TOURAL Living Labs | Infographic 2026
12 November 2026
In light of the completion of the TOURAL project in December 2026, the ICBSS publishes an updated infographic with the key findings from the TOURAL Living Labs, a series of participatory workshops that took place in spring 2025 under the framework of the project.
The TOURAL Living Labs were implemented across the six TOURAL Pilot Sites from the Adriatic-Ionian Macro-region (Italy, Croatia, Greece) and the Black Sea Basin (Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine). Developed by ICBSS and implemented by local partners, this collaborative process incorporated online and onsite tools to encourage stakeholder engagement and facilitate knowledge exchange for the development of alternative tourism. Diverse stakeholders collaborated to develop solutions that reflect the real needs and opportunities of the local communities.
KEY RESULTS
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- In total, 257 stakeholders from Policy, Industry, Academia and Civil Society were involved in the entire Living Labs process across the six Pilot Sites.
- Focus groups consisting of stakeholders from across various sectors have been established at each Pilot Site.
- The most up-to-date challenges, priorities and solutions for the sustainable development of alternative tourism per Pilot Site have been identified.
- Scenarios for the sustainable development of alternative tourism have been co-designed by the stakeholders involved in the Living Labs process. Each co-designed scenario constitutes a set of recommendations tailored to each Pilot Site.
- Regardless of which niche tourism sector has the highest potential in each Pilot Site, raising awareness for cultural preservation and adopting a gender mainstreaming approach have been identified as the two cross-cutting priorities to effectively address local priorities and needs.
The co-designed scenarios, outcomes and recommendations emerged from the TOURAL Living Labs process are incorporated to be tested and co-validated through the co-creation of UCCST business models and services across the six Pilot Sites.
The TOURAL Living Labs Infographic 2026 is the updated version of the TOURAL Living Labs infographic 2025, which includes the preliminary results from the TOURAL Living Labs.
In response to the need to promote rural and remote areas through alternative tourism, the TOURAL project was launched in 2024 with the objective of fostering UCCST (Underwater Cultural & Nature Heritage Tourism, Cultural & Creative Tourism, Cultural Science Tourism, Silver Tourism) as enablers of sustainable development.
The ICBSS leads WP2 on Cultural and Creative Tourism (CCT) Analysis & Policy Pathways.
