The University of La Laguna recently hosted a meeting of the alliance of European universities. STARS EU to explore possible pilot projects of common interest in the tourism sector and to advance in the definition of the Interregional Tourism Living Lab, a future living laboratory in interregional tourism.
The workshop brought together research professionals and specialists at the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization and Cooperation, headquarters of STARS EU. Krakow University of Technology (Poland), the Polytechnic University of Braganza (Portugal) and the University of La Laguna to identify challenges and opportunities of interregional interest, define possible lines of joint work and establish the next steps in the development of this Living Lab.
The initiative stems from the partners' agreement to explore an interregional Living Lab focused on tourism. In the specific case of the University of La Laguna, this meeting has served to contribute to and complement the Circular Tourism Pilot, developed within the Circular Economy Living Lab promoted by the Spanish center, which will soon become a reality.
According to the STARS EU coordinator at ULL, José Sigut Saavedra, “this international meeting represents an important boost for the Circular Economy Living Lab (CELL) from our university. Interaction with experts from Krakow and Bragança directly enriches our own Circular Tourism Pilot and It provides a global vision and complements the cross-cutting lines we are already working on, such as ecotourism and cultural heritage as a tourist resource.”.
Specialized knowledge
The program, which took place over two days, brought together experts from various fields of research, innovation, and training related to tourism and its surrounding environment. Specialists from the University of La Laguna participated from the CajaCanarias-Ashotel Tourism Chair, the ReinvenTUR research group, the Chair of Agritourism and Wine Tourism, Canary Islands Institute of Agri-Food Quality, and the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Agritourism (GIIA), among others.
The Krakow University of Technology contributed its expertise in architecture, fine arts, smart cities, urban and regional design, mechanical engineering, and environmental and energy engineering, as well as tourism related to spas and rural environments, one of the region's strongest bets.
The Polytechnic University of Bragança, for its part, presented the lines of work it develops through its School of Tourism and its Research Center in Tourism, through which it incorporates specialized knowledge in the tourism field, especially in the nature and thermal tourism segments.
Possible pilot projects
This diversity of profiles, Sigut pointed out, will allow for the analysis of possible connections between research, training and innovation, as well as the detection of areas in which collaboration between different regions can translate into "concrete pilot projects".
The program began on September 28 with a visit to the bioclimatic homes of Technological Institute of Renewable Energies (ITER), Following this, in the afternoon session, the participating universities presented their research groups, projects and areas of specialization related to tourism.
After the presentations by the STARS EU partners concluded, the second day of work ended with a joint session aimed at identifying interregional challenges and opportunities, possible pilot activities, as well as the partners and external agents who could participate in them.
Among the possible lines of work, in addition to ecotourism and cultural heritage as a tourist resource — already mentioned — are sustainable tourism, gastronomic tourism, as well as specific segments such as medical tourism or wellness tourism, and other cross-cutting areas related to the sector.
Once all the proposals submitted have been analyzed, those with the greatest potential for collaboration can be identified, possible responsibilities can be defined, and the next steps for action of the Interregional Tourism Living can be established.
Through this collaboration, STARS EU continues to connect the specialized knowledge of its universities with the challenges and opportunities of their regions, creating new spaces for research, innovation, education and sustainable regional development, one of its main objectives.
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