Skip to main content
European Commission logo
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
CORDIS Web 30th anniversary CORDIS Web 30th anniversary

Beyond CULtural TOURism: human-centred innovations for sustainable and circular cultural tourism

Project description

A framework for sustainable cultural tourism at a human scale

Consumer-oriented, “fast-food” cultural tourism can prove challenging in terms of negative environmental impacts and social and cultural effects on local communities and ecosystems. Far from this approach, the EU-funded Be.CULTOUR project will focus on the “place” as the genius loci, the ancient spirit of the site, and the “people” as co-creators of its uniqueness, culture, art, tradition, folklore, productivity and spirituality. The project aims at developing specific strategies to promote an understanding of cultural tourism that puts humans and circular economy models at its centre, paying attention to nature, communities and cultural diversity.

Objective

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. “Place”, intended as the genius loci, the ancient spirit of the site and “people” as co-creators of its uniqueness, culture, art, tradition, folklore, productivity, spirituality, are the focus of Be.CULTOUR.
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”.

Call for proposal

H2020-SC6-TRANSFORMATIONS-2018-2019-2020

See other projects for this call

Sub call

H2020-SC6-TRANSFORMATIONS-2020

Coordinator

CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Net EU contribution
€ 405 000,00
Address
PIAZZALE ALDO MORO 7
00185 Roma
Italy

See on map

Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 467 500,00

Participants (15)