IN-SITU Project
IN-SITU – Inclusive Social Innovation for the Tourism Development of Urban and Peri-Urban Heritage
IN-SITU aims to strengthen the role of culture and sustainable tourism as drivers of economic development, social inclusion, and social innovation in Sicily and Tunisia. The project is based on the reactivation of urban and rural territories with high cultural potential—currently underutilized—through the co-creation of new models of creative tourism, designed with and for local communities.
By mobilizing interdisciplinary approaches drawn from academic research, artistic practices, and social innovation, IN-SITU seeks to propose concrete alternatives to mass tourism models, placing communities at the center of cultural and territorial valorization processes.
Context
The territories of Sicily and Tunisia share common structural challenges related to the management and valorization of their tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Beyond traditional tourist hubs, many peripheral urban and rural areas possess rich architectural, landscape, and cultural heritage that is currently threatened by abandonment, economic marginalization, and population outmigration, particularly among young people.
Dominant tourism models, often based on extractive and commodified approaches to culture, generate limited sustainable benefits for local communities and sometimes contribute to a loss of meaning and the folklorization of cultural identities. Furthermore, the effects of climate change, the fragility of local economies, and the limited inclusion of vulnerable groups (youth, women, NEETs) reinforce the need to rethink tourism development models.
Within this context, IN-SITU proposes an alternative approach based on the valorization of territories through culture, creativity, and civic participation, while strengthening local capacities and fostering cross-border cooperation dynamics between Sicily and Tunisia.
Objectives
- Strengthen the role of culture and sustainable tourism as drivers of economic development, social inclusion, and social innovation in the targeted territories.
- Enhance underexploited urban and rural areas through the co-creation of creative and participatory tourism models involving local communities.
- Strengthen the capacities of local stakeholders, particularly youth and women, in the fields of cultural valorization, sustainable tourism, and cultural and creative industries.
- Promote cross-border exchanges and cooperation between Sicily and Tunisia to test, adapt, and transfer innovative models for the management and valorization of cultural territories.
Main Activities
- Territorial analysis and selection of pilot sites in Sicily and Tunisia, including peripheral urban areas and rural territories with high cultural potential.
- Implementation of artistic residencies and action-research initiatives involving artists, researchers, heritage experts, and local communities.
- Organization of participatory workshops, training sessions, and focus groups aimed at strengthening local capacities and co-designing creative and sustainable tourism models.
- Experimentation with new itineraries and tourism valorization tools based on local cultural practices, contemporary creativity, and civic engagement.
- Production of guidelines, action plans, and methodological tools for the sustainable and participatory management of cultural territories.
Impact
- At least 50 individuals (youth, women, and local cultural actors) participate in training and capacity-building activities related to sustainable, creative, and community-based tourism.
- 4 pilot territories (peripheral urban and rural areas in Sicily and Tunisia) benefit from cultural valorization plans co-developed with local communities.
- At least 4 tourism valorization initiatives or itineraries based on culture, creativity, and civic participation are designed, tested, and documented.
- 2 participatory governance models for the management and valorization of cultural territories are tested in a cross-border context.
- Participating local communities strengthen their capacity to manage and promote their tangible and intangible cultural heritage in a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient way.
- Local and regional institutions gain access to guidelines and operational recommendations to integrate creative and sustainable tourism into their territorial development strategies.
Project Partners
- Università degli Studi di Palermo – Lead Partner (Italy)
- Fondazione MENO ETS (Italy)
- ESSENCE (Italy)
- ANIMED (Tunisia)
- Ministère du Tourisme (Tunisia)
- Faculté des Lettres, des Arts et des Humanités de la Manouba (FLAHM)