis of existing definitional frameworks, propose contemporary definitions to frame cultural tourism in all its aspects as: “a form of tourism in which visitors engage with heritage, local cultural and creative activities and the everyday cultural practices of host communities for the purpose of gaining mutual experiences of an educational, aesthetic, creative, emotional and/or entertaining nature” (Matteucci & Von Zumbusch, 2020, p.19).

Secondly, the policy report presents both workflow and results of an extensive case-study analysis on cultural tourism interventions throughout Europe, both in terms of resources used and in terms of generated (or expected) outcomes in order to provide more robust findings on the multiple benefits of cultural tourism. The five main purposes for cultural tourism interventions that were recognized were: (1) to protect, restore, safeguard and promote, (2) to develop and innovate, (3) to interpret, understand and disseminate, (4) to involve and connect, (5) to manage and influence. While the list does not necessarily need to be considered as exhaustive, and can depend on the non-random case study selection, the typology helps in describing situations and challenges that are typical of each intervention category and can therefore inform policy makers on selecting appropriate cultural tourism projects.

At the end of the report, a number of policy recommendations are given, both on conceptualization and operationalization, and on methodological recommendations that can be followed by Destination Management Organizations and policy makers to collect additional primary research data.

You can read de full report here: Deliverable 1.8

The SmartCulTour Game: Playing for a sustainable Future

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The SmartCulTour Game is an integral part of a set of intervention toolkits for the six SmartCulTour Living Labs. With its playful approach to policy making, the game aims to engage stakeholders to learn about cultural tourism and interventions to make cultural tourism more sustainable for communities, the environment, and creative businesses.

The game was developed in 2021 by the Research & Development Lab ‘Cradle’ of Breda University of Applied Sciences. Drawing on insights and outputs of previous WPs such as the ‘state of the art of cultural interventions’ or the ‘Future of cultural tourism for urban and regional destinations’, concepts have been translated into a workshop with playable interactions.

About the SmartCulTour Game

The serious game is a hybrid role-playing game using a combination of a digital dashboard and backend, a mobile app (for iOS and Android), and physical intervention cards. Players take the role of regional cultural heritage stakeholders aiming to achieve their goals and needs by creating interventions or supporting someone else’s intervention.

Login screen of SmartCulTour game on phone app
KPIs on Dashboard

The game can be contextualised and played in any city or region and is designed to cater 10-15 players. The setup of the game can be tailored to any local situation for which different scenarios can be played through. Once, the setting is defined and player-roles are chosen, participants play in rounds and create or select interventions which support their aims. After implementing the intervention, an evaluation and discussion on potential impacts will take place which is supported by a visualisation on the dashboard.

Game Sessions and Afterlife

Within the next months, the SmartCulTour Game will be ready to be played in the SmartCulTour Living Labs. Then, we will be able to share some more insights and learnings. Please stay informed here.

Contact

If you want to play the SmarCulTour game also in your area or are interested in the game, please contact Dr. Jessika Weber-Sabil, senior researcher and lecturer at BUAS at weber.j@buas.nl

Living Lab Vicenza: Testimonianze dei partecipanti

Deja un comentario / Vicenza, Vicenza It / Por

Giulia Basso, ideatrice di “Itinerari Letterari” ,progetto che si occupa di strutturare passeggiate ed eventi nei luoghi della città  che sono raccontati nella letteratura. Ci spiega come ,per esempio , con Il Living Lab e la sua rete  sia venuta a conoscenza di  un luogo sconosciuto a molti turisti e vicentini: La chiesa di Santa Maria Nova, unico edificio religioso  Palladiano in Vicenza. Per lei LivingLab è un’ opportunità di fare rete  che fornisce strumenti efficaci per condividere in modo interattivo  informazioni e soluzioni innovative per lo sviluppo del turismo culturale.

Caterina Soprana, Presidente Commissione Cultura Comune di Vicenza, creatrice del progetto #cittàbellissima che ha unito architettura, cultura, turismo  ed economia per incrementare l’attrattiva di Vicenza in Italia e nel mondo. Questo progetto è confluito poi nel Dossier di Candidatura di Vicenza2024  a Capitale Italiana della Cultura. Caterina individua 3 componenti chiave del progetto Smart Cultour Living Lab: 1) Cooperazione fra associazioni , università e Comune di Vicenza  per creare un’ offerta culturale innovativa e sostenibile. 2) Cooperazione tra gli altri LivingLab europei per conoscere nuovi modi e progetti di sviluppo del turismo culturale. 3) Collaborazione importantissima con il dipartimento di Economia dell’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia ,vero studio scientifico di elaborazione dei  dati ,che trasforma quest’ultimi in strumenti fondamentali per aiutare i partecipanti al LivingLab nella la ricerca e definizione di nuovi sistemi di sviluppo.

Giulio Vallortigara Valmarana, proprietario di Villa Valmarana ai Nani, si occupa della gestione ed implementazione degli eventi, delle visite turistiche, della creazione di esperienze ad hoc, per ospiti italiani e stranieri. Convinto sostenitore del “fare rete” e condividere il più possibile conoscenze ed esperienze per creare una collaborazione propositiva tra tutti gli operatori del settore turistico ricettivo ha abbracciato subito con entusiasmo il progetto di Living Lab. Con il video ci conduce in un breve itinerario della sua splendida Villa sulle colline della Città che ospita. I favolosi affreschi di Giambattista e Giandomenico Tiepolo.

Living Lab Vicenza: Testimonials from stakeholders

Deja un comentario / General, Vicenza / Por

Giulia Basso is the creator of “Itinerari Letterari“, a project born to organize guided walks and events in city’s locations that are told in literature. In the video, she tells us, for example, how, with the Living Lab and its network she discovered a place unknown to many tourists and citizens: the Church of Santa Maria Nova, the only religious building designed by the architect Palladio in Vicenza. The Living Lab for Giulia is a great opportunity to network with the many stakeholders involved, providing effective tools and interactively sharing information and innovative solutions for the development of cultural tourism

Caterina Soprana is the President of the Culture Commission of the Municipality of Vicenza and creator of the Cittàbellissima project which combines architecture, culture, tourism and economy to increase the attractiveness of Vicenza in Italy and in the world. This project merged into the Vicenza2024 Candidacy Dossier as the Italian Capital of Culture. In this video Caterina identifies 3 key components of the SmartCultour Living Lab project: 1) Cooperation between associations, universities and the Municipality of Vicenza to create an innovative and sustainable cultural offer. 2) Cooperation among other European Living Labs to learn about new ways and development projects of the cultural tourism. 3) A very important collaboration with the Department of Economics of the Ca ‘Foscari University of Venice, a true scientific study of data processing, which transforms those into fundamental tools to help Living Lab stakeholders in research and definition of new development systems. 

Giulio Vallortigara Valmarana is Villa Valmarana ai Nani’s Owner. He manages and implements events, tourist visits, and creates tailor-made experiences for Italian and foreign guests. Giulio is a great  supporter of «networking» and sharing knowledge and experiences , to create a proactive collaboration between all stakeholders in the hospitality tourism sector, he immediately and enthusiastically embraced the Living Lab project. In this  video he takes us on a short itinerary of his splendid Villa, on the hills of the city, which hosts the fabulous frescoes by Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo

The future of urban tourism: SmartCulTour webinar

Deja un comentario / General / Por

In the webinar “The Future of Urban Tourism” the SmartCulTour consortium focused on the changing context surrounding urban tourism. After a historic – and to a certain extent – unsustainable growth where increasingly concerns were raised with regard to overtourism, gentrification, and a general loss of quality of life for residents, the Covid-19 pandemic abruptly disrupted society as a whole, and the tourist system in particular, offering a moment of reflection and contemplation. But the question remains as to what future holds and how policies can be designed to build-back better.

The webinar brought together experts from the SmartCulTour consortium, as well as external cultural heritage and destination marketing experts, and representatives of the other European research projects of IMPACTOUR, SPOT and TeXTOUR. Jan van der Borg and Daniel Basulto Garcia-Risco recognized some early disconcerting trends of a quick return to normal, which is unsurprising considering the very real negative economic impacts that were caused by Covid-19. Realistically, overtourism will likely become part of reality to some extent and researchers and policy makers can play a central role in designing about new business models for tourism destinations and entrepreneurs.

From such a policy perspective, Elke Dens and Ko Koens do recognize an increased emphasis among destinations of reframing the economic view of tourism towards a vision that sees tourism as an integral part of the social system where a focus on local quality of life for residents forms the basis of a sustainable and healthy destination. Local grassrooted initiatives and community involvement are happening – as also exemplified by Naja Marot – but a challenge remains regarding the scaling up of such initiatives. As mentioned by Greg Richards, Naja Marot and Elke Dens, there is an increased trend towards hybridization – both in terms of cultural consumption and in terms of urban and economic structures – where boundaries between tourists and residents start to disappear. This might be further accelerated in the Covid-19 pandemic where cultural institutions have at least temporarily refocused on locals.

Finally, as mentioned by Graham Bell and reflected on by most of the other speakers, while there is an opportunity to start a new path and inform policy-makers, there is a need to measure the right things. This remains challenging since progressing from economic impacts towards impacts on wellbeing requires more extensive data collection and the incorporation of essentially qualitative data.

Ontwerpsessie Living Lab Rotterdam

Deja un comentario / Rotterdam nl / Por

Op dinsdag 8 juni werd de tweede onlinebijeenkomst van Living Lab Rotterdam gehost. De bijeenkomst stond in het teken van ontwerpen. In de sessie bepaalden verschillende stakeholders op welke manier cultureel toerisme in Rotterdam zou kunnen worden vormgegeven en welke stakeholder daar op welk moment een rol in zou kunnen spelen. Tijdens de sessie werd er gebruik gemaakt van een ‘Miro’ bord.

De bijeenkomst werd geleid door Bert Smit, onderzoeker bij Breda University of Applied Sciences. Daarnaast waren stakeholders van diverse Rotterdamse organisaties aanwezig; denk bijvoorbeeld aan Rotterdam Partners, Gemeente Rotterdam, Kenniscentrum Immaterieel Erfgoed, Rotterdam Festivals en Arttenders. De aanwezigen stonden allereerst stil bij de toeristische visie van de gemeente Rotterdam waarin het volgende wordt gesteld: “Doordat we Rotterdamse wijken ontwikkelen vanuit hun eigen identiteit, creëert dat nieuwe aanleidingen voor toeristen om ook andere gebieden te bezoeken dan de binnenstad.”  Dit riep een zeer belangrijke vraag, die gedurende de sessie telkens terugkeerde, namelijk: ‘’ Hoe kunnen verschillende stakeholders succesvol samenwerken, wanneer toeristen naar gebieden buiten de binnenstad trekken en hoe kunnen we er tegelijkertijd voor zorgen dat de ‘Rotterdammers’ hierin centraal blijven staan maar dat de stad ook bezoekers kan verwelkomen?’’  

Uit de Q-sort die n.a.v. de inception meeting is afgenomen is gebleken dat de stakeholders het grotendeels eens waren over de volgende stellingen waarin cocreatie en samenwerken centraal staan:

  • Bij een participatieve benadering van cultureel toerisme is diversiteit van de betrokken belanghebbenden cruciaal voor een optimale besluitvorming.
  • Om tot duurzaam cultureel toerisme te komen, moet de samenwerking tussen de culturele sector en de toeristenindustrie worden verbeterd.

Onder ander op basis van deze stellingen werd in deze sessie gestart met het werken in het Miro bord. Zo werden de deelnemers uitgedaagd om te reflecteren op de stellingen uit de Q-sort en aan te geven welke stakeholders ze op dit moment in het proces nog misten. Vervolgens werd aan de hand van een brainwriting oefening bepaald welke kennis, ervaring en informatie nodig is om het cultureel toerisme in Rotterdam vorm te geven. Uit deze oefening kwam naar voren dat een deel van deze kennis en informatie pas verzameld kan worden wanneer een keuze is gemaakt voor welke wijk(en), buiten het centrum van Rotterdam waar kansen liggen om cultureel toerisme een boost te geven en daarna de juiste lokale stakeholders te betrekken in het process.

Tot slot werd aan de hand van het Double Diamond model alvast voorzichtig vooruitgeblikt wat de eerste stappen in het proces zouden kunnen zijn om te komen tot een keuze voor specifieke wijken en welke stappen vervolgens gezet moeten worden. Ook werd besproken welke stakeholders in verschillende fases betrokken zouden moeten worden en welke design tools hierbij gebuikt kunnen worden? Al met al was het een interessante sessie waarbij mooie stappen zijn gezet om het proces in te starten. De volgende sessie zal begin september plaatsvinden.

Design session Living Lab Rotterdam

Deja un comentario / Rotterdam / Por

On Tuesday 8 June, the second online meeting of Living Lab Rotterdam was organised. The theme of the meeting was how to form the design process of cultural tourism. In the session various stakeholders determined how cultural tourism in Rotterdam could be shaped, what knowledge and information would be needed and which stakeholder could play a role in this at a given time. During the session, a ‘Miro’ board was used.

The meeting was led by Bert Smit, researcher at Breda University of Applied Sciences. Stakeholders from various organisations in Rotterdam were also present, such as Rotterdam Partners, the Municipality of Rotterdam, the Expertise Centre for Intangible Heritage, Rotterdam Festivals and Arttenders. The attendees first discussed the tourist vision of the city of Rotterdam, which states: «By developing Rotterdam’s districts based on their own identity, we create new incentives for tourists to visit areas other than the inner city.»  This raised a very important question, which kept recurring throughout the session, namely: »How can different stakeholders successfully work together, when tourists are drawn to areas outside the inner city and how can we simultaneously ensure that the ‘Rotterdammers’ remain central to this but that the city can also welcome visitors?» 

The Q-sort conducted following the inception meeting, revealed that stakeholders largely agreed on the following statements that focus on co-creation and cooperation:

-In a participatory approach to cultural tourism, diversity of the stakeholders involved is crucial for optimal decision-making.

– To achieve sustainable cultural tourism, cooperation between the cultural sector and the tourism industry must be improved.

Partly based on these propositions, this session started, using the Miro board to guide the discussion. The participants were challenged to reflect on the statements from the Q-sort and to indicate which stakeholders they missed at this point in the process. Next, a brainwriting exercise was used to determine what knowledge, experience and information is needed to shape cultural tourism in Rotterdam. Given the disciplines of participants this provided a great overview of already available information but also the diversity of knowledge and information still needed. As some of this information is very location based the stakeholders will only be able to collect it when specific district(s), outside the center of Rotterdam, are selected. Moreover, such a choice will make it easier to determine opportunities for collaboration with local stakeholders in various districts.

Finally, with the aid of the Double Diamond model, a careful look was taken at the first steps in the process to come to a selection of districts and first steps after selecting specific district(s). Which stakeholders appear where in the Double Diamond model and which design tools could be used here? All in all, it was an interesting session in which good steps were taken to start the process. The next session will take place in early September.

Presentación oficial y tercera reunión de trabajo del Living Lab de Huesca

Deja un comentario / Huesca es / Por

El día 10 de noviembre de 2021 tuvo lugar la tercera sesión de trabajo del Living Lab de Huesca en el marco del proyecto europeo SmartCulTour. El objetivo principal de la sesión fue realizar la presentación oficial del proyecto en Huesca ya que, debido a la emergencia sanitaria, no hubo ocasión de realizarla cuando se lanzó el Living Lab. Para ello, se realizó una rueda de prensa en la Diputación Provincial de Huesca donde Raúl Compés, Director de CIHEAM Zaragoza, y Fernando Blasco, Gerente de TuHuesca, presentaron tanto el proyecto como las sinergias generadas entre ambas instituciones gracias al mismo.

Después de la rueda de prensa, se llevo a cabo en una bodega de la DO Somontano el resto de la jornada, la cual consistió en dos sesiones de trabajo destinadas a la identificacion de inicitaivas exitosas y escalables de turismo cultural sostenible en el territorio  que servirán como base de trabajo para configurar Huesca como undestino de turismo cultural sostenible de referencia. Asimismo, se realizó una sesión dinamizada por representantes de UNESCO donde se expusieron tanto las bases fundacionales de la entidad como las diferentes metodologías que emplean para la capacitación y transferencia de conocimientos a los agentes de turismo. Una vez elegido el itinerario más favorable para Huesca, que escogeran los y las participantes del laboratorio viviente de Huesca, UNESCO ofrecerá una formación personalizada a lo largo del proyecto.

La reunión contó con la participación de 22 personas representando a las diferentes comarcas y sus áreas de turismo, los centros de desarrollo rural, el sector empresarial y agroalimentario y la metodología empleada fue de carácter participativo haciendo uso de herramientas de facilitación de diseño y selección de iniciativas y toma de decisiones.