New

Selected Projects from the 2nd Call within the CREATOUR Project

February 2018

An additional 20 entities have been selected to develop and implement creative tourism pilots within CREATOUR, beginning in 2018, complementing the 20 active pilots selected in 2017 (the new pilots are listed in the attached table).

A national call for pilots was open to all kinds of organizations and public and private entities, third sector entities, and cultural/creative professionals located in the Norte, Centro, Alentejo, and Algarve regions, who were willing to plan and implement creative tourism projects in small cities and rural areas in Portugal, and to be part of the CREATOUR project until 2019.

Of the 76 applications received, the top five in each region were selected according to the following selection criteria: i) cultural value of the activities proposed; ii) capacity of tourism attractiveness; iii) impact of the project in terms of community development; iv) diversity of focus of the proposals; v) operational and financial capacity; and vi) capacity and commitment to work with the research team during the project.

Each of the selected pilots will plan and implement pilot initiatives that will be networked, monitored and discussed in regional and national IdeaLabs, working together with national and international academic experts and stakeholders in this field. Each of the selected pilots will be provided a support of 2000€ for their participation in this research project.

The CREATOUR project is led by the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra and involves five research centres, including also: CIDEHUS of the University of Évora, CIEO of the University of the Algarve, DINÂMIA'CET-IUL of Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL), and Lab2PT of the University of Minho. CREATOUR is funded under the Joint Activities Programme of PORTUGAL 2020, by COMPETE2020, POR Lisboa, POR Algarve, and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.

The project’s overall objective is to develop and pilot an integrated approach and research agenda for creative tourism in Portuguese small cities and rural areas, developing strong links within and amongst regions. Building on a twofold approach, CREATOUR intertwines theory and experimentation, combining multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological frameworks, cultural mapping, and benchmarking exercises with the development of an array of creative tourism pilots. CREATOUR aims to produce policy recommendations and strategies, particularly focusing on networking and clustering as key options for continued development.

The project will advance knowledge of the creative/cultural and tourism sectors in small cities and rural areas of Portugal and catalyze the development of a network of 40 creative tourism initiatives throughout the country (Norte, Centro, Alentejo and Algarve regions).

CREATOUR’s second international conference “Emerging and Future Trends in Creative Tourism” will be held June 7, 8 and 9, 2019, in Braga (Portugal). Presentation proposals can be submitted until February 20, 2018. The conference is open to researchers, artists, creative tourism practitioners, students, and others working in tourism and cultural development.

More information about CREATOUR is available at: www.creatour.pt/en