Item List
"Incubator of international projects" in Křtiny (CZ) - workshop
Our project Coordinator - Professor Milada Stastna - going to present information about our SPOT project to Czech scientific community on the workshop "Incubator of international projects" in Křtiny (CZ) 15.-16. September 2020.
#EURegionsWeek
On behalf of IGAR team, Bianca Mitrică attended an important online event - the European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) - the biggest annual Brussels-based meeting dedicated to cohesion policy, which was held between 11 and 15 October 2021. This event provided a unique communication and networking platform, bringing together regions and cities from all over Europe, including politicians, administrators, experts and academics to promote policy learning and the exchange of good practice. Within this broad event, within the Session #EURegionsWeekUniversity – Border regions as living spaces , Bianca Mitrică delivered a presentation based on the SPOT project results entitled: Sustainable tourism as development factor in Romanian border regions . Authors: Bianca Mitrică, Paul Șerban, Irena Mocanu, Radu Săgeată, Ines Grigorescu, Nicoleta Damian, Monica Dumitrașcu.
'Scientists will help attract tourists to less visited places'
A report on the implementation of the SPOT project was published in Mendel University's press releases. ' Scientists will help municipalities and regions in the strategic planning of cultural tourism. Best practices from places in other countries where they solve similar challenges will also be an inspiration. The goal of the international project, which ends in December after three years, was to create a new approach to understanding and promoting cultural tourism. The experts also focused on supporting disadvantaged areas. The project, funded by the European Commission as part of the HORIZONT 2020 call, is coordinated by scientists from the Mendel University in Brno, and 15 universities and research institutes from Europe and Israel are involved.' The full press release in English and Czech can be found at the link below: https://mendelu.cz/en/scientists-will-help-attract-tourists-to-less-visited-places/?psn=400
104th Independence Day
Estonia celebrated its 104th Independence Day on 24 February. The day usually begins with hoisting the national flag at the sunrise across the country within _ca_ 25-minute time window. The easternmost point – Narva – is in the case study area of the Estonian team of SPOT project. Flag greeting ceremony started at 7:18 in the Narva Castle. Members of the Estonian team witnessed the ceremony.
14th International Conference for Cultural Tourism in Europe
Between 20-23 October 2021, two members of the IGAR team (Bianca Mitrică and Ines Grigorescu) participated in the 14th International Conference for Cultural Tourism in Europe entitled "Regenerating European Tourism through Culture, Heritage & Creativity" which was held in Athens, Greece. Within this large event, academics from various European countries discussed the latest trends in the field of culture, heritage and sustainable tourism, including innovation, digitalisation, creativity and cultural tourism product development. A particular emphasis was put on the important role of culture, heritage and creativity in regenerating the European tourism, following the pandemic crisis in 2020 and 2021. On this occasion, a paper was presented: COVID-19 pandemic and the new challenges of cultural tourism. An analysis of Buzău Carpathians and Subcarpahians (Romania). Authors: Bianca Mitrică, Ines Grigorescu Nicoleta Damian, Paul-Răzvan Şerban, Irena Mocanu, Monica Dumitraşcu, Cristina Dumitrică. This paper integrated the research findings of the SPOT project field surveys carried out in the study area and applied to businesses, tourist and residents (WP1), as well as some of the policy responses to the pandemic in the cultural tourism sector (WP2).
2022 Winter School on Digital Cultural Tourism and Diplomacy in Cyprus
On 14 February, Milada Šťastná will present the SPOT project at the 2022 Winter School on Digital Cultural Tourism and Diplomacy in Cyprus. The Winter School is dedicated among other goals to "promoting forms of tourism (cultural, historic, religious, gastronomy, wine, etc.) that go beyond traditional “sun sea and sand”, and can verifiably serve as a vehicle of cultural diplomacy". For more information on the Winter School: https://digitalheritagelab.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/winter_school_2022_brochure_final_2021_10_21-1.pdf
29th Colloquium of the International Geographical Union Commission
The IGAR team attended the 29th Colloquium of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems " Necessities and implementations for Sustaining Rural Systems in both Developed and less Developed Environments " held in Cairo & Shebeen-Elkom, Menoufia University Egypt, February 28 - March 4, 2022. During the conference IGAR team presented the paper entitled Insights into tourists, residents and businesses perception on cultural tourism. The showcase of a rural area of Buzău Carpathians and Subcarpathians (Romania) , authors: Ines Bianca Mitrică, Nicoleta Damian, Ines Grigorescu, Irena Mocanu, Paul-Răzvan Şerban, Monica Dumitraşcu, Cristina Dumitrică.
A Marshall Plan for European Tourism
Speech by Commissioner Thierry Breton at the European Parliament on 21 April 2020, European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN). You can read the whole text at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2019-2024/breton/announcements/speech-commissioner-breton-marshall-plan-european-tourism_en
Accessibility of Services in Rural Areas: Southern Moravia Case Study
Antonín Vaishar and Milada Št’astná have published a new article on a case study area of the SPOT project. Abstract: The accessibility of basic services in rural settlements in the South Moravian Region was evaluated; the accessibility by public transport was taken into account because the accessibility by individual car transport does not manifest any problems. The accessibility was calculated for 768 rural settlements, defined as spatially separate places which do not belong to municipalities with extended power. The time distance includes the time of the ride plus 8 min walking distance to and from the stop. The data was taken from the Integrated Transport System of the South Moravian Region, which ensures that each populated place in the region has to be connected by public transport at least six times on working days. The results show that for 99.8% of the inhabitants of the region, central places equipped with a post office, a basic school and a general practitioner’s office are accessible in a shorter time than 30 min. The accessibility of the services depends primarily on the characteristics of the settlement system and the physical conditions of the transport. In lowland areas, the share of settlements with comfortable accessibility is expressively higher than that of the highland and peripheral territories. The possible future improvement consists of the digitization of the services. Full article and details available at RESULTS and ZENODO .
Annual Meeting of the International Geographical Union Commission on Local and Regional Development
SPOT team members attended the Annual Meeting of the International Geographical Union Commission on Local and Regional Development "Sociodemographic change and its impact on territorial development policies" which took place in Cuenca (Spain), between 13 and 15 October 2022. The meeting was organized together with the Spanish Working Group of Local Development, part of the Association of Spanish Geographers (AGE), and the Department of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Presentations of SPOT team members: Ines GRIGORESCU, Bianca MITRICĂ, Irena MOCANU, Monica DUMITRAȘCU, Nicoleta DAMIAN, Paul ȘERBAN, Cristina DUMITRICĂ, Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, Romania: Challenges of Cultural Tourism in Buzău Carpathians and Sub-Carpathians (Romania). Local Businesses’ Perspective . Tamás HARDI, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies Institute for Regional Studies, Hungary: Analysis of cross-border movements in the Slovak-Hungarian border area during COVID closures Michael SOFER, Bar Ilan University, Israel: The restructuring of the rural-urban fringe: A case study of Tel-Aviv Metropolitan Area. In addition to the very interesting scientific sessions, field trips were also carried out in the city of Cuenca, Villa Romana de Noheda & Serrania de Cuenca Natural Park Please find below more information about the event: https://lacircular.es/reunionanualigu.html Photo credit: José A. Montero, Tamas Hardi & Ines Grigorescu
Buzău Land was designated as UNESCO Global Geopark
The UNESCO Global Geopark label recognizes geological heritage of international significance. Member States unanimously ratified its creation in 2015. The sites of this network present an extraordinary geological diversity that underpins different regions’ biological and cultural diversity. The geoparks serve local communities by combining the conservation of their unique geological heritage with public outreach and sustainable development. Among the 8 newly designated UNESCO Global Geoparks is also Buzău Land UNESCO Global Geopark. More information >>
COVID - 19 RELATED TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS A GLOBAL REVIEW FOR TOURISM
You can read the second report as of 28 April 2020 on the following link: https://webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2020-04/TravelRestrictions%20-%2028%20April.pdf