Final report on experiences and findings from the Living Labs
Creators: name: Bettin, Michele
name: Björn, Ella
name: Dickinger, Astrid
name: Fidelbo, Costanza
name: Kerst, Iris
name: Koens, Ko
name: Lioce, Raffaella
name: Lozano, Diego
name: Mandić, Ante
name: Neuts, Bart
name: Petrić, Lidija
name: Smit, Bert
name: Zinzani, Chiara
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Living Labs
Innovation networks
Cultural Tourism
Tourism development
Co-creation
Participatory approach

description: This Report provides both a summary and a review of the SmartCulTour LLs’ experiences. It moves from an assessment of the specific context dynamics, resources and values of the six destinations, and it spans processes, tools and methods therein adopted towards instilling a sustainable, critical thinking into key tourism stakeholders and shareholders, including actual and potential cultural tourists. Deliverable 6.5 comprises two distinct, though strictly interrelated components. The first component concerns the overall SmartCulTour Living Labs’ experience, and starts with an Introduction that provides a concise overview of the project’s journey within the demanding and inspiring realm of the LLs. The conclusive section of the first component is broad in scope, comprising Final Recommendations that are derived from the knowledge gained during the project, and the Conclusions, which draw upon the main transversal findings from the LLs’ processes and experiences, and seek to outline what future Lab Managers should know about participatory approaches to sustainable cultural tourism development. More specifically, the Final Recommendations target researchers and practitioners that plan either to establish new LLs, mainly in the context of – but not limited to – an EU-funded and multi-partner project, or to existing LLs that wish to improve their performance towards achieving medium- to long-term objectives of sustainable cultural tourism development. The Conclusion’s main outcome is that the SmartCulTour Living Labs (LLs) demonstrate the success of using such a tool for creating multi-stakeholder networks for sustainable cultural tourism development and planning, allowing for multiple perspectives and collective intelligence. Indeed, the process of collaboration and networking during the LLs was considered more important than fully achieving the initial objectives, as it led to improved cooperation and boosted the LL’s innovative co-creation potential. The use of tools and methods provided by Work Package 7 (WP7) enhanced participants’ engagement and local ownership, creating a safe environment for equal expression and reducing power imbalances. Different approaches were adopted for long-term sustainability, either by establishing physical venues for the LL or by integrating its legacy into existing networks and projects. UNESCO's capacity-building activities were highly valued since they addressed local skills gaps while promoting integrated cultural tourism management and sustainable development processes. Exchange visits among the LLs facilitated learning from international good practices, while offering opportunities for testing and validating the interventions co-created within LLs. Practice abstracts and videos were produced to provide practical information and inspiration for other destinations. It is concluded that the SmartCulTour LLs' experiences, tools, and findings have the potential for scalability and diffusion, linking theoretical and practical components to positively impact local communities. In addition, funding, stakeholder engagement, scalability and generalisability, regulatory barriers, knowledge sharing, and intellectual property were identified as common challenges for future Lab Managers. This General part is complemented by five Annexes, respectively presenting: The Template that was provided to the Lab Managers to support them in the drafting process of their respective LLs’ reports within D6.5 (Annex 13); An An overview of different EU funding schemes and their potential links with interventions identified and designed in the context of the SmartCulTour project, providing LLs’ participants and regional authorities with insights for potential afterlife funding strategies (Annex 15); The results of the SmartCulTour Living Labs’ evaluation conducted by Modul University (Vienna, Austria), whose main goal was to uncover factors contributing to success and value co-creation in the six different LLs, as well as to identify the challenges faced in and by the LLs in order to gain insights and provide guidance on what shall be improved for future LLs to ensure high-quality outcomes (Annex 16); and The Deliverable’s Reference list (Annex 17). The second component of the Deliverable consists of contributions from each Lab Manager, offering an overview of the six LLs’ experiences, namely: A brief summary of the LL’s workflow introduces each section, followed by an explanation of the main activities (compared to the original workplan outlined in D6.1, i.e. the <em>Specific Terms of Reference for the SmartCulTour LLs</em>), key LL participants, including related internal dynamics, as well as service-design methods and art-based tools used to improve stakeholders’ engagement and networking. A presentation of the results and impacts of each LL, including main challenges encountered throughout the process, and key goals achieved compared to the set objectives. A section reflecting on sustainability aspects and follow-up actions, both in terms of outcomes from the LLs’ experiences, and with a view at the afterlife strategy of the LLs themselves (where applicable) as entities that can be catalyst for sustainable change in cultural tourism. In addition, each Lab Manager proposes follow-up recommendations for the LL based on his/her specific knowledge of the context and its recognised and potential impact, identifying strategic axes to be potentially explored and leveraged in the future.