Digital meets Culture

Brussels (Belgium), 27-28 June 2023

International Conference on Cultural Tourism Summary

img courtesy: Fundación Santa María la Real’s Twitter

The Conference was co-organized by Be.CULTOUR, IMPACTOUR, INCULTUM, SmartCulTour, SPOT and TEXTOUR, the EU H2020 projects operating the area of sustainable tourism promotion on the territory. Selected and presented papers will be published in a Springer book reflecting the breakthroughs and future perspectives of cultural tourism.

“While exact estimates are difficult to make, it has repeatedly been mentioned that approximately 40% of all European tourists make a destination choice based on the cultural offerings. This leads to significant economic effects and has further strengthened the view of cultural heritage as a strategic resource for its economic impact, but also for its role in creating and enhancing social capital and achieving the goals of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. At the same time, economic effects have been distributed unequally – often being more prevalent in urbanized areas – and the exponential growth of tourism (notwithstanding the dip during the Covid-19 pandemic) created issues of both over-and underexploitation.

The goal of this Conference was to get a further understanding of the sustainable development potential of cultural tourism by focusing on successful policy interventions, new cultural tourism trends, advances in visitor management systems, and new business and/or governance models.” (via KU Leuven the Conference website).

During the sessions of the second day, a general overview of the outcomes of the six organizing Horizon 2020 projects was given, while good practices based on the finalized and ongoing experimentations in diverse European regions were identified. INCULTUM’s coordinator Jose Maria Martin Civantos presented the project, its achievements and innovations.

Conference programme: Cultural Tourism Conference Programme

The Conference was organized by KU Leuven in collaboration with the European Research Executive Agency and the projects IMPACTOUR, SPOT, TEXTOUR, BE.CULTOUR; SMARTCULTOUR and INCULTUM.

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Across Summer 2023, the show which narrates the stories at the local Ethnographic Museum will be represented several times

Promoting the stories of San Pellegrino in Alpe through performances

text and images courtesy of University of Pisa

The summer performance season in San Pellegrino in Alpe, in the municipality of Castiglione di Garfagnana, opened again on 25 June 2023. This is part of the programme for cultural tourism promotion of the INCULTUM Pilot 5 in Garfagnana (Tuscany).

The first of a series of five performances that will take place between June and September was held in the rooms of the Don Luigi Pellegrini Ethnographic Museum, which were set up especially for the occasion. The actress Elisabetta Salvatori narrated the museum’s exhibits and its incredible history through her performance ‘A priest, two saints, a border and 4000 unique pieces‘: visitors were numerous, all the seats made available were occupied and the event was a success.

This performance was the first ever to take place directly inside the museum, and indeed it was a winning solution, as many of the spectators praised the suggestiveness of the combination of the actress’s words and the fact that they were in the museum rooms. The opening day was attended by Dr. Adele Cogno together with Dr. Andrea Pedri, accompanied by the project’s scientific director and pilot coordinator Enrica Lemmi.

At the end of the show, the spectators were able to visit the remaining rooms of the museum and, at the end of the tour, they were asked to fill in a satisfaction questionnaire that will be useful to understand what, if any, tricks and improvements can be adopted to enrich the visitor’s experience inside the museum.

The dates of the next shows will be 16-30 July, 6 August and 3 September 2023.

Download the posters for the events – PDF 4.7 Mb

From this training, new promotional materials were created and distributed to the local operators

Second training session of INCULTUM’s San Pellegrino in Alpe

Text and Images courtesy of University of Pisa.

On 29 May 2023, the INCULTUM Pilot set in Garfagnana (Tuscany) organised a second training meeting for local tour operators held in the halls of the Unione dei Comuni in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana.

Download the presentation (PDF, 13 Mb, Italian language)

The meeting, which was important to discuss in more detail the problems and opportunities presented during the first meeting in San Pellegrino in Alpe on 15/5/2023, was the venue for the idea of designing information brochures financed directly by the businesses around San Pellegrino in Alpe. An Italian and an English version of this brochure was designed, so that they could be useful to locals and visitors from nearby, as well as travellers from abroad.

The brochures were produced by the team and have been printed. They are currently working on distributing the material to all areas of the valley. The enthusiasm and spirit of initiative shown by the property owners was important to understand how much they actually believe in the potential of the INCULTUM project, which is now in its third year.

Brochure (EN) – PDF, 4.5 Mb

Brochure (IT) – PDF, 4.5 Mb

Lahti (Finland), 19-21 November 2023

“and… ACTION! Museums in the climate crisis”

Join 200+ museum colleagues from all over Europe to explore how museums can take action for the climate and a sustainable future during NEMO European Museum Conference 2023 “and… ACTION! Museums in the climate crisis”, that will take place in the European Green Capital (2021), Lahti.

As the sector stands at the brink of change, NEMO wants to offer guidance on how museums can be part of the solution and identify where they can contribute to climate action, as the sector is evolving and standing at the brink of change. The conference will draw on learnings from NEMO’s recent report to explore sustainability strategies, risk management as preventive measures and how to transform museums into futureproof and sustainable organisations.

The conference will host inspirational keynote speeches, enlightening panel discussions and engaging workshops. Several occasions for networking with European colleagues, inspiring museum visits and opportunities to explore the local nature and culture, in order to build strong alliances to find collective strength to contribute to global action for climate.

Learn more at this link.

Aubervilliers, Campus Condorcet, Paris, 19-21 October 2023

Upcoming “Connect. Collaborate. Create.” conference in Paris

Jointly coordinated by two Horizon 2020 projects, COESO and PRO-Ethics, “Connect. Collaborate. Create.” will be an interactive conference to bridge European communities for fostering ethical participatory approaches to research funding and activating participatory research and citizen science.

While the conference has a strong focus on the social sciences and humanities, researchers and citizen science practitioners from all backgrounds are welcome! Keep an eye on the COESO and PRO-Ethics websites, which will soon be updated with more details.

Get updated at this link. Download the flyer here (PDF, 3,04MB).

SAVE THE DATE: October 19-21, 2023

Location: MSH Paris Nord 20, Avenue George Sand, 93210 La Plaine St-Denis

COESO has received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (2014-2020) SwafS-27-2020 – Hands-on citizen science and frugal innovation, under Grant Agreement No.101006325.

The webinar will take place online on the 5th of July and will overview data enrichment and transformation.

Enriching Film Heritage Data with OpenRefine

Title: Sammlung der Medien und Wissenschaft

The webinar, organised by DFF (Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum) from 11am-12pm CEST on the 5th of July, will present an overview of using the open source tool OpenRefine for data enrichment and transformation. The data examples and thematic focus will be on film heritage and filmographic data.

The webinar will explore how OpenRefine can be used to clean and enrich the existing information with the Reconciliation functionality, the process that allows data to connect and extend with public data sources like Wikidata. An outline of the data transformation via templating will complete the overview.

Discovering food as heritage and cultural practice across countries and how food preparation and consuption is significant to understanding a society's values, customs, and history.

CitizenHeritage event ‘Flavors of the Globe: A Cultural Exploration Through Food’

text by Denise Martin Weijters, images courtesy of Denise Martin Weijters and Trilce Navarrete (Erasmus University Rotterdam).

Food is much more than a simple source of nutrition; it is a potent symbol of culture, identity, and tradition. The manner in which we eat, prepare, and share meals reveals much about our identities and origins. Every culture in the world has its own distinctive culinary customs, ingredients, and rituals, creating a tapestry of flavors and tales that connect us to our heritage. From the vibrant spices of India to the exquisite artistry of Japanese cuisine, food is a gateway to understanding a society’s values, customs, and history.

In this blog, we explore the fascinating relationship between food and culture, revealing the rich tapestry of flavors, traditions, and stories that make our culinary world so captivating.

During a workshop organized by Erasmus+ project CitizenHeritage, researchers were able to assist college students in exploring the rich diversity of food cultures around the world and, through the use of surveys, determining how participants view food in relation to culture. The event took place in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) on 24 May 2023, hosted at the Erasmus Food Lab that is an organization dedicated to promoting and raising awareness about healthy and sustainable food. The workshop centered on the preparation of four bio-vegan dishes, creating a menu in collaboration with Erasmusm Food Lab founder Pinar Coskun, and developing a discussion that related food, culture, and identity formation. At the beginning of the workshop, ten participants were actively preparing four distinct dishes. Three of the four dishes were from the cuisine of the Middle East, and one was from the cuisine of the West (specifically Mexico). The following four dishes were prepared:

1. Tabbouleh (Lebanon)

2. Guacamole (Mexico)

3. Tempeh Shish Kebab (Middle Eastern)

4. Samoza (India)

The total time required to prepare the dishes was approximately 30 to 45 minutes.

After the food was prepared, everyone sat down to enjoy the joint result. During this time, participants engaged in fruitful discussion on a variety of topics, including sustainability, the environment, and climate education (among others).

A distinction was also made between cooking for oneself and cooking for others. Additionally, it is more satisfying to consume something in which one has participated in its creation or production.

Pinar Coskun, founder of Erasmus Food Lab, then gave a presentation on food identity. The presentation discussed the three distinct factors — experts, markets, and others — which contribute to the formation of food identity. First, experts consider (for instance) the national guidelines of a particular nation (these guidelines, of course, vary based on their national context). The national guidelines for the Netherlands and Japan are shown in the two figures below (source: UN Food-based dietary guidelines), and highlight the cultural differences in expert advice.

source: UN Food-based dietary guidelines

source: UN Food-based dietary guidelines

The second aspect of markets is what advertising and marketing firms tell us about food.
For instance, research has been conducted on the advertising practices of various fast food restaurants. McDonald’s, for example, focused on emotions such as happiness and togetherness, whereas Burger King emphasized the formation and maintenance of family and friendships through food. Also discussed was the relationship between food and politics. It was noted, for instance, that the European Commission allocates substantial funds and subsidies to campaigns for the meat industry. Thirdly, others include your inner circle, family, friends, and social media influencers you may follow.

It all boils down to the decisions you make regarding your eating habits and relationship with food. The manner in which you consume food also depends on factors such as your beliefs, region, lifestyle, and health. Beliefs are significant because food consumption can be correlated with religious beliefs. In Hinduism, for instance, cows are considered sacred and are therefore not consumed. Pork is sacred in Judaism and Islam, and adherents do not consume it. And so forth.

In addition to experts, markets, and others, a person’s geographical location, specifically the region in which they reside, influences their food consumption. For example, Mediterranean and Latin herbs are vastly dissimilar, so if you reside in either region, your diet will vary. Also, the choice of food must be affordable: it is unfortunate, but for some, fast food may be the only option, without the option to consider nutrients, sustainability, or the social experience of participating in a cooking party.

Flavors of the Globe: A Cultural Exploration through Food successfully offered participants a deeper appreciation for the richness of our culinary heritage. By uncovering the stories and traditions behind each dish, this workshop celebrated the diversity of flavors and the profound cultural significance that food embodies. It encouraged participants to reflect on their own culinary journeys, inviting them to embrace the transformative power of food as a gateway to understanding different societies, their values, customs, and histories.

Flavors of the Globe: A Cultural Exploration Through Food
24th May, 2021, h. 12:30 – 15:00
Agenda
12.30 Welcome greetings, prof. Trilce Navarrete
12.35 Participants’ survey, prof. Trilce Navarrete
12.40 Cooking activity, Pinar Coskun (founder of Erasmus Food Lab)
13.25 Reflection of cooking activity, prof. Trilce Navarrete
13.35 Presentation by Pinar Coskun (founder of Erasmus Food Lab)
14.35 Discussion of presentation
14.45 Conclusions
15.00 End of workshop

The itinerary was developed with a sustainable, participatory cultural tourism project with the local community, led in the frame of INCULTUM

Bibracte launches its flagship hiking itinerary: the ‘Tour du Morvan des Sommets’

PRESS RELEASE – 26 June 2023

images by Antoine Maillier, courtesy of Bibracte

In the heart of the Morvan Regional Nature Park, the Grand Site de France Bibracte – Morvan des Sommets is launching a new hiking route along the rural paths of the area’s twelve villages. This 140 km long itinerary explores the protected landscapes of the Grand Site de France and its rich rural heritage. This new flagship itinerary has been developed within the frame of INCULTUM’s participatory project involving local inhabitants and stakeholders.

image courtesy of Bibracte

140 km around the landscape of the Grand Site de France Bibracte – Morvan des Sommets

The 140 km new hiking route offers a 7 days itinerary accessible to all good hikers, around the three main peaks of Morvan: Haut-Folin (901 m), Préneley (855 m) and Beuvray (821 m). This new route allows a gentle and in-depth exploration of the landscapes of the Grand Site de France territory and its rich rural cultural heritage.

It includes the visit of the Mont Beuvray, which was the site of the Gallic town of Bibracte in the 1st century BC and now houses a museum and archaeological site, Mont Préneley where the Yonne river rises in a peat marsh rich in biodiversity, and twelve typical rural villages. The itinerary also offers a number of variants for hikkers to explore curiosities and points of interest along the way just for a day of a week-end.

The spirit of the Grand Site de France Bibracte – Morvan des Sommets

The Grand Site de France includes two national protected areas: Bibracte – Mont Beuvray and Mont Préneley – Sources de l’Yonne. The destination is a world of forests covering granite massifs, meadows, hedged farmland and running water, offering a mosaic of typical, unspoilt rural landscapes. “The itinerary is an invitation to discover a rich and living heritage that expresses the memory of a rural territory and the ways in which it has been inhabited and exploited by the people who have lived there for centuries“, emphasises Alain Millot, in charge of outdoor activities at the Morvan Regional Nature Park.

image courtesy of Bibracte

The rural paths, a landscape in common and a heritage to be revived

More than 1,100 km of rural paths criss-cross the 42,000 hectares of the Grand Site de France. Since 2021, the inhabitants of the territory have been involved in participatory inventories and cultural projects to revitalise this heritage. Hundreds of kilometres of surveying have made it possible to identify the interesting features of the local landscape, describing them on a dedicated application or compiling them in artistic notebooks. This approach is enabling to gain a better understanding of this heritage, improve its management and prepare for its enhancement.

A sustainable, participatory cultural tourism project led in the frame of INCULTUM

Since 2021, Bibracte and its partners have been participating in INCULTUM European research-action programme dedicated to the development of cultural tourism in rural areas. Working with representatives of the region’s various economic sectors – tourism, agriculture, services, culture, etc. – the aim is to develop and promote an innovative tourism offer around the new hiking route, combining outdoor leisure activities, heritage and gastronomic discoveries and cultural activities. As Sophie Mobillion, Bibracte’s Grand Site de France project manager, points out, “our sectorial working groups bringing together the area’s socio-professional players are important levers for the development of this initiative, which will bring the local economy together“.

In 2022, the prototype of the Tour du Morvan des Sommets route has been co-developped and tested with local inhabitants and stakeholders involved in the local rural paths heritage community. The flagship itinerary has been launched during the General assembly of the twelve villages of the territory at the beginning of June and has been unveiled to media and partners on June 26^th. It will be presented to the general public during the Fantastic Picnic event at Bibracte in September 2023.

In the next months Bibracte and its partners will work on the labelling of the itinerary with the French national hiking federation.

Practical information:

137 km, going throught 12 villages, 7 days.
Difficulty: medium
The itinerary can be downloaded from the website https://rando.parcdumorvan.org/, which promotes more than 3,000 km of hiking trails in the Morvan Regional Nature Park. At present, the route is not signposted; it mainly passes along already maintained and signposted footpaths.
Hikers can choose to follow the route in its entirety or in sections, on foot, by bike and, in some cases, on horseback.
The varied local tourist offer includes local accommodation and (small) catering offers. Make sure you book ahead if you’re doing the whole 7 days itinerary. Further information is available from local tourist offices.
The Grand Site de France is accessible by public transport to the gateway towns of Autun, Etang-sur-Arroux, Luzy and Château-Chinon. The nearest high-speed train station is Le Creusot – Montceau – Montchanin. Choose soft mobility!
By the A6 motorway, Bibracte is 3 hours 40 minutes from Paris and 2 hours 20 minutes from Lyon.

image courtesy of Bibracte

TOUR DU MORVAN DES SOMMETS HIGHLIGHTS

– Visit listed and protected natural sites with outstanding landscapes: Mont Beuvray, which was the birthplace of Bibracte, a major Gallic town in the 1st century BC and now houses a museum showcasing the excavations carried out as part of the European Archaeological Centre; Mont Préneley, where the Yonne river rises in a peat marsh with a rich biodiversity; the Cascade de la Dragne; the Gorges de la Canche, etc.

– Discover a living and inspiring rich rural heritage that takes many forms: ancient sites, churches, castles, mills, wash-houses, dry stone walls, timber rafting infrastructures, ancient railway lines and also Second World War maquis or art gallery, etc.

– Meet with people engaged in their territory life: along the way, you’re likely to come across local people, elected representatives, farmers, tourism professionals and artists who will be keen to share with you their attachment to their landscape in common.

About the Grand Site de France Bibracte – Morvan des Sommets

In 2008, Bibracte – Morvan des Sommets was awarded the “Grand Site de France” label, which has been renewed in 2014 and 2022. This selective and demanding label is delivered by the French Ministry of Ecological transition to the manager of a remarkable site, protected by its classification under the law of 2 May 1930. It recognises the site’s great heritage value, the quality of its upkeep and the interest of the preservation, management and enhancement project. Today, the “Grand Site de France” initiative involving BIBRACTE EPCC, the Morvan Regional Nature Park and the Department of Nièvre involves the twelve rural villages of the Morvan Regional Nature Park that surround the three main peaks of the Morvan (Haut-Folin (901 m), Préneley (855 m), Beuvray (821 m)): Arleuf, Fâchin, Glux-en-Glenne, Larochemillay, Millay, Poil, Villapourçon (Nièvre), La Comelle, La Grande-Verrière, Roussillon-en-Morvan, Saint-Léger-sous-Beuvray and Saint-Prix (Saône-et-Loire). It also involves many partners: the CHEMINS association, the Maison du Patrimoine oral de Bourgogne, etc. The project has received special support from the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region, the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (DREAL) and the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DRAC), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) under the LEADER Morvan programme and the European Partnership for Innovation in Agriculture and Forestry (PEI AGRI), the Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation as part of BIBRACTE’s participation in the INCULTUM European research-action project.

Twin it! 3D for Europe’s culture: a call to EU Member States for a pan-European collection of 3D-digitised heritage assets

‘Twin it! 3D for Europe’s culture’ launched by the European Commission and Europeana Initiative

The European Commission and the Europeana Initiative are proud to launch ‘Twin it! 3D for Europe’s culture’. Twin it! is a campaign under the auspices of the Swedish and Spanish Presidencies of the Council of the EU, culminating during the Belgian Presidency. Twin it! Is a call on EU Member States for a pan-European collection of 3D-digitised heritage assets.

This cross-presidency campaign will mobilise each of the 27 EU Ministries in charge of culture to submit one 3D digitised heritage asset to the common European data space for cultural heritage, deployed by the Europeana Initiative. The campaign runs from 21 June 2023 – under the Swedish Presidency – and will continue under Spain’s Presidency in the second half of the year. It will come to an end during Belgium’s Presidency in mid-2024.

Under Twin it!, we will collect and showcase emblematic and high-quality samples of Europe’s cultural assets digitised in 3D. We count on EU Member States and their heritage institutions to make this campaign a success!
Read more: twinit3D.europeana.eu

The theme of the webinar was 'Community-led and innovative entrepreneurship for circular cultural tourism'

INCULTUM presented at Be.CULTOUR webinar

The Be.CULTOUR project, focused on enhancing cultural heritage and landscape values for sustainable cultural tourism, is unfolding a series of webinars to boost peer learning among its Community of Interest and other followers. Given that Be.CULTOUR and INCULTUM established a cooperation agreement for cross-dissemination and knowledge exchange, the webinar series is promoted also via the INCULTUM channels and and in the INCULTUM network.

Webinar 5: Community-led and innovative entrepreneurship for circular cultural tourism – 23 June 2023

Various experts and on-field stakeholders are invited to present and discuss their innovative ideas, their progress and their challenges concerning cultural tourism and beyond. In this webinar, INCULTUM cases will be presented by the Network and Dissemination manager Antonella Fresa.

Download INCULTUM presentation (PDF, 7 Mb)

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Agenda and speakers

14.00-14.05 Antonia Gravagnuolo | CNR Institute of Heritage Science Welcome and introduction
14:05-14.20 Eva Leemet | CEO of Loov Eesti – Creative Estonia
14:20-14:35 Antonella Fresa | Promoter s.r.l., Communication and Dissemination manager at INCULTUM project
14:35-14:40 Break
14:40-14:55 Anna Salvagio | Vice president and experience manager of the Diffused Museum of 5 Senses of Sciacca, First Prize ECTN Award 2022
14:55-15:10 Antonio Della Corte | “La Paranza” Cooperative, Catacombs of San Gennaro, Naples
15:10-15:20 Hanna Szemző | Metropolitan Research Institute
15:20-15:30 Q&A and concluding remarks