COSME-06-2015 COS-TOUR-2015-3-04-1 COSME-GA
EU Heritage natour (Extract) Marika Mazzi Boém 1, Giuseppe Laquidara 1 Keywords: Tourism, Nature, UNESCO, Natural-Heritage, Water, Maritime/Coastal, Summer Camps, Serious game, Europe, Education, European identity. Submitted to: COS-TOUR-2015-3-04-1 Topic: COSME-06-2015 Type of action: COSME-GA Proposal number: 699419 In collaboration with: FAI - FONDO AMBIENTE ITALIANO, Italy (Mr. Roberto Adamoli, r.adamoli@fondoambiente.it) ECEAT European Centre for Eco and Agro Tourism, The Netherlands (Mr. Naut Kusters, n.kusters@eceat-projects.org) TURISFERA ASOCIACIÓN CLUSTER TENERIFE DE INNOVACIÓN TURÍSTICA, Spain (Mrs. Marıá Jose Sánchez Hernández, gerente@turisfera.org) ATC Agence du Tourisme de la Corse, France (Hélène Fertin, hfertin@ctc-atc.com) Trip in Touch Ltd, UK (Mr. Alessandro Carbone, carbone@tripintouch.com) Abstract. EUHeritage NaTOUR aims to create an innovative, thematic, transnational tourism product addressed to the school-trip tourism (summer camps segment). The project will focus on UNESCO natural WH sites - in particular those belonging to the UNESCO Marine Programme, highlighting the role of water as key to preserve our fragile bio-ecosystem as well as planet sustainability. The objectives are: 1.to develop a transnational cultural route mixing together cultural, sustainable and responsible tourism targeted to primary and secondary schools (6-10yrs; 11-13yrs); 2.to increase the competitiveness of the European tourism; 3.to capitalise the shared value of European UNESCO natural WH sites, complementing national, regional and local policies. This will be achieved by stimulating the future generations to understand the outstanding value of WH sites as means of cultural identity; to educate them to a responsible approach when visiting protected areas and natural landscape, by offering an innovative and appealing tourism product able to combine culture, nature, and education. All the selected WH sites will be linked together by their peculiar marine/costal natural landscapes, by their unique cultural identity but also by enhancing their differences in terms of biodiversity, all of them crossed by a distinctive transnational narrative logic with water representing the main binding element. Relevant concepts will be represented by sustainability, preservation, protection, turning the WH sites as the ideal destinations where kids could learn-by-visiting, enjoying the beauty of the landscapes, contributing to preserve their fragile and unique ecosystems. As a result, a real immersive learning/recreational trip, comprising hands-on curriculum-linked activities, will be created, through the development of ad- hoc info/edu/promo materials: a serious game, a compendium for the tutors a series of webinars for the public and private stakeholders.
1. Concept and objectives Basing on the experience and the knowledge capitalised by the EUHeritageTOUR co-funded project, the EUHeritage NaTOUR project intends to focus on UNESCO natural WH sites - in particular those belonging to the UNESCO Marine Programme - to develop a transnational cultural route mixing together cultural, sustainable and responsible tourism. e general objective is to create a transnational tourism product addressed to the school-trip tourism market (summer camps), targeting kids from the primary and secondary schools (pupils aged up to 13; 2 different age groups: 6-10 yrs; 11-13yrs), increasing the competitiveness of the European tourism and capitalising the shared value of European UNESCO natural WH sites. e aim is also to complement national, regional and local policies in the field. e specific objectives of the project are to stimulate the kids - our future generations - to the value of Unesco WH sites as mean of cultural identity; to educate them to a responsible approach when visiting protected areas and natural landscape, by offering a new tourism product offering culture, nature, and education according to an innovative approach. erefore EUHeritage NaTOUR will: Contribute to the differentiation of the European tourism offer by developing 1 transnational tourism product based on UNESCO natural WH sites in Europe (water concept), attractive and affordable for kid as well as for tutors, competitive in times of the economic crisis, enhancing European identity; Promote the transnational cultural route under the paradigm of sustainable and responsible tourism, in particular considering the narrative logic and binding element represented by water ; Increase the competitiveness of SMEs active in the tourism and cultural sector by raising their awareness on the positive effect of cultural routes on SMEs competitiveness and involving them in the creation of transnational tourism product as service providers; - strengthen the managerial and promotional skills of public and private stakeholders in charge of the promotion of European UNESCO natural WH sites through a series of specialised thematic webinars and preparing the transfer of good practices; Improve kids awareness about the relevance of WH sites as vehicle for EU cultural identity through an ad-hoc serious game for mobile devices as mean of education and at the same time providing tourism info about the sites they will visit during the summer camp. Facilitate and enhance PPPs by fostering and preparing the transfer of good practices and providing 1 discussion forum focussed on the management, conservation and promotion of natural heritage sites (in particular maritime or water-based ones); Promote UNESCO natural heritage as a vehicle for sustainable development in regions in crisis by upgrading the skills of young workers in the management and promotion of UNESCO natural WH sites in order to increase their employability; Develop a serious game for mobile devices to be used by kids and tutors for educational purposes as well as for displaying the information on the UNESCO natural heritage sites in real time; Develop a digital compendium for the tutors in order to provide extensive knowledge to them and enable them to create engaging on-site activities.
e selected WH sites part of the route will be linked together by their peculiar marine/costal landscapes, unique cultural identity but also by differences in terms of biodiversity, all comprised in a distinctive transnational narrative logic, with water being the binding element and main concept. is will enable us to highlight its relevance to sustainability, preservation, protection criteria, turning the selected natural WH sites as the ideal destinations where kids could learn-byvisiting, enjoying the beauty of landscapes and contributing to preserve their fragile and unique ecosystems. e idea is to offer an immersive learning/recreational trip, comprising hands-on curriculum- linked activities. School-trip tourism, including summer camps, is in fact nontrivial: approx 70M pupils make 100 million day trips and 15-20M overnight trips a year. A conservative estimate predicts that the educational travel market will reach 300 million arrivals by 2020 and represent US$320 billion in market value. Core countries at EU level are the followings: France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain. Cultural heritage is widely recognised as a vehicle for cultural identity. By promoting the shared natural WH heritage, EUHeritage NaTOUR will contribute to a greater sense of European identity, a strong commitment to preserve outstanding places who belongs to all humankind and yet with a remarkable care to a vital natural element: water. Regarding maritime/coastal tourism, in fact, the EU Commission Communication "A European Strategy for more Growth and Jobs in Coastal and Maritime Tourism" COM (2014)86 invited Member States, regional and local authorities and industry to develop cultural heritage based tourism, underwater archaeological parks (based on work done by UNESCO), and nature and health tourism in coastal destinations. In its 2010 Communication [COM (2010) 352 final], the Commission announced a strategy for sustainable coastal and maritime tourism welcomed by the EU Parliament, the Council, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee encouraging for a joint action. e Blue Growth Communication of 2012 COM (2012)494 listed coastal and maritime tourism as one of five focus areas for delivering sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy; the European Parliament's 2013 report on Blue Growth A7-0209/2013-2012/2297 (INI)) welcomed this European framework and recommended a series of actions to boost the sector and support the development of sustainable tourism in coastal destinations. Starting from these premises, EUHeritage NaTOUR will link together natural heritage sites, in particular marine/coastal and water destinations, in initially 5 regions and countries (I, SP, UK, FR, NL) keeping the value of "transnationality" at the forefront. Hence, the project adopts a clear transnational approach, contributing to strengthen cross- border cooperation, facilitating the exchange and preparation of transfer of good practices among these partners; contributing to create a network of well-prepared tourism stakeholders with improved skills; more conscious tutors and pupils about key values such as sustainability and responsibility regarding tourism. e up-skilling will also positively impact on the workforce s employability. e project will also build on multiplier effect approach: under WP4 the project partners will celebrate local events in which local stakeholders will be involved. Under WP5, results will be disseminated in the project partners territories, contributing to positive impacts and stimulating to community- based engagement. Under WP3 the creation of PPPs as a successful model for the promotion/ management of UNESCO natural WH sites in Europe will be ensured. e resulting cultural route will capitalise the shared heritage by promoting transnationality, adding value to single sites.
e project is therefore perfectly in line with the programmes objectives and thus relevant and in line with the priorities of the programme. UNESCO WH sites provide an important narrative for historical development in Europe and can serve as foundations for a contemporary European identity. Natural WH sites are outstanding witnesses of the EU incredible landscapes, each one telling its own story and yet linked to each other by traditions, biodiversity and historical background. e 1972 World Heritage Convention is founded on the premise that certain places on our planet are of Outstanding Universal Value and as such should form part of the common heritage of humankind. Today, 46 sites are inscribed on the World Heritage List specifically in recognition of their exceptional marine values, recognised for their exceptional natural phenomena, their geological processes, ecological functioning and/or outstanding biodiversity found nowhere else on the planet. To this extent, the World Heritage Marine Programme was launched in 2005, aiming to maintain and thrive their outstanding value for generations to come. EU landscapes, and their beautiful intrinsic diversity, represent a key attractive element for visitors, calling them out from all over the world. But domestic and international arrivals have grown rapidly over the past years representing both a challenge and opportunity: tourism is providing great economic opportunities, but the great number of access may represent a threat to destinations protection and conservation, in particular for cultural heritage sites. ese developments require adequate promotional strategies, sustainable frameworks, specific management skills and the spread of knowledge about the importance of their protection and conservation that, in line with the UNESCO decision 34COM5F.2, promote the cultural world heritage sites in Europe under the paradigm of sustainability. e recent report Marine Natural Heritage and the World Heritage List, confirmed that,... e inscription of a site on the World Heritage List brings an increase in public awareness of the site... allows for enhanced opportunities for impro ing tourism image and profile... When these are well planned and organized, respecting sustainable tourism principles, they can bring important funds to the site and to the local economy. Tourism sector involves both public and private stakeholders; basing on the EU Commission s 2010 Communication on tourism [COM (2010)352 final], its rolling implementation plan and the Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism [COM (2007) 621 final] encouraging national, regional, local public authorities as well as public and private tourism stakeholders to cooperate together, a new successful framework for action has to be created. e general public - as stated in the World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy - represents a strong player in the process; young generations have to be properly informed both about the value of the WH sites as well as how youth s role can be disruptive in the WH sites conservation and protection. On top of all these consideration, and in order to be able to maintain Europe s leadership in the world tourism, EUHeritage NaTOUR project intends to develop a new innovative tourism product that can also compete in times of the economic crisis. [ ] (/Extract)