Promotion of rural museums and heritage sites in the vicinity of European pilgrimage routes

Project Information

rurALLURE

Grant agreement ID: 101004887

DOI

10.3030/101004887

Project closed

EC signature date 28 October 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

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

Total cost

€ 2 999 205,00

EU contribution

€ 2 999 205,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DE VIGO
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - rurALLURE (Promotion of rural museums and heritage sites in the vicinity of European pilgrimage routes)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project aimed to harness opportunities due to the growing popularity of pilgrimage and by the diversification of the pilgrim/tourist motivations and profiles. It addressed the problem that the impact of pilgrimage is almost exclusively perceived in the places located directly on the paths, rarely permeating into the surrounding rural areas. The project planned to overcome this situation through the allure of the cultural heritage found in the rural environment. The key concept was that of a cooperation network that could benefit from the flows of people on nearby pilgrimage routes, working together to analyze relevant initiatives for the development of cultural routes and for rural promotion, to develop and test new strategies, and to come up with recommendations for integrated future action. The strategies and recommendations were assessed in four pilot studies, conducted in regions traversed by different transnational pilgrimage routes, and focusing on different facets of cultural heritage. The pilots were developed within a cohesive framework to ensure that the outcomes would be exchangeable. The activities were supported by a newly-created IT platform with specialized content management facilities and web-based tools intended to help pilgrims/tourists discover the most interesting points and services.

The execution of the project confirmed the potential and the interest of the concept. The partners managed to mobilize a network of 120+ organizations to implement a broad range of actions in the targeted territories, reaching out to 10.000+ pilgrims and slow tourists. The European Coordination Network along Pilgrimages routes was launched in June 2023 and is getting new members steadily, capitalizing on the key outputs from rurAllure in order to spread the word further and trigger new actions in the near future. The manual of transfer of good practices and the white book of recommendations are being circulated widely, providing the foundations for new initiatives at the crossroads between culture, tourism and rural development. The IT platform is an instrumental asset in those plans, which continues seeing development, maintenance and evolution.

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

The project pursued three main pillars in parallel, feeding one another.
– The first pillar was the execution of pilot experiments, investigating actions related to different facets of cultural heritage, generating a wealth of diverse and complementary ideas and recommendations. The cultural heritage institutions reached by the pilots have benefitted from the implementation of actions co-designed with other relevant stakeholders, informed by best practices and lessons learnt.
- The second pillar was the implementation of an IT platform, including a specialized content management system and web-based tools to facilitate the creation and enjoyment of personalized trips along the pilgrimage routes and in the surrounding territories. The tests reports showed the progress made to attain the desired Technological Readiness and Maturity levels, which enabled successful demonstrations in major events such as the FITUR, TTG and Fairway tourism fairs.
– The third pillar was the creation of a network to liaise with stakeholders and policymakers at all levels. The project partners worked to communicate the motivation and goals, attaining 120+ collaboration agreements with organizations that contributed views, ideas, expectations, requirements and constraints. June 2023 saw the official launch of the European Cooperation Network along Pilgrimage Routes (ECNPR), which is growing steadily with organizations that are turning their former collaboration agreements into signatures of the Memorandum of Understanding, and new organizations too.

The plan for exploitation and dissemination of results covers the value proposition of rurAllure, a technology assessment, an analysis of market needs and dimensions, business and revenue models, the exploitation intents by the Consortium partners and the role of the Network as a major vehicle for promotion and evolution. The following are key points planned for the phase that follows the end of the project:
– 13 partners out of 16 partners plan to exploit either the complete IT platform or parts of it, for research, promotion and/or business purposes.
– The University of Vigo (rurAllure Project Coordinator) has secured own funds to maintain and evolve the Network's website, to maintain its mailing lists and to develop a bimonthly newsletter, until April 2026 at least.
– The rurAllure partners have launched new regional, national and international projects in areas with substantial intersection with the topics of rurAllure, capitalizing on the key outputs from rurAllure. These include actions on new territories to promote the adoption of the best practices and recommendations documented in the pilots, fostering exchange between museum curators, conservators and management. Besides, there are scientific studies planned or already started by the academic partners in Humanities and Social Sciences to do research in connection with the narratives created in the pilots.
– The Network members are working to prepare an Interreg Europe proposal to scale up the results and impact, envisioning the pilgrimage routes of Europe as an infrastructure for rural development and sustainable tourism.
– The social accounts of rurAllure will progressively migrate to serve the purposes of the Network, in order to benefit from the existing base of followers and subscribers.

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)

The project sought to achieve impact by introducing cost-effective and accessible means for agents in the rural environment to gain visibility and allure through their cultural heritage. The goals included:
- Serving as a model to extend promotional actions all along the pilgrimage routes selected for the pilots, involving as many of the relevant agents as possible from the rural environment.
- Conducting dissemination actions to transfer strategies, recommendations and tools to other European routes.
- Promoting knowledge of rural spaces in other territories, fostering the exchange of ideas and experiences, reinforcing the visibility of the heritage resources and deepening their knowledge.
- Creating working links between different organizations at the local and regional levels, as well as between universities, museums, communities, agencies and tourism offices.
- Providing new tourism and cultural promotion options to more geographically- or socially-isolated spaces.

The following points summarize the impact attained in relation to the expected impacts mandated by the TRANSFORMATION-19-2020 call:
- The project successfully established a network of 120+ collaborators along pilgrimage routes, which helped produce documents that will continue facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity building among relevant stakeholders.
- The project engaged 10.000+ pilgrims and slow travelers throughout the process, identifying their needs and preferences, and fostering discussions on new services and infrastructure improvements.
- Extensive research on tourism strategies and marketing skills was conducted, documenting the education and training needs of cultural heritage professionals.
- Considerations for Universal Design for Learning highlighted the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in cultural heritage experiences.