Sustainable revaluation of natural and architectural heritage and development of low carbon tourism initiatives in the Canary Islands and Cape Verde

Details

Acronym: SOSTURMAC
Partners:  Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables, S.A. (ITER), Agencia Insular de Energía de Tenerife, Fundación Canaria (AIET),  Fundación Centro Internacional para la Conservación del Patrimonio (CICOP) , Ministério do Ambiente, Habitação e Ordenamento do Território, Câmara Municipal de São Filipe. Ilha do Fogo, Universidade de Cabo Verde,  Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário , Parque Natural de Fogo.
Duration: 2017-2019 (36 months)
Budget: 935.567,26 €
Financing: Madeira-Azores-Canary Islands Interreg Territorial Cooperation Programme (MAC) 2014-2020

Overview of the project

This project aims to add value to the tourism offer of the Canary Islands and Cape Verde by orienting it to new market trends linked to scientific and nature tourism and environmental awareness of travellers. The aim is to make ecotourism an opportunity for socio-economic improvement and conservation of the environment in the area of cooperation.

To this end, the project aims to promote sustainable actions that put in value the natural and architectural heritage of the cooperation area, favouring its conservation and providing added values to its offer of sustainable and scientific tourism.

These actions will allow the detection of those key natural and architectural heritage elements in terms of their conservation and their potential as a tourist attraction, as well as their revaluation and reinterpretation through techniques that contribute to the sustainability and the efficient management of the resources. In this sense, the revaluated architectural heritage resources will be included in the Tenerife’s cultural heritage Manager and a Cultural Heritage manager will be developed for Cape Verde. A sustainable pilot intervention will be carried out to improve the patrimonial environment of the city of São Filipe, island of Fogo. On the other hand, a “Zero CO2 modular tourist accommodation” will be designed as a new ecotourism replicable product in the cooperation zone, and innovative ICT tools will be identified and optimized for the management of this type of accommodation.

As a pilot experience, a “Zero CO2 tourist information and natural heritage interpretation point” will be designed and installed within the boundaries of the Fogo Natural Park (Isla de Fogo, Cape Verde). This center will be designed so that it is easily transportable in case of a volcanic eruption, as it will be installed in a high volcanic risk area.

In addition, the project includes a series of actions aimed at optimizing the subsequent tourism dynamic of the new values and products developed and actions for the promotion of the conservation of heritage values of both regions will be carried out.

Main objective: Promote sustainable actions that place value on the natural and architectural heritage of the cooperation area, favouring its conservation and providing added values to its sustainable and cultural tourism offer.

Specific objectives:

Specific objective 1: Sustainable revaluation of the architectural heritage.

Specific objective 2: Sustainable revaluation of the natural heritage by promoting the development of low carbon touristic products.

Specific objective 3: Promotion of the integration of the new values and products developed in the touristic dynamic and promotion of the conservation of the heritage values.

Activities:

S.O. 1: Sustainable revaluation of the architectural heritage

Activity 1 – Detection and interpretation form an energy point of view of key architectural resources for their inclusion in a heritage manager.

Activity 2 – Establishment of intervention criteria and sustainable architectural restoration in heritage.

Activity 3 – Sustainable intervention for the improvement of the heritage environment of São Filipe, in the island of Fogo.

S.O. 2: Sustainable revaluation of the natural heritage by promoting the development of low carbon touristic products.

Activity 4 – Design of the “Zero CO2 modular tourist accommodation” and its possible configurations.

Activity 5 – Identification and optimization of proper ICT tools for the management and commercialization of “Zero CO2” touristic accommodations.

Activity 6 – Design and installation of one “Zero CO2 tourist information and natural heritage interpretation point” within the boundaries of Fogo Natural Park.

S.O. 3: Promotion of the integration of the new values and products developed in the touristic dynamic and promotion of the conservation of the heritage values.

Activity 7 – Complementary activities and material design for the touristic promotion of the products developed and their integration in the touristic offer.

Activity 8 – Promotion of the heritage values conservation of both regions by means of dissemination and capacity building actions.