Innovative tourism – collecting cultural heritage through intergenerational walks Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovative tourism – collecting cultural heritage through intergenerational walks

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Health and wellbeing; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Context:
Nowadays in a highly globalized world, territories are losing their identity, their intangible cultural heritage. Cultural heritage includes monuments, places, objects but also cultural traditions, oral traditions, knowledge, practices and skills in order to for example create traditional crafts (Source: UNESCO, What is intangible cultural heritage?”).
Senior people own a knowledge about their municipalities’ history, skills used in creating local traditional crafts etc., which will disappear once they are no longer here. Our cultural heritage is something that differentiates Europe from other tourist destinations. The task is to put stories in an attractive and modern way with the use of technologies, in order to make Europe the preferred destination for both Europeans and tourists and enhance the cultural richness that is to be found.

Objective:
The objective of the project is to develop an innovative and available for everybody tourism product, by collecting cultural heritage from senior people and making possible intergenerational walks. This will enable citizens to share their videos about local places, local stories and so on through an app, while at the same time motivating the locals, the tourists, the senior people and the youngsters to become active and walk the itinerary – this will keep them healthy (healthy bodies, healthy minds) and socially active.

Partnership:
DGI Vestjylland (DGI), Denmark. Sport NGO.
Ayuntamiento de Ceutí, Spain. Local authority.
HOP Ubiquitos (HOPU), Spain. SME
Colegiul Economic Buzau, Romania. VET-school.
Gaziosmanpasa University (GOPU), Turkey. University.
Stowarzyszenie Szansa dla Aktywnych (SDA), Poland. NGO.
Graz Varazdin, Croatia. Local authority.

Undertaken activities:
The project consortium developed and worked with each other and with local stakeholders on subjects such as:
– Formation and dynamization of intergenerational groups (how to create intergenerational groups, how to ensure a good dynamic, how and where to recruit the seniors for the project etc.)
– Storytelling as a communication tool (once the seniors were recruited the focus moved onto how to prepare them for storytelling, what defines a good story, how to find the best local stories and how to prepare, design and present the story).
– Designing cultural walks (with help from local collaborators and associated partners, all the partners designed walks and tested those walks with local stakeholders)
– Co+Crew App/ Walk-a-story app was developed (the app was created and coded by HOPU, but all partners participated with their feedback in designing the app, adding new features, providing stories from their municipalities and creating local ecosystems).
– Stories connect us to each other – handbook (the handbook was coordinated by GOPU, but all partners contributed with content). Some of the activities correlated to the handbook were: finding good examples where technology is used in order to promote products, places, countries etc., applying the toolkit on local stories together with local partners and document the results, etc.).

Results and impact attained:
The project was successfully implemented and the results and the impact can be seen cross sectors:
– in the field of cultural heritage (preserving the knowledge of the elderly in Walk-a-story app, app that can for free be used by other countries, other organizations and municipalities across Europe)
– Outcomes in the field of social services, sport and health (by creating activities addressing the three dimensions of physical, mental and social health)
– Outcomes in the field of tourism (having a new product translated in partners’ languages but also in English and French).
The impact is also cross-sectorial, the process and the results reaching out to representatives from the VET sector, Health sector, sport organizations, NGOs, municipalities, tourist offices and other partners alike.
– Municipalities learned about how to create intergenerational walks and convert them into an attractive product for citizens and tourists alike.
– VET schools and universities. Teachers and their students learned how to build itineraries in their community, learned about available technologies in this field altogether with learning how to revive and use in the contemporary era ‘old’ knowledge and cultural heritage.
– HOPU learned how to adapt their work to different users and countries.
– DGI professionals learned new ways on how to promote physical activity by linking it with cultural values.
– NGO’s professionals learned how to work with different target groups across society

Longer-term benefits
Sustainability is ensured through the Walk-a-story recorder (app), where citizens are trained through the available tutorials on how to create and upload their stories. The handbook also ensures longer-term benefits, by documenting our experiences, methodology and making available toolkits for storytelling.

Project Website

http://www.walkastory.com/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 171519 Eur

Project Coordinator

Danske Gymnastik og Idraetsforen. Vestjylland & Country: DK

Project Partners

• Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University
• Ayuntamiento de Ceutí
• HOP UBIQUITOUS SL
• Grad Varazdin (City of Varazdin)
• Stowarzyszenie “Szansa dla Aktywnych”
• Colegiul Economic Buzau