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CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES FOR SUSTAINABLE CULTURAL TOURISM
Creative hubs network in the Adriatic-Ionian Region
The CCI4TOURISM project, whose main goal is the development of sustainable tourism models in the Adriatic-Ionian Region in connection with cultural and creative industries (CCIs), has launched the Creative Hubs Network. It provides the necessary space and support for networking, business development, and community cooperation in the creative, cultural, and technological sectors. The network includes creative hubs of all nine partner organizations from the six participating countries in the CCI4TOURISM project: Italy (Valenzano, Udine and Maniago), Slovenia (Pivka and Škofja Loka), Croatia (Benkovac and Kaštel Novi), Greece (Thessaloniki), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Banja Luka), and Serbia (Novi Sad). The hubs operate as part of the project partner organizations and are managed by the local leaders. They are acting as the link between young, creative people, newly founded companies, and experts, as well as the cultural and creative community and local stakeholders in general, leading to an updated tourist offer in the Adriatic-Ionian Region. The hubs also provide all the necessary infrastructure to the users, including the space for work, meetings, training, networking, and other events with the common goal to become a leading force of local development and social renewal.
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| Creative HUBs AGRRA & TNO | |
The individual creative hubs are targeting their efforts in a variety of areas: different forms of tourism digitalization will be the focus in CIDEA’s Creative Hub 78 (Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina), KamRRA Hub’ (Pivka, Slovenia), 3ANGLE Hub (Kaštel Novi, Croatia), Friuli Innovazione Creative Hub (Italy), and FEP Hub (Novi Sad, Serbia); specialization of TNO Creative Hub (Italy) focuses on supporting projects that make original and meaningful use of new technologies, digital innovation, participatory processes and territorial storytelling for sustainable tourism enhancement; the KEPA Hub from Thessaloniki (Greece) will focus on how CCIs can be linked to ICT and tourism; the AGRRA Creative Hub (Benkovac, Croatia). will help start-ups and existing companies entering the market with creative ideas, marketing, their visual identity, etc.; and the Škofja Loka Creative Hub (SLO) will bring together the creative community working in craft, design, and photography based on intangible cultural heritage. More information here.
Project partner meeting in Škofja Loka
In October 2021, Development Agency SORA from Škofja Loka organized a two-day in-person meeting of the CCI4TOURISM project partners, attended by all nine partners. The meeting was kicked-off by the mayor of Škofja Loka, Tine Radinja. The participants held a productive discussion to agree on the upcoming activities that will shape the most important achievements at the end of the CCI4TOURISM project: a creative hubs network will be established in the Adriatic-Ionian Region, the best pilot projects for the development of innovative services and products will be selected, and a transnational action plan will be created for the development of cultural tourism in the region.
The project partners visited two creative centres operating in the old town centre of Škofja Loka under Development Agency SORA. The Arts and Craft Centre and the Contemporary textile hub Creative Centre along with the Škofja Loka tourist information centre make up the creative hub that will be additionally equipped using project funds to be the result of the CCI4TOURISM project.
More information here.
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| Škofja Loka: Meeting of partners | Mayor of Škofja Loka Tine Radinja |
Multilingual digital publication of the best creative ideas
In early 2021, the CCI4TOURISM partnership published the Transnational tender for cultural and creative ideas for sustainable tourism to gather ideas on how to solve challenges so that they lead to innovative tourism products and services and shape a new strategy for sustainable tourism. The result is a publication entitled The best creative ideas for the valorisation of cultural heritage, in which each of the nine partners presented three of their projects. The brochure therefore contains twenty-seven of the best ideas developed by the participants during the process of educational workshops and training sessions led by mentors. They are good examples and an inspiration for the development of sustainable tourism that connects the local community, knowledge, and creativity to offer visitors different, authentic experiences of the places they visit.
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Tecnopolis, Science and Technology Park (TNO) is presenting two cycling projects: Puglia E-bike Adventure offers electric mountain bicycle rental for exploring the most beautiful cycling thematic routes in the region; the mobile mapping app MaP – Murgia by Bike allows users to easily explore secondary touristic road while recommending a range of points of interest. Third project presented is LerniLango, a digital platform for Italian language learning through integration with cultural experiences.
Zadar County Rural Development Agency (AGRRA) has a project called Creating for the Future that interweaves traditional painting techniques and contemporary technologies to look for conceptual solutions to designing interiors, textile, and fashion. The Ravni Kotari Trail invites visitors to explore natural and cultural heritage and raises awareness about nature preservation and health promotion, while the project CROCUS: Stories of Croatian Culture: Sweet Routes of Wisdom utilizes folk sayings to introduce new content to tourist routes.
Friuli Innovazione, Research and Technology Transfer Centre (FINN) is presenting the Outdoor Factory – Angel Route project, which challenges adventurers to a 200-kilometre journey either on foot or by bicycle from the Carnic Alps to the Adriatic Sea that is full of historic and cultural landmarks and attractive tourist spots. The Blawalk platform enables registered users to link up by sharing their hobbies and interests in nature, while the Music System Italy project provides higher musical education combined with the tourist promotion of the Friuli Region.
Business and Cultural Development Centre (KEPA) is presenting the Accessible Greece project that strives to promote accessible tourism using state-of-the-art technologies or user applications. Virtual 360° view is the name of the platform that offers visitors virtual tours of the archaeological sites, museums, natural landmarks, and cultural sites of Athens by live streaming a 360-degree view. Dorodouli Distillery is dedicated to educating about Greek spirits and gastronomy through audio-visual media, technology, and experiences.
RDA Green Karst is presenting the character Countess Greta – brought to life by local guide Janja Urbiha – who takes visitors on a walk in the park of Snežnik Castle and reveals the true stories of the last noble family that lived in there. The newly founded GradTeater theatre has prepared an interactive show called To the Castle for Treasure! and they now tour castles around the Karst. BelaKapa is a renovated homestead offering visitors comfortable accommodation, local products, and adventures in nature.
Development Agency Sora (RAS) has supported the Slovenia Photo tours project, which takes participants on the experience to the most photogenic points of the Julian Alps with a professional local photographer; NiceRanch is a space for pleasant meetings, creative moments, and culinary experiences, and the Enchanted Forest invites visitors on a family adventure on a themed trail, where they can discover nature through storytelling, imagination, movement, and sensory perceptions.
European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina (FEP) is running the On Different Paths in Novi Sad project, inviting visitors to a special experience of the city through private collections and private museums, as well as through a presentation of street art and its artists. The Architecture of the Earth project organises numerous workshops, educational camps, and conferences, and the Performapp app is designed to support artists in promote them.
City Development Agency Banja Luka (CIDEA) is presenting the EAnimals project. It aims to popularize science and encourage endangered animal protection. The hub’s project Dajak Safari revived the typical Dayak boat, once a means for locals to cross rivers, for tourism purposes. The importance of a healthy diet is highlighted by the Elan Products project, which produces premium cold-pressed oils.
RI Center (IRI) is presenting the AdriaticQuest project with the concept of a digital pocket guide for modern tourists that connects people, places, and stories with the help of a mobile phone. The mobile app Arabica Gang – Find Your Flavour connects people, places, and stories by guiding coffee lovers to specialized coffee shops around Croatia. StoryToApp is a platform that enables people with no programming and coding knowledge to develop online and mobile apps.
The publication is also available in digital form in English, Slovenian, Italian, Greek, Serbian, and Croatian.
Study visit in Portugal
On 17 and 18 May, the CCI4TOURISM project partners attended a transnational study visit in Portugal organized by Greek partner KEPA. The partner organizations and project stakeholders, i.e., creative and cultural industries and supporting organizations and local authorities, were represented by 37 participants who visited two creative hubs.
On the first day, we were welcomed by representatives of the Dinamo 10 hub in the town of Viana do Castelo. It was founded in 2010 as a pioneer project in Portugal to help professional creatives tackle their entrepreneurial challenges and to support young people in launching their professional careers. The vision and operation of Dinamo 10 was presented by its co-founder and manager Joanna Carvalho, herself a creative, an architect. She emphasized that the hub is no longer just a coworking space, but predominantly a space for creating a community. Dinamo 10 also offers services to clients, a task handled by the hub’s multidisciplinary team, which also cooperates in the creation, promotion, and ensuring value for companies and the public sector. They are constantly looking for opportunities to help their partners and clients in a variety of fields, such as architecture, branding, design editing, graphic design, illustration, marketing, photography, product design, and videography.
Dinamo 10’s business model is based on its team members working either independently on projects they secure from their clients or on group projects that they manage in an interdisciplinary way. These are especially socially engaged projects for clients, such as local communities or other public institutions, but can also be private companies.
Read more at https://www.dinamo10.net/
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| Study visit – Joanna Carvalho, co-funder and manager | Study tour participants |
The next day, we visited the smaller Collectiva hub in Porto, which acts as a kind of independent platform, gallery, and shop in Porto. It was established to promote Portuguese designer jewellery for women. The hub is charged with promoting the work of up-and-coming Portuguese brands and their designers with limited editions and exclusive works along with a general program of exhibitions and regular events. The founders of Collectiva, which is located in a retail space in the Bombarda shopping centre, are Ana Bragança, Joana Santos, Lia Gonçalves, Marta Pinto Ribeiro, and Susana Teixeira. They emphasize that the hub is also a space to reflect on design and artistic creation, contemporary Portuguese jewellery, and the products’ relation to the market, the public, and urban culture. In addition to the founding creators, Collectiva also presents other brands as special guest designers.
Read more at https://www.facebook.com/collectivajoalhariadeautor/
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| Collectiva hub in Porto |
Thematic Sub-Cluster Cultural and Creative Industries set up good starting points for future joint projects
Sub-Cluster no. 3.1 Cultural and Creative Industries is joining together three INTERREG Adrion projects: EMOUNDERGROUNDS, CREATURES and CCI4TOURISM project. Projects’ partners from sub-cluster set good starting points for cooperation in future joint projects. At the 3rd sub-cluster online meeting organized on 5th of May 2022 by TECNOPOLIS STP as lead partner of CCI4TOURISM project the participants from 27 organizations of three Adrion projects were presented with information on important sub-cluster documents and activities which have been developed until now. More information here.
| The partners in the three-year project that runs out in January of next year: • Tecnopolis Science and Technology Park (TNO) from Italy (lead partner), • Zadar County Rural Development Agency (AGRRA) from Croatia, • Friuli Innovazione, Research and Technology Transfer Centre (FINN) from Italy, • Business and Cultural Development Centre (KEPA) from Greece, • RDA Green Karst Ltd. (RRA Zeleni kras) from Slovenia • Development Agency Sora Ltd. (RAS) from Slovenia, • European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina (FEP) from Serbia, • City Development Agency Banja Luka (CIDEA) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, • IRI Center Ltd. (IRI) from Croatia. |
CONTACT
Mateja Simčič
Project coordinator at RDA Green Karst
mateja@rra-zk.si
+386(0)5 72 12 243
The project is financially supported by the European Union, INTERREG ADRION (Adriatic-Ionian) Programme 2014–2020.
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