CULTOUR+ is a Strategic Partnership of universities, local governments, SMEs and NGOs, that following the mainlines of the Higher Education Modernisation Agenda, offers high quality and innovative tools and courses based in innovation, international mobility and cross-border cooperation to enhance capacity building in higher education curricula in the fields of cultural tourism and hospitality, cultural management and shared cultural heritage. Based on the results of the study “Impact of European Cultural Routes on SMEs’ innovation and competitiveness", CULTOUR+ aims to promote entrepreneurship in Higher Education, making Entrepreneurship Education a basic feature in related curricula, disseminating best practices and fostering projects for creating employment opportunities for graduates in knowledge-intensive jobs in the cultural management and tourism and hospitality sectors. As well as SME generation, networking, co-working and clustering, CULTOUR+ promotes intercultural dialogue and other transversal skills, specially, creativity, entrepreneurship, cooperation and global awareness. CULTOUR+ is centered, in a first phase, in two of the European Cultural Routes most important thematics for participant countries and regions: pilgrimage and religious tourism management and thermal historic towns and sites. Based on the European Cultural Route “The Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim Routes”, as a transnational model of inspiration,imitation and transformation, CULTOUR+ connects expertise in cultural heritage and tourism management to a selected number of significant religious routes and centers´ case studies from the participant countries. CULTOUR+ establishes links with different levels of authority – local, national and European – financial and governmental institutions, tourist organisations, and other bodies that would encourage future development of the routes and sites. It also provides insights on and contribute to SMEs’ performance, innovation capacity, and network and cluster development in the partner countries cultural religious routes and sites. Chaves and Sao Pedro do Sul in Portugal is the inspiring models of thermal tourism management, another strategic area for most of the participant partners regions and organizations. The project centers in coaching a small number of selected business plans and projects (two for each participant country), taking the twelve projects as real life examples and models through the training program, aiming to take them as far as possible in their first starting-up phase. This way, expertise and learning are highly concentrated in a reduced number of projects selected by their innovation and originality, but moreover, by their sustainability and employment creation capacity. As models of entrepreneurial integration of the triangle knowledge, spin-offs is encouraged by the Strategic Partnership. As a project being part of a new generation of European collaborative partnerships, it is regarded an obligation to not only offer innovation in the subject fields addressed, but also in an important activity such as dissemination of results. Especially because such innovation brings the project in flow with 21st century reality in Europe and with emerging work forms and collaborative practice.
CULTOUR+ is a Strategic Partnership of universities, local governments, SMEs and NGOs, formed by 9 partners of six European countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Poland and Bulgaria) that following the mainlines of the Higher Education Modernisation Agenda and the knowledge triangle, has done diagnosis on governance and cultural management on cultural routes and sites and offered high quality and innovative tools and courses based in innovation, international mobility and cross-border cooperation to enhance capacity building in higher education curricula. Based on the results of the study “Impact of European Cultural Routes on SMEs’ innovation and competitiveness", CULTOUR+ has promoted entrepreneurship in Cultural Tourism, fostering Entrepreneurship Education as a basic feature and competence in related curricula, disseminating best practices and fostering projects for creating employment opportunities for graduates in knowledge-intensive jobs in the cultural management and tourism and hospitality sectors. Cultour+ has fostered SME generation, networking, co-working and clustering, it has promoted intercultural dialogue and other transversal skills, specially, creativity, entrepreneurship, cooperation and global awareness. Based on the European Cultural Route “The Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim Routes”, as a transnational model of inspiration, imitation and transformation, CULTOUR+ has connected expertise in cultural heritage and tourism management to a selected number of significant religious routes and centers´ case studies from the participant countries (Via de la Plata in Spain, Caminho Portugues Interior de Santiago (CPIS) in Portugal, Via Francigena in Italy, St. Paul Footsteps in Greece, Raddom-Czestockowa in Poland, Cross Forest in Bulgaria. . CULTOUR+ has established links with different levels of authority – local, national and European – financial and governmental institutions, tourist organisations, and other bodies that are fostering future development of the routes and sites. It has also provided insights on and contributed to SMEs’ performance, innovation capacity, and network and cluster development in the partner countries cultural religious routes and sites. Chaves and Sao Pedro do Sul in Portugal, Kiridini in Greece, Alange, El Salugral, Aqua Libera in Spain, Uniejow in Poland have been also case studies and inspiring models of thermal tourism management, another strategic area for most of the participant partners regions and organizations. General objectives: 1. To reinforce the potential of Cultural Routes for cultural co-operation, sustainable territorial development and social cohesion, with a particular focus on themes of symbolic importance for European unity, history, culture and values and the discovery of less well-known destinations. 2. To strengthen the democratic dimension of cultural exchange and tourism through the involvement of grassroots networks and associations, local and regional authorities, universities and professional organisations. 3. To contribute to the preservation of a diverse heritage through theme-based and alternative tourist itineraries and cultural projects. 4. To give rise to long-term multilateral co-operation projects in priority areas (scientific research; heritage conservation and enhancement; cultural and educational exchanges among young Europeans; contemporary cultural and artistic practices; cultural tourism and sustainable development); The aim of the project has been to apply entrepreneurship education and coaching and reinforce the triangle knowledge in cultural tourism as a strategic area. - To stimulate the development of entrepreneurial, creative and innovation skills in related programs and disciplines - To encourage partnership and cooperation with business as core activity of HEIs and enhance their capacity to engage in start-ups and spin-offs. - To promote the systematic involvement of higher education institutions in the development of integrated local and regional development plans, routes´ diagnosis and governance and target regional support towards higher education-business cooperation Besides Cultour+ partnership (shown below) Cultour+ has joint a great network of stakeholders as shown in https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j6Pde4LK8BMTLezlniB_MvSqijJ7MgE3Xcgn-zdokqE/edit?usp=sharing).. Cultour+ has developed research and disseminated research results through impact international journals and editorials (Springer, Routledge, IGI), has developed cultural actions (awarded with European recognitions as the EYCH seal, has implemented quality education and training to graduates and undergratuates, has foster and coached entrepreneurship, has promoted and done networking and coworking). Cultour+ has developed actions and inspired projects with longer-term benefits, generated an enormous amount of academic literature and expert knowledge, empowered entrepreneurs and project plans, fostered international partnerships