Visiting the Margins. INnovative CULtural ToUrisM in European peripheries

Project Information

INCULTUM

Grant agreement ID: 101004552

DOI

10.3030/101004552

Project closed

EC signature date 23 April 2021

Start date 1 May 2021

End date 30 April 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Europe In A Changing World - Inclusive, Innovative And Reflective Societies

Total cost

€ 3 752 131,25

EU contribution

€ 3 487 411,25

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INCULTUM (Visiting the Margins. INnovative CULtural ToUrisM in European peripheries)

Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2024-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Tourism is a sector in continuous growth despite the uncertainties of the last few years. Well implemented, tourism is a possibility for the development of backward communities. It is more than travelling and consumption, and it has great potential when it comes to culture, nature, knowledge and personal experiences, which let improve mutual understanding.
INCULTUM project deals with the challenges and opportunities of cultural tourism with the aim of furthering sustainable social, cultural and economic development. Through the project, tourist activities are being promoted, aiming at the optimal use of environmental resources, maintaining essential ecological processes and protecting natural resources and biological diversity. The sociocultural authenticity of the host communities is respected, preserving cultural and traditional assets, contributing to intercultural tolerance and understanding. The activities scheduled into our 10 pilots cases are aimed at generating viable long-term economic resources, providing local agents with opportunities for stable employment and services, thus contributing to the settlement of the population in less favoured areas. The work that is being carried out involves analysing the potential of peripheral areas to be managed by local communities and stakeholders. Innovative participatory approaches are being adopted, transforming locals into protagonists, able to reduce negative impacts, learning from and improving good practices to be replicated and translated into strategies and policies. Additionally, pilots are identifying and comparing drivers and barriers that account for the success or failure of participatory models. Pilots will also enable us to assess outcomes and analyse the pre-conditions needed for a future full implementation and scaling-up of potential solutions. Pilots are providing quantitative and qualitative data that will be combined with official statistics and the exploitation of previously untapped data sources. Findings will enable us to suggest recommendations for effective and sustainable policies in this sector.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

INCULTUM work plan is structured in 8 WP, linked with the objectives and a consistent methodology that stimulates the collaboration between partners. The project is implemented at two complementary and interconnected scales:
The local scale is represented by the 10 pilots scattered throughout peripheral areas of Europe, with different contexts and degrees of development (WP5). They have started to work actively (T5.2) having a significant local impact on the communities.
The international scale is represented by the 5 pilots conceived as cross-border areas and the transversal topics and tasks with shared protocols. Tasks carried out so far:
Quantitative and qualitative data collection and interviews (WP3): Data Workshop, identifying measures in official statistics, first steps in data collection in the pilots. DMP (D3.1) first version has been submitted and approved.
Training, networking, and tools exchange (WP6): establishment of the first steps for the creation of the INCULTUM network and for the launch of the Training portal (D6.1. INCULTUM Training portal), with initial content for training.
Common policy recommendations and strategies (WP4): first steps have been taken in relation to the analysis of participatory models and strategies in tourism development, with the aim of identifying good practices towards the objective of fostering sustainable tourism (D4.1- Report on participatory models).
Impact, evaluation and exploitation measures (WP7): in order to achieve a level of exploitation and impact in accordance with the expectations of the project, a first version of the Stakeholder map (D7.1) has been completed, to evaluate the situation ex-ante and compare ex-post, fine-graining the plan for results exploitation.
Communication and outreach activities (WP2): the work carried out during the first year of the project has been disseminated through the tasks: T2.1 communication and dissemination strategy; T2.2. web presence; T2.3 promotional materials and publications; T2.4 events promotion. The rapid launch of the official website of the project and the blog helped sharing the different activities, fostering networking.
The support and management team (WP1) supervised the work carried out, to ensure a good implementation and with the aim of facilitating the coordination between partners, toward the achievement of the planned objectives.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Several steps have been taken to achieve the expected impacts:
WP7: Stakeholder Map (T7.1-D7.1) is a preliminary tool to begin to understand the dynamics of the functioning of each pilot. Some challenges have emerged that will be taken into account during the development of the project: pilots are very different each other and have different degrees of tourism development, some have a long history and are well established in their territories (#6 Bibracte-Morvan) and others ( #1 Altiplano de Granada) are starting from scratch and have a lot of work ahead to develop and consolidate their touristic potential.
WP2: communication have been performed both locally (in local language - T2.5) and internationally. The publications on social networks by each pilot are increasing and therefore having a greater impact. As an example of this local impact, a publication from Granada pilot has reached 1119 people so far. In this first year, contacts have been established through the network with over 10 European projects.
WP6: INCULTUM Training Portal has the main objective to enable the implementation of more advanced cultural tourism approaches that are based on living territories and communities. The impact of this Portal is starting to be effective and the contents will be increased as the project progresses.
WP5: 10 pilots are already having a relevant social impact. The first stage of the fieldwork (T5.2) integrated local communities from the very beginning. The pilot case of Altiplano de Granada (#1) is carrying out participative activities with local communities related to restoration and reconstruction of cultivation terraces, recovering an abandoned area with the participation of almost one hundred people, and students of a rural school. Likewise, in pilot #10 (Baltic ocean and the great lakes of Sweden) participatory meetings are being held with local agents to find out how to improve the tourist resources of the archipelago, and by extension having an economic impact. Pilots #2 and #6 (Campina de Faro and Bibracte-Morvan) are producing a strong impact, the first in the collection of historical and architectural data, and the second in recovering old rural roads with the participation of the local population, both of them promoting an important cultural and environmental impact .
To foster local strategies for sustainable cultural tourism within pilot #1, an original initiative is being developed: an agreement between the irrigation communities historically in charge of managing traditional irrigation systems and the local municipalities, aiming to establish an innovative payment for services, thus recognizing the intrinsic value that these communities contribute to society. The agreement will mean that both parts undertake its maintenance in good condition for recreational use (but not only).

Pilot 6: the rural tracks working group in Morvan

Pilot 9: documentation of graveyards by volunteers

Pilot 1: participatory activity with students: tree planting and dry-stone terraces school