The main objective of the CULTURALITY project is to promote and revitalise rural and remote areas through cultural tourism, by leveraging their endogenous potential and rich cultural heritage to create new business models that foster job creation. The project focuses on harnessing both tangible and intangible artisan traditions as assets for sustainable development. To achieve this, CULTURALITY brings together an international network of 13 organisations from 9 countries, combining expertise from diverse fields to address the social, cultural, economic, and environmental challenges of rural and remote regions. It raises awareness of the potential of cultural tourism and empowers local communities as agents of change through training, peer-to-peer learning, and knowledge exchange.
Rural and remote areas across Europe face multiple challenges threatening their cultural identity and heritage. Traditional crafts—key expressions of community knowledge, creativity, and resilience—are rapidly disappearing due to youth outmigration, ageing populations, and the lack of economic opportunities.
CULTURALITY responds by recognising that rural heritage is dynamic, embedded in landscapes, economies, and daily lives. By focusing on crafts and intangible heritage, it aims both to safeguard traditions and to reimagine them for the future. Its approach combines ethnographic research, digital innovation, community participation, and sustainable business modelling to ensure relevance and long-term impact.
The project pursues five main objectives:
- Documentation and analysis: build a comprehensive knowledge base on traditional crafts, artisanal knowledge, and cultural landscapes in selected pilot regions.
- Digital preservation and innovation: use tools such as 3D digitisation, immersive storytelling, and virtual exhibitions to create durable, open-access repositories of cultural heritage.
- Community engagement and co-creation: empower artisans and local communities through participatory workshops, storytelling activities, and Living Labs.
- Knowledge dissemination and visibility: create platforms like the Virtual European Rural Artisans Platform (VERAP) and the Artefact Gallery, supported by an active communication strategy, to reach diverse audiences.
- Economic resilience and sustainability: explore innovative business models and market opportunities for rural crafts, positioning them as drivers of cultural tourism, sustainable development, and green economies.
The pathway to impact integrates these objectives in four steps. First, ethnographic fieldwork ensures a solid knowledge base that keeps artisans’ voices central. Second, digital tools make this heritage accessible and visible at European and international scales. Third, participatory approaches such as Living Labs transform heritage into a living resource with social and economic relevance. Finally, dissemination and exploitation activities guarantee that outputs endure beyond the project’s lifetime, reinforcing policy frameworks and inspiring future initiatives.
By integrating research, technology, and community participation, CULTURALITY is creating a dynamic ecosystem where rural heritage is safeguarded and revalorised as a driver of cultural pride, social cohesion, and sustainable development. This holistic approach ensures lasting cultural, societal, scientific, and economic impacts, strengthening the resilience and attractiveness of rural areas across Europe.
