Publications
Scientific publications
Policy related publications
Project dissemenation
Participatory Process for Regenerating Rural Areas through Heritage-Led Plans: The RURITAGE Community-Based Methodology
Rural areas in Europe host more than 55% of the overall population and embed a unique and peculiar cultural and natural heritage. Nevertheless, they are facing common issues of disengagement, depopulation and economic and social crises. Rural communities are increasingly interested in setting up inclusive and participatory regeneration processes, but participatory planning experiences in rural areas are still limited. This paper introduces the Community-based Heritage Management and Planning methodology (CHMP) developed within the RURITAGE project, and analyzes and presents the results of its implementation in six demonstrators around Europe and beyond. The methodology is based on the establishment of Rural Heritage Hubs (RHH), intended as the community of local stakeholders and a physical place to run the co-creation activities. We used four types of feedback—online survey, in-presence survey, consultations and interviews with RHH Coordinators—to analyze the implementation of the CHMP. The research findings show that through built capital (RHH places activated) and through the activation of local social and human capitals (RHH communities engaged in the process), participatory processes can attract local communities and engage them into the development and the implementation of local regeneration plans, fostering heritage ownership and inclusion.
de Luca C, López-Murcia J, Conticelli E, Santangelo A, Perello M, Tondelli S. Participatory Process for Regenerating Rural Areas through Heritage-Led Plans: The RURITAGE Community-Based Methodology. Sustainability. 2021; 13(9):5212. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095212
Systemic Innovation Areas for Heritage-Led Rural Regeneration: A Multilevel Repository of Best Practices
This paper presents the result of the analysis of the data gathered from 20 Role Models (RM) case studies regarding their successful heritage-led rural regeneration models. For the study and comparison of the narratives of these Role Models two tools were used: the Community Capitals Framework, which studied the transference of capitals in each process and the identification of six Systemic Innovation Areas that allow this capital transference. A multilevel repository of best practices has been developed allowing the identification of common features, mechanisms for mobilisation of capitals and required resources that will facilitate the replication in other rural areas. The results of this work support the acknowledgement of the contribution of culture, together with cultural and natural heritage, to economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability in rural areas reinforcing the role of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development.
Egusquiza A, Zubiaga M, Gandini A, de Luca C, Tondelli S. Systemic Innovation Areas for Heritage-Led Rural Regeneration: A Multilevel Repository of Best Practices. Sustainability. 2021; 13(9):5069. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095069
Co-developing heritage-led regeneration plans in rural areas: the RURITAGE methodology for community-based heritage management and planning
This paper presents the first step of the Community-based Heritage Management and Planning methodology consisting in the establishment of the Rural Heritage Hub as a central innovation space at the intersection of social, cultural and technological innovation of rural areas. The Rural Heritage Hubs are contributing to develop a deep sense of ownership and responsibility among the inhabitants of rural areas, mainly through local engagement. Results are presented for the 6 rural areas across Europe identified ad Replicators within the RURITAGE project.
, Co-developing heritage-led regeneration plans in rural areas: the RURITAGE methodology for community-based heritage management and planning, in: Le politiche regionali, la coesione, le aree interne e marginali. Atti della XXIII Conferenza Nazionale SIU DOWNSCALING, RIGHTSIZING. Contrazione demografica e riorganizzazione spaziale, Torino, 17-18 giugno 2021., Roma-Milano, Planum Publisher – Società Italiana degli Urbanisti, 2021, 03, pp. 179 – 185 (atti di: Conferenza Nazionale SIU – Società Italiana degli Urbanisti – DOWNSCALING, RIGHTSIZING. Contrazione demografica e riorganizzazione spaziale., Torino, 17-18 giugno 2021) [Contribution to conference proceedings]
Computational methods and rural cultural & natural heritage: A review
Cultural and Natural Heritage (CNH) are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration, according to the UNESCO definition. Rural areas represent outstanding examples of cultural, either tangible or intangible, and natural heritage. While rural areas are facing a socio-economic and demographic crisis all over the world, CNH need not only to be safeguarded, but also promoted as a driver for competitiveness, growth and sustainable and inclusive development. This paper goes deeper into the study of computational methods (CMs) applied to modelling CNH in rural areas by looking at how computational methods can support CNH promotion and valorisation to transform rural areas into laboratories for the demonstration of sustainable development through improving the unique potential of their heritage. To this end, different computational methods have been studied and classified according to their scope and application area parameters, showing some correlation among the said parameters and the class of computational method. Apart from how CMs have been applied, wehether it is possible to scale up these CMs elsewhere has also been considered.
Barrientos, F., Martin, J., de Luca, C., Tondelli, S., & Gómez-García-Bermejo, J., & Zalama Casanova E. (2021). Computational methods and rural cultural & natural heritage: A review – Journal of Cultural Heritage, Volume 49, 250-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2021.03.009
The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas
Rural communities tell us the story of a thousand of years of collaboration between nature, culture and humans. The current Covid-19 pandemic is considerably threating rural areas, posing challenges exacerbated by low available financial resources, not easily accessible health services and greater isolation. Rural areas are also considered safe shelters characterized by better daily living conditions thanks to easy to maintain social distancing and access to nature, to cultural and nature-based recreation activities. The Covid-19 crisis is revealing the crucial role of natural and cultural heritage for social cohesion, local development and mental wellbeing. The paper presents some responses to the Covid-19 crisis collected through an open call for action within the RURITAGE project. It aims at show how rural areas can cope with emergencies and it builds the basis to rethink the current crisis as a crucial tipping point for a resilient development of rural territories. It is key to overcome the idea of rural areas as mere food production system, calling for a broader vision of rural communities as poles of development based on local heritage, natural resources, creativity and social inclusion as essential elements to regenerate rural areas and to rapidly support their transition towards sustainable future.
de Luca, C., Tondelli, S., & Åberg, H. (2020). The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas. TeMA – Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 119-132. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/6844
Surveying and Actioning the Tangible and Intangible dimensions of Rural Heritage in RURITAGE H2020 Project
Rural Heritage is as important as it is difficult to circumscribe, identify and survey but it can also play a major cultural, social and economic role. This paper focuses on the methodology developed by the funded Horizon 2020 Project “Ruritage” where digital tools constitute a focus strategy for the regeneration process for rural regions. In this process the cultural and natural heritage of rural regions includes both tangible and intangible features the identification and visualization of which are very important for the new understandings created and effectiveness of its potential to be developed by local communities. An Atlas permits a simultaneous contextualization of various pilots for the uses required by the project where several pilots create networks for mutual learning process. A digital platform including a web GIS, based on OpenStreetMap, and a database constitute Atlas final output. It is part of a set of digital tools devised to support local stakeholders and monitor territorial developments. The paper will discuss different kinds of contaminations: (i) highlighting cultural and natural heritage together with other resources; (ii) processing different kinds of data for a common purpose (iii) matching direct involvement of individuals and digital tools; (iii) creating a multilevel approach to combining tangible and intangible heritage through a multidisciplinary team. Critical issues of the developed methodologies will also be discussed.
Surveying and Actioning the Tangible and Intangible dimensions of Rural Heritage in RURITAGE H2020 Project / Tamborrino, Rosa. – ELETTRONICO. – (2020), pp. 83-83. ((Intervento presentato al convegno XVIII International Forum ‘World Heritage and Contamination’ Le vie dei Mercanti tenutosi a Napoli-Capri nel 11-13 giugno 2020.
Communities-based rural regeneration: The experience of “Borgofuturo +” project in Marche Region
Rural areas are rich in cultural and natural heritage, local traditions and productions, but at the same time they face demographic and socio-economic challenges that bring to depopulation, ageing, disengagement, reduced service provision and inhibited accessibility. To counter this process, several initiatives have been raised, and the debate around this issue has intensified following the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper presents the experience of “Borgofuturo +”, an initiative launched in Summer 2020 to bring an itinerant art and music festival in 5 small towns of the Fiastra valley, in Marche Region. Building on the work of the Association BorgoFuturo and embedded in the methodological framework of the H2020 RURITAGE project, Borgofuturo + aims at setting up a participatory process to build a coherent and shared vision for the future of the Valley. This study reports some outcomes of this process, framing priorities and recommendations for the regeneration of the involved territory.
de Luca, C., Tondelli, S., Giacomelli M., & , Calcagni F., (2020). Communities-based rural regeneration: The experience of “Borgofuturo +” project in Marche Region, URBANISTICA INFORMAZIONI, 289, Session 03, 39-42.
La rigenerazione delle aree rurali a partire dal patrimonio culturale: l’hub del Borgo per l’Alta Val Taro
Abstract: Coming soon
Pivetti, C., Conticelli, E., De Luca, C., & Tondelli, S. (2019). URBANISTICA iNFORMAZIONI, SPECIAL ISSUE, NO. 278 s.i., Marzo – Aprile 2018, PP. 66-71
Inclusion of migrants for rural regeneration through cultural and natural heritage valorization
Rural areas all over Europe are facing similar chronic economic, social and environmental problems such as depopulation, reduced service provision, ageing, decline of agriculture income, inhibited accessibility. At the same time, rural landscapes are continuously threatened by loss of biodiversity, climate change impacts and short-term management decisions and perspectives that further aggravate the economic and social conditions of rural communities. Despite these critical socio-economic conditions, rural areas are cradles of civilization, repositories of old traditions, dialects and languages, of uses, handcrafts skills and social practices which must be preserved and exploited. The majority of the European heritage is found in rural areas, therefore Cultural and Natural Heritage can represent a driver for migrants’ integration, by fostering a heritage based sustainable regeneration of rural territories that is able to support a new model of integration. The overall aim of the paper is to investigate the challenges and possibilities offered by migration trends in rural areas to create rural regeneration models for inclusion of migrants and refugees, based on cultural and natural heritage introducing them to the job market. Section 2 explains the methodology of the study and gives an insight of the research topic within the overall RURITAGE project methodology. Two case studies of rural regeneration through the inclusion of migrants into the valorisation processes of cultural and natural heritage are presented in Section 3, while the preliminary results and main findings are discussed in Section 4. In Section 5, conclusions and future research steps are presented.
Conticelli, E., De Luca, C., Egusquiza, A., Santangelo, A. & Tondelli, S. (2019). Inclusion of migrants forrural regeneration through cultural and natural heritage valorization. In C. Gargiulo & C. Zoppi (Eds.),Planning, nature and ecosystem services (pp. 323-332). Naples: FedOAPress. ISBN: 978-88-6887-054-6, doi:10.6093/978-88-6887-054.6
Development of the My Cult-Rural Toolkit
The EU H2020 RURITAGE project takes 20 case studies, considered to be Role Models (RMs) of successful heritage-led rural regeneration from Europe, to analyze them and transfer knowledge and learning to a network of Replicators (Rs). To quantify the success of these RURITAGE interventions, a monitoring framework has been developed which includes a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and a co-monitoring program. This program takes a bottom-up approach working with key stakeholders to understand their values. The My Cult-Rural Toolkit described in this paper has been designed and developed to support the co-monitoring program. The toolkit includes various methods allowing expert and non-expert engagement with the landscape valuation process through embodied and situated approaches. All the co-monitoring tools share the principle of gathering data through real-time interaction in the place of interest, following principles of the embodied approach to ecosystems’ valuation. The toolkit employs both participatory hands-on workshops (Mini-Landscapes, Object Mapping, and Walking Maps) for in-depth understanding of values attached with landscape, and digital mobile apps (Rate my View App and Landscape Connect App) for exploratory, participatory mapping. This paper describes the toolkit and discusses benefits and limitations of its usage in the context of co-monitoring of cultural and natural heritage (CNH) inspired rural change.
Martin, J.; Williamson, D.; Łucznik, K.; Guy, J.A. Development of the My Cult-Rural Toolkit. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7128. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137128
Adapting Business Model Canvases for Rural Cultural and Natural Heritage
Across Europe, there is increasing recognition of the role that Cultural and Natural Heritage (CNH) can play as a driver for sustainable growth in rural regions suffering from economic, social and environmental challenges. This paper describes how adapting the participative Business Model Canvas (BMC) approach can enhance the potential of CNH to address these challenges. Six European regional Demonstrators from RURITAGE H2020-project tested this new approach and undertook business model processes to develop tailored solutions to address their challenges and opportunities. This paper includes a description of the adapted CNH BMC framework, INTO development process which applies multi-criteria decision support and portfolio analysis, along with details of Canvases developed. The CNH Canvas and INTO development process proved to be useful tools to prioritise proposed actions, aimed at becoming replicable and sustainable solutions. The process successfully fostered stakeholder engagement and participation and identified investment needs and opportunities to foster rural regeneration.
Eskelinen, T., Donlon, J.; Saarela, A-M., Auvinen, H. Adapting Business Model Canvases for Rural Cultural and Natural Heritage. The ISPIM Innovation Conference – Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 20–23 June 2021. Event Proceedings: LUT Scientific and Expertise Publications: ISBN 978-952-335-467-8
From urban to rural creativity. How the ‘creative city’ approach is transposed in rural communities
The creative industry sector has mostly focused on urban areas. However, the attention to cultural capital in rural areas is increasing. This paper concentrates on the role of creative industries in fostering the regeneration of rural areas. The existing literature on cultural capital in rural areas is presented, and selected examples of artistic activities in rural contexts are discussed as a stimulus for encouraging a heritage-driven rural regeneration.
Conticelli, E.; de Luca, C.; Santangelo, A.; Tondelli, S. From urban to rural creativity. How the ‘creative city’ approach is transposed in rural communities. In The Global City. The Urban Condition as a Pervasive Phenomenon; Pretellii, M., Tamborrino, R., Tolic, I., Eds.; AISU: Torino, Italy, 2020; Insights, 1
Thinking beyond the COVID-19 crisis: heritage-based opportunities for the regeneration of rural areas
Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck Europe at the beginning 2020 it has, and still is, causing extensive challenges towards rural areas and their communities. Worsened by low available financial resources, inaccessible health services and greater isolation issues, rural inhabitants all over Europe are suffering great challenges. At the same time, rural areas have also been considered refuges for better living conditions during the pandemic as they often ease social distance and access to nature as well as to cultural and nature-based recreation activities. In this regard, the COVID-19 pandemic reveals the crucial role of natural and cultural heritage for social cohesion, local development and mental wellbeing. With this in mind, we aimed to understand the main threats the current crisis is posing to rural areas, but also how these challenges can be turned into opportunities for rural development and regeneration in the future. Insights and recommendations have been summarized in this European Vision paper.
The RURITAGE Vision paper is built upon the RURITAGE methodology, that uses cultural and natural heritage as a driver for rural regeneration by promoting a transversal and holistic approach through six identified Systemic Innovation Areas (Pilgrimage, Local Food Production, Art and festival, Landscape Management, Migration and Resilience). With the help of the RURITAGE SIAs, the paper summarizes how challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in rural areas can be turned into opportunities for sustainable growth in the future. The major conclusions of the Vision paper are recommendations focusing on six capitals (natural, cultural, social, human, built, and financial), where we identified three overarching areas of action that are applicable at EU, national/regional and local level.
Breakfast at Sustainability’s: Cultural & Natural Heritage for regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3)
On Tuesday November 17th 2020, ICLEI Europe hosted the 35th Breakfast at Sustainability’s online, focusing on Cultural & Natural Heritage for regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3). The event was organised in the context of RURITAGE, a Horizon2020 project that turns rural areas into laboratories to demonstrate Cultural & Natural Heritage as an engine of regeneration.
Policy Recommendations for the Integration of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CNH) within Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3/4)
These Policy Recommendations aim to fill the knowledge and implementation gap regarding the underexplored potential of Cultural & Natural Heritage (CNH), and make the case for its inclusion as a priority component in the Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3 – also simplified as S3).
White paper 'CNH as a driver for sustainable development in EU and beyond'
In this white paper, the RURITAGE approach is framed within larger global initiatives linking CNH and the Agenda for Sustainable Development, in order to boost the achievement of sustainable development by disseminating RURITAGE contributions to rural regeneration and bringing evidence for policy-making for the achievement of the SDGs.
Travelling voices: Stories of Rural Regeneration Among RURITAGE Replicators
In this book, we invite you to visit six rural locations in (and beyond) Europe. The six locations introduced in this book joined the RURITAGE project as Replicators, in order to learn effective regeneration strategies. Despite the difficulties faced by these rural communities, they all believe in regeneration. That they can build on their treasures, their histories, and heritage to better deal with challenges, and strengthen their communities for their own benefit and for the visitors they would like to attract.
