Chordmed (project)

Chord project is an initiative part-financed by the European Commission under the MED programme. It has allocated a budget of almost 1,317,000 euro from April 2009 to September 2011. This project aims at Taking advantage of Mediterranean cultural heritage in the Mediterranean basin.

Context

The civilizations rising in the Mediterranean basin has provided Europeans with a vast cultural heritage, which has shaped the history of the continent. But in many cases, local communities are not aware of the economic prospective of these touristic sites.

Chord project develops a common sustainable approach which envisages exploiting the potential of the touristic sector as driver for the whole economy, through the creation of innovative cultural services.

Part-financed by Med programme, this initiative intends, through interregional cooperation, sketching long-term strategies that contributes to a balanced and sustainable rural development in the Mediterranean, particularly inland areas. Specifically, initiatives such as festival promotion, wellness, thematic events and health tourism are ideal examples to be promoted and implemented.

The idea behind this project is creating new tourist poles and seeking new segment market opportunities, which will diversify the regional touristic offer in the Mediterranean area. Projects goals are in line with the European Commission Communication “Agenda for a Sustainable and Competitive European Tourism” (2007). The partners in the project are all regional or local authorities & public organisations representing the business community.

Origin

The Mediterranean Sea

The project capitalises on and extends the results of an ARCHIMED project – I-TRACE, where the Lead Partner, the Province of Benevento, experimented strategies for the promotion and quality management of rural itineraries, together with REMTH. The project revealed the potential for cultural and creative hubs in rural areas with striking cultural values and heritage, and the need for innovative management strategies.

Planned outcome

The expected results of Chord will be:

A comparative analysis, identification of needs and constraints for cultural heritage poles;
IQM principles for cultural service provision adopted by cultural stakeholders
Transferable sustainability models & marketing plans for innovative creative and cultural enterprise hubs;
Cultural partnerships and twinnings for long term promotion.