The chapter describes the theoretical and methodological approach followed to develop the MED sustainable path and cultural route (MED S&C Path) model as a practical tool to monitor sustainable tourism development along cultural routes. In the framework of BEST MED (Beyond European Sustainable Tourism MED Path) project, the model aims at improving the management of cultural routes by assessing their sustainability level using a set of criteria and indicators. The implementation process of the model proposes a multi-stakeholder approach which contributes to higher levels of cooperation at local, regional, and transnational level, improving the governance of cultural routes. The MED S&C Path model responds to the concrete need of increasing the tools to measure cultural routes' social, economic, and environmental impact, in order to raise awareness among policy makers about their strategic role in sustainable local development, especially in rural and less-known areas.
TopIntroduction
Cultural routes (CR) are regarded as new cultural assets, since they connect tangible and intangible cultural and natural heritage elements around a particular theme or a geographical area, promoting an immersive and rich experience. In the case of Europe, the cultural route concept is based on the relationship between tourism and culture, but goes beyond its touristic use to become a real instrument to enhance European shared identity and common heritage.
Since 90% of CR passes through rural territories, they can stimulate cultural heritage preservation and contribute to regional and local development in line with the EU strategies for the four macro-regions (Interreg Europe, 2020), being sustainable tourism a powerful driver. Accordingly, the European Commission perceives CR as tools for economic development and social cohesion, being strategic instruments to implement EU policies through structural and specific programme funds. Interreg Med is one of these programmes developed by the European Commission to strengthen European cohesion and multi-level cooperation across 13 Mediterranean countries.
In this framework, BEST MED (Beyond Sustainable Tourism) is a strategic Interreg Med project being implemented between 2019 and 2022 in eight Mediterranean countries (Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece and Montenegro) that aims to achieve integrated planning and management of cultural routes, while contributing to improve the governance of tourism in the Mediterranean.
To this end, the project aimed at developing the MED Sustainable Path and Cultural Route model (MED S&C Path) to improve the management of cultural routes and assess their sustainability level using a set of criteria and indicators. Besides monitoring sustainability, the aim of the model is to achieve greater levels of cooperation between regional authorities, managers of routes and other key stakeholders in the territory, such as businesses' networks, associations, regional parks, research institutions, etc. Additional outcomes of applying the model include favouring the connection between coastal and hinterland destinations, helping to redistribute tourist flows to less crowded destinations, which are highly regarded in the pandemic era.
The lack of tools to measure cultural routes' social, economic, and environmental impact is widely acknowledged (Council of Europe, 2011; Interreg Europe, 2020), and is the reason why cultural routes are not given the importance they deserve as local development tools, especially in rural and less known areas. Precisely, the implementation of the MED S&C Path model aims to fill that gap. Through monitoring sustainability, route’s managers and regional policy makers can make evidence-based decisions to better manage the routes and the social, economic and environmental impacts related to them.
Moreover, cultural routes are “a recent research topic in humanities and social sciences” (DECRA, 2019, p.47), which provides a further opportunity to advance the body of scientific knowledge in this field, as well as to raise awareness among policy makers about the strategic role cultural routes can have in sustainable local development.
This chapter aims to describe the theoretical and methodological approach followed to develop the MED S&C Path model. In addition, it also addresses the proposed model’s implications for monitoring sustainable tourism and improving the governance of cultural routes. To this end, the chapter is organized as follows. After reviewing the main literature on the topics of cultural routes and sustainable tourism monitoring, the MED S&C Path model is presented in detail, including the methodology followed to define it and the toolkit designed to implement it. Finally, the feedback received to improve the model during a number of policy learning seminars within the BEST MED project will be presented and the main challenges and opportunities for further development of the model will be discussed.