Meet BOOST5: the project to unleash the potential of cultural and natural heritage

Cultural and natural heritage is an important legacy left to future generations, and it is often completely neglected. With this in mind, the goal of the BOOST5 project financed through the Interreg VA Cross-Border Cooperation Program Italy-Croatia was to valorize and preserve the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Adriatic Croatia and Italy while at the same time encouraging sustainable economic growth and development.

Why promote cultural heritage?

Undeveloped tourist destinations are full of unused potential, and by raising awareness of the importance of cultural and natural heritage, we maintain the tradition and uniqueness of our areas. The activities carried out as part of the project served to identify unevenly developed tourist sites, isolated areas, abandoned heritage and the weak presence of digital solutions in tourism.

It is important to note that the BOOST5 project was based on the results of five projects financed through the aforementioned program.

These projects focused on the economic growth of the Adriatic area (ATLAS), protection and valorization of unused natural and cultural capital (MADE IN-LAND), drawing the attention of regional and local communities and potential investors to lost heritage (REVIVAL), organization pop-up exhibitions in ports (TIME) and the cultivation of underwater ecomuseums (UNDERWATERMUSE).

Tangible results - the most important indicators

The results of the project emphasized the importance of fostering cultural tourism, opportunities to improve planning and programming capacity, and the importance of deepening knowledge about cultural and natural heritage. Raising awareness of the importance of heritage is a long-term process, and after a series of activities, the results of the project are as follows:

• thematic catalog of best practices with more than 30 examples of projects that can serve as a reference for future initiatives to valorize cultural and natural heritage;
• inventory of various forms of heritage in the regions of Italy and Croatia (urban, terrestrial, archaeological, underwater, coastal, industrial heritage) that has great potential for inclusion in sustainable cultural routes;
• guidelines for creating alternative natural and cultural routes in Italian and Croatian regions;
• guidelines for the identification of funding sources for the improvement of the tourism sector in the period from 2021 to 2027;
• a document with new project proposals for the period from 2021 to 2027 (goal: development of sustainable natural and cultural routes on the territory of Italy and Croatia inspired by the aforementioned catalog of best practices);
• cross-border strategy for the management of cultural and natural heritage (new organizations will be enabled to join the initiative established by the MADE IN-LAND project and participate in the implementation of the cross-border strategy, which will make natural and cultural heritage the basis of the sustainable development of the mentioned areas) and
• a program of Masterclass courses consisting of five continuously available online education that provides tourism actors with relevant knowledge, methods and skills for creating an offer based on sustainable tourism.

After a year of activities aimed at the valorization of cultural, industrial and natural heritage, the BOOST5 project has come to an end.

On June 7, the final conference was held in the Town Hall of the City of Rijeka, where the aforementioned valuable results were presented. The recording of the conference can be viewed on the YouTube channel of the project via the following link links. 

The Croatian partners in the project are ZADRA NOVA Agency for the Development of Zadar County, City of Rijeka te STEP RI science and technology park of the University of Rijeka.

You can find out more about the project through his Web pages and on the following social networks: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter