Greenways Heritage: Rural Development Opportunity

1. ASSOCIATION EUROPÈENNE DES VOIES VERTES EUROPEAN GREENWAYS ASSOCIATION ASOCIACIÓN EUROPEA DE VÍAS VERDES Greenways Heritage: an opportunity for rural development Gianpaolo Cirone, Roberto Rovelli

2. The Greenways Greenways are communication routes reserved exclusively for non-motorised journeys, developed in an integrated manner which enhances both the environment and quality of life of the surrounding area. These routes should meet satisfactory standards of width, gradient, and surface condition to ensure that they are both user-friendly and low -risk for users of all abilities. In this respect, canal towpaths and disused railway lines are a highly suitable resource for the development of greenways. Lille Declaration, 12 September 2000 Sierra de la DemandaGreenway (Spain) Rīga - ĒrgļiGreenway (Latvia) Montes de HierroGreenway (Spain)

3. European Greenways Association (EGWA) • Created in 1998 in Namur (Belgium). • 52 members from 18 countries • Presidency: Italian Greenways Association • General objective: • inventory and encourage the creation and promotion of Greenways in Europe. • Preserve the disused railway corridors and historic routes in order to convert them into greenways • Encourage the use of non-motorized transport • Promote and coordinate the exchange of expertise and information • Advise local and national bodies on how to develop greenways

4. The European Greenways Award Starting from 2003, abiennial award is presented to the greenways that stand out for their excellence and demonstration of the best practices. Support the replication of the best practices on other greenways

5. EGWA Main Projects • REVER AMNO/MED (1999-2001/2002-2004): creation of a transnational, traffic-free European Greenways Network (REseauVertEuRopéen, REVER). • Greenways4Tour (2011-2012): promote sustainable tourism through the greenway network. • Creation of the European Greenway observatory(EGWO) • Greenways Outdoor (2015-2016): diversify EuopeanTurism offer by generation new products relating to greenways and capitalizing on existing ones. • Greenways4ALL (2016-2017): Improve accessibility to and around greenways in order to enhance the quality of the tourism supply aimed at persons with disability. • Greenways Heritage(2018-2019)

6. The Greenways Heritage Project • 8 partners from 5 countries: Belgium, Spain, Italy, Latvia, and Portugal • The general objective is the development and diversification of the European tourism offer. • This will be achieved through: • The creation and dissemination of a new tourism product related to UNESCO sites and greenways, in order to attract more tourists and to generate an economic impact on territories which have both resources. • The use of innovative technologies applied to greenways and UNESCO sites to better inform tourists and so enhance their experience. • Implementation period : May 2018 – October 2019 • Budget: 400,000 €

7. Greenways and UNESCO sites • Many greenways cross territories of high historical-cultural value, characterized by the presence of UNESCO sites. • Currently, there is no tourist offer able to combine the two resources: the two users are considered to be separate • Create new synergies between the two resources, through the development of the "Greenways Heritage tourism offer" UNESCO site “Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia" (Italy) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Complesso_della_Basilica_Patriarcale_%286073857718%29.jpg UNESCO site “Historic Centre of Riga“ (Latvia) UNESCO site “Burgos Cathedral" (Spain) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Catedral_de_Burgos_II.jpg

8. Greenways Heritage: Main Actions Tourism product; Competitiveness of SMEs; Public-private cooperation Information, knowledge experience in CCI Promotion & Communication • Creation of tourism product package through collaboration agreement • Improving the competitiveness of SMEs: • improving skills and raising awareness; • strengthening public-private cooperation; • Creation of a multiplatform web-application, containing all the information on Greenways Heritage itineraries. • Special activity based in CCI: virtual tour in 3D(Antwerps-Mechelen) • Best practices guide - new technologies used on Cultural UNESCO sites and greenways • Declarationfor UNESCO and greenways as common destination • Workshops and conferences; • Valorization strategy • campaigns • Special award innovative actions Lead: FFE Lead: Milan University Lead: EGWA

9. Greenways Heritage: the GIS-Database Creation of a GIS-database containing all the mapped information related to territories characterized by the presence of UNESCO sites and greenways: • Cultural-historical resources (churches, castles, museums, archaeological sites etc.) • Natural Resources (protected areas, historic gardens, panoramic points etc.) • Tourism services (accommodations, food& beverages, bike rental points, info points etc.) • Accessibility Point (rail stations, navigation services) Final Goal: to Map 15 itineraries in 8 countries

10. Greenways Heritage: The Web application The Database will be shared with tourists and stakeholders through the development of a Web-GIS based application that will run on any device and Operation System.  The application was developed through the integration of two ESRI development tools: Web AppBuilder Story Map Tour

11. Opportunities for entities not participating in the project • Integrate your greenways + UNESCO in the tourist GIS. • Create your Greenways + UNESCOtourist packages and integrate it into the Greenways Heritage offer. • Contribute to the best practices in innovation in Greenways and participate in the special European Greenways Award (to be launched soon). • The GIS will update the European Greenway observatoryand other greenways, no connected with UNESCO sites, will be integrated in the near future.

12. ASSOCIATION EUROPÈENNE DES VOIES VERTES EUROPEAN GREENWAYS ASSOCIATION ASOCIACIÓN EUROPEA DE VÍAS VERDES Greenways Heritage: an opportunity for rural development Gianpaolo Cirone, Roberto Rovelli Thanks for your attention