Proposal Submission to Interreg Adrion on the Management of The Cultural Heritage of Fortresses-Castles

A proposal was submitted to the Interreg Adrion European Programme for Financing with Sustainable City as a coordinating Partner and the Italian Marco Polo Network as a Strategic Partner. The main theme of the proposal was the preservation of the architectural heritage in the Adriatic / Ionian region. Twelve partners, including the Corfu Antiquities Authority, as well as local authorities from Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, participate in the scheme. This is an ambitious proposal with a budget exceeding € 1,500,000.

The proposal titled IGOFORT, seeks to create a replicable model for the enhancement of the cultural heritage, through a network of Adriatic-Ionian nodes located in historical fortresses. The main objective is to create common successful experiences for the exploitation of spaces with innovative original facilities that support new creative business opportunities involving different sectors (culture, creative entrepreneurship, tourism and protection of the coastal environment), enhancing integration between partner states.

IGOFORT aims to the exchange of best practices on cultural heritage management, operational re-use of fortresses / castles to enhance tourism and the creative industry, promote a model for the management of monuments and create an online networking platform.

By bringing together a wide range of stakeholders, including archaeologists, biologists, artists, engineers, tourism professionals and photographers, the proposal aims to highlight the monuments of fortification architecture as symbols of European cultural identity, which can be the key to the sustainable development of tourism.