Summary
- Closed for EoI
- Profile Type
- Research & Development Request
- POD Reference
- RDRPT20250923008
- Term of Validity
- 29 September 2025 - 29 September 2026
- Company's Country
- Portugal
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Targeted Countries
- Croatia
- Albania
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Austria
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Czechia
- Lithuania
- Montenegro
- Malta
- North Macedonia
- United Kingdom
- Finland
- Greece
- Italy
- Serbia
- Cyprus
- Portugal
- Ukraine
- Georgia
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Luxembourg
- Slovenia
- Ireland
- Spain
- Denmark
- France
- Norway
- Iceland
- Poland
- Hungary
- Slovakia
- Moldova
- Netherlands
- Turkey
- Latvia
- Romania
- Estonia
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General information
- Short Summary
- Research centre from Portugal specialized in architecture, urbanism and multimedia arts, acting as coordinator seeks tourism companies interested in joining the consortium to contribute practical expertise and co-develop sustainable tourism models with local communities, under a research and development cooperation agreement.The COST Action project aims to explore collaborative strategies between heritage communities and tourism stakeholders to promote territorial sustainability and resilience.
- Full Description
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This project aims to rethink how tourism interacts with heritage territories, ensuring it benefits local communities rather than displacing or excluding them. Across Europe, many areas rich in cultural heritage face challenges from mass tourism and gentrification, which often erode local identities, social cohesion, and environmental balance, while others are suffering from depopulation and urgently need to revitalize their economies.
The proposed COST Action will build an international research network to explore and develop collaborative strategies between heritage communities and tourism stakeholders. It will bring together experts in architecture, urbanism, cultural heritage, sociology and geography to co-create participatory models and practical tools. These will help local communities become active partners in tourism development, ensuring that tourism contributes to cultural vitality, environmental stewardship, and territorial resilience.
The project will run for 4 years and will be organized in working groups that combine academic researchers, public authorities, civil society, and tourism professionals. Together, they will exchange knowledge, conduct case studies, and produce guidelines, training resources, and policy recommendations to support fair and inclusive tourism models.
They are seeking tourism companies as partners to participate in the working groups, contributing their practical expertise and collaborating with researchers and local actors to design better ways of doing tourism, ways that create value for visitors without excluding or harming local communities. Their involvement will be crucial to ensuring that the project’s results are grounded in real-world practice and widely applicable across the sector. In the context of this COST Action, the term “tourism companies” is understood broadly. It can include not only larger tour operators and hotel groups but also micro and small local enterprises such as B&Bs, tour guides, cultural cooperatives, and agritourism operators. The participation of smaller, locally embedded actors is particularly valuable because of their direct knowledge of cultural and territorial contexts.
Business partners are expected to take part mainly through activities such as workshops, focus groups, case studies, or testing proposed models in practice. Their role is primarily consultative and practical, contributing expertise and experience from the field. Organizational responsibilities (such as hosting meetings or coordinating working groups) are not required, though companies that wish to engage more actively are welcome to do so. In most cases, an active but lighter involvement is sufficient.
Small tourism businesses can benefit in several ways:
• International visibility through participation in a European research network;
• Capacity building and skill development by engaging in workshops, training schools, and knowledge exchange;
• Networking opportunities with researchers, institutions, and other businesses across Europe.
• Potential for collaborative offers such as shared tourism packages or joint initiatives developed during the project;
• Contribution to policy discussions at a European level, ensuring that small actors’ voices are represented.
The R&D centre will act as coordinator.
Framework Programme: COST
Call Name: COST Open Call
Evaluation Scheme: Single-stage evaluation
EOI Deadline: 15 October 2025
Call Deadline: 21 October 2025
Project Duration: 4 years
Note: COST Actions provide reimbursement for eligible participants’ travel and accommodation costs when attending approved meetings, workshops, or training schools. However, there is no direct budget allocation for companies, and pilot activities or implementation costs are not covered. Business partners can therefore expect their travel expenses to be reimbursed when officially invited, but not broader operational costs. - Advantages and Innovations
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This COST Action is innovative in positioning heritage communities as central actors in shaping sustainable tourism, moving beyond the traditional top-down governance models that dominate the field. While most existing approaches focus on heritage as a static resource or on tourism as an economic engine, this project reframes heritage as a living cultural ecosystem sustained by the active participation of local communities. It integrates social, cultural, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability, promoting regenerative rather than extractive tourism models.
The Action’s novelty lies in its transdisciplinary approach, linking architecture, urbanism, heritage studies, sociology, and geography to develop participatory methods and policy tools. It will build a collaborative European network to co-create strategies tailored to diverse territorial contexts, especially in areas facing depopulation, touristification, or gentrification.
Key advantages include: fostering community empowerment and resilience; developing innovative participatory governance frameworks; promoting intercultural and intergenerational knowledge transmission; and enhancing territorial identity while generating sustainable economic opportunities. By involving local actors, policy-makers, researchers, and tourism companies, the Action will produce transferable models, guidelines, and toolkits that support equitable partnerships between heritage communities and tourism stakeholders, offering long-term benefits for cultural sustainability, social cohesion, and regional development. - Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
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Partners should be able to contribute practical case studies, participate in co-creation workshops, and support the development and testing of community-based tourism strategies within the project’s working groups.
Their role is primarily consultative and practical, contributing expertise and experience from the field. Organizational responsibilities (such as hosting meetings or coordinating working groups) are not required, though companies that wish to engage more actively are welcome to do so. In most cases, an active but lighter involvement is sufficient. - Stage of Development
- Concept stage
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
- IPR status
- No IPR applied
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
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Tourism companies (larger tour operators, hotel groups, micro and small local enterprises such as B&Bs, tour guides, cultural cooperatives, and agritourism operators) - Business partners are expected to take part mainly through activities such as workshops, focus groups, case studies, or testing proposed models in practice. Their role is primarily consultative and practical, contributing expertise and experience from the field.
Organizational responsibilities (such as hosting meetings or coordinating working groups) are not required, though companies that wish to engage more actively are welcome to do so. In most cases, an active but lighter involvement is sufficient.
Micro-enterprises may participate in collaboration with a municipality, local tourism board, or other institutional partner. This combination can strengthen their contribution by ensuring visibility and continuity. Smaller enterprises are particularly well suited to contribute concrete local case studies, share practices, and test innovative approaches, complementing the broader strategic perspective of larger companies.
Companies are not expected to contribute directly to scientific deliverables such as academic reports or publications. Their role is mainly practical and operational, for example by sharing data, experiences, and feedback. Nonetheless, their input may be referenced in reports, policy briefs, or recommendations, ensuring their perspectives are integrated. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 50 - 249
- SME <=10
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
Call details
- Framework program
- Cooperation
- Call title and identifier
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COST Open Call
- Submission and evaluation scheme
-
Single-stage evaluation
- Coordinator required
-
No
- Deadline for EoI
- Deadline of the call
- Cooperation
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 11006 - Citizens participation
- 11007 - Sports and Leisure
- Market keywords
- 07001007 - Other leisure and recreational products and services
- 09003002 - Advertising and public relations
- 07005003 - Hotels and resorts
- 09003005 - Consulting services
- 07005005 - Travel agencies and services
- Targeted countries
- Croatia
- Albania
- Armenia
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Austria
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Czechia
- Lithuania
- Montenegro
- Malta
- North Macedonia
- United Kingdom
- Finland
- Greece
- Italy
- Serbia
- Cyprus
- Portugal
- Ukraine
- Georgia
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Luxembourg
- Slovenia
- Ireland
- Spain
- Denmark
- France
- Norway
- Iceland
- Poland
- Hungary
- Slovakia
- Moldova
- Netherlands
- Turkey
- Latvia
- Romania
- Estonia