Europa Nostra contributes to Conference on Experience Economy in Brussels

“How can we increase the tourism potential of our cultural heritage sites through innovation? How can we ensure that they offer a personal experience to visitors? How can we ensure that the experience economy will offer affordable, inclusive and sustainable services in the medium/long run?” These were some of the questions participants of the workshop “Experience economy: a personalised and sustainable approach towards cultural heritage” were invited to brainstorm about in Brussels on 20 September.

Following an exchange of views during the morning session, Europa Nostra’s Vice-President Piet Jaspaert made the concluding statement. He presented the report Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe, many of whose key findings are related to tourism. This European report was not yet known to the audience. Piet Jaspaert drew the audience’s attention to two other important tourism-related initiatives: the Barcelona Declaration and the 2018 special edition of the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN)’s Awards, titled: Cultural Heritage as an Asset for Responsible and Sustainable Tourism, whose winners will be celebrated at ECTN’s annual conference, to be held in Pafos on 25 October. By way of concluding, Europa Nostra’s Vice-President highlighted the importance of the Berlin Call to Action: “Cultural Heritage for the Future of Europe” and called on the participants to sign the call online to show their support.

Organised by the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN), this workshop brought together several regional stakeholder organisations and their experts in the fields of tourism, design and creativity to name but a few. The workshop aimed to promote funding opportunities and to inspire good practices at regional level. The programme included presentations about EU funding opportunities within the Creative Europe programme as well as upcoming calls for proposals within the EU research programme Horizon 2020. Best practice examples were presented and participants had the opportunity to pitch project ideas. The workshop was organised as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.

Among the Horizon 2020 calls related to this topic are:
H2020 Societal Challenge 5-20-2019: Transforming historic urban areas and/or cultural landscapes into hubs of entrepreneurship and social and cultural integration
H2020 Societal Challenge 6 Transformations 3 – 2019: Innovative solutions for inclusive and sustainable urban environments
H2020 Societal Challenge 6 Transformations 4 – 2019: Innovative approaches to urban and regional development through cultural tourism
H2020 Societal Challenge 6 Transformations 11 – 2019: Collaborative approaches to cultural heritage for social cohesion

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