Krakow
SCT HUB - Codesign the Future of sustainable cultural tourism
About the project
SCT Hub – Codesign the Future of Sustainable Cultural Tourism is a project with the objective of creating an innovation lab in a renovated monastery, in an under-visited area of the city. This hub will operate according to a participatory cooperation model and a unique methodology of producing innovations.
The hub will host a programme of residencies of artists from around the world, as well as a number of artistic and cultural events. The approach is to leverage the knowledge of industry experts and local stakeholders, supported by an AI tool to identify and then pilot innovative sustainable cultural tourism solutions, through a ‘Living Lab’ model. These tested solutions may become ready-to-implement sustainable solutions that change Krakow’s offer.
The project also contributes to developing Wesoła into a cultural district and making it attractive and accessible to many stakeholders, including tourists and residents, and seeking to reduce touristic pressures on other areas of the city.
Challenges
Krakow faces several challenges related to unsustainable tourism that many historic cities share. High tourist traffic in certain areas, such as the Main Square or Jewish District, affects both tourists and residents, creating problems such as: social tensions, competition in the industry and a lowered overall quality of local services for residents.
-
Over-tourism and the unsustainability of current cultural tourism in the historic city, which is highly concentrated in certain periods of the year and in some of the most attractive spots with rich cultural heritage.
-
Social tensions and competition among entrepreneurs in the industry.
-
Reduction of the role of residents in city life and lowered quality of services, due to the adaptation of a large number of public spaces and services to the needs of visitors.
Proposed solutions
This project develops a new ‘Sustainable Cultural Tourism’ (SCT) Hub both for hosting cultural events and artistic residencies and co-designing the future of sustainable cultural tourism. Through its unique research method, with a Living Lab, an interdisciplinary team of researchers, experts, residents and tourists and use of AI, it proposes new sustainable solutions for cultural tourism and tests them with the participation of recipients.
-
Restoration of a former monastery in the under-visited Wesoła district to create a ‘Sustainable Cultural Tourism Hub’ to host cultural events and artistic residencies and to operate as a participatory ‘Living Lab’.
-
Innovative data collection methods and participatory approaches (participatory action research, art-based research etc.) for leveraging the knowledge of industry experts and other stakeholders in identifying sustainable innovations in cultural tourism.
-
An AI-based tool will support interdisciplinary teams to create prototypes of sustainable solutions that will be tested at the living-lab level and during cultural events.
Milestones
Official launch with a press conference of the Mayor of Krakow and start of promotion
Opening of the Residency Programme and Living Lab activities
Website with the AI tool plug-in launched
Prototyping and implementation report done
Complete project portal with a web application for methodology transfer with the AI tool
Creation of the model and official closing of the project