BeWoP – Beyond Walk of Peace

BeWoP – Beyond Walk of Peace: from Crossborder Historical Research and Cultural Heritage to European Trail and Stories

EU Programme: Interreg VI-A Italy–Slovenia

Policy objective: PO4: A more social and inclusive Europe implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights

Specific objective: SO 4.6: enhancing the role of culture and sustainable tourism in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation

 

Slovene and Italian project partners (with budget):

  • Ustanova “Fundacija Poti miru v Posočju”, lead partner
  • GECT GO / EZTS GO
  • ZRC SAZU – Zgodovinski Inštitut Milka Kosa (The Milko Kos Historical Institute)
  • PromoTurismoFVG
  • Associazione Culturale èStoria
  • Občina Miren-Kostanjevica (The Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica)

 

Associative partners (without budget):

From Slovenia:

  • Ministrstvo za kulturo RS (Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia)
  • Ministrstvo za obrambo RS (Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia)
  • Slovenska turistična organizacija (Slovene Tourist Organisation)
  • Muzej narodne osvoboditve Maribor (Maribor Museum of National Liberation)

From Italy:

  • European Wildlife Management Association (E.Wi.M.A.)
  • Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra
  • M9 Museo delʼ900
  • Associazione Amici delle Alpi Carniche
  • Associazione Friuli Storia

From Belgium:

  • In Flanders Fields Museum

From Poland:

  • Euroregion Karpacki
  • Jagielloonian University Krakow

 

Duration of the project: 22 April 2024–21 October 2026 (30 months)

Project value: 1.321.591,48 EUR (80% ESRR, 20% project partners)

 

 

Project Objectives:

The project BeWoP addresses the common challenge of developing an integrated and sustainable cultural and touristic offer in the rural and suburban areas considering, among others, the increase in tourist visits which is expected in 2025 due to GO!2025. The project BeWoP upgrades the results of two past cross-border projects: the strategic project WALKofPEACE, rewarded as the best Interreg project of 2020 and the capitalisation project WALKofPEACE+. Furthermore, its aim is to enable a synergy with the GOV4PeaCE project, realised within the Interreg Central Europe framework.

World War I sites located in the immediate vicinity of the state line have already been valorised by different research, investment and tourism promotion activities.  Despite forming a 500-km long cross-border hiking trail Walk of Peace from the Alps to the Adriatic (Walk of Peace dalle Alpi allʼAdriatico) and renovating a number of monuments there are still several opportunities to develop and promote this unique cross-border story and tourism product that combines slow, cultural and outdoor tourism.

 

Project achievements:

  • archive/database of important historical information and events that marked the cross-border area,
  • an extensive publication/guide on the Walk of Peace cross-border trail,
  • events aimed at promoting the guide, a documentary, the strategy and the action plan for different focus groups in different locations along the beneficiary area,
  • two international study visits for key Slovene and Italian stakeholders outside the beneficiary area (Belgium, Poland) where associative partners also valorise and research and include World War I heritage into their tourism offer,
  • upgrading the Walk of Peace hiking app
  • two mobile information points on Mt. Kolovrat and Mt. San Michele/Debela griža for informing the visitors on Walk of Peace and GO!2025 events,
  • additional information-routing system at the cross-border outdoor museum on Mt. Kolovrat,
  • investing in the outdoor planning of the surroundings of the Monument of Peace on Cerje,
  • project documentation for implementing future renovation of Mt Sabotin on the Italian side,
  • additional tourism and information boards, arrangement of parking areas, bike stands, benches and other equipment at the access point to the Italian part of Mt. Sabotin,
  • a documentary on the Walk of Peace,
  • cross-border historical and touristic itineraries with èStoria bus,
  • big cross-border events (concerts, conferences/symposiums)
  • cross-border cultural events (Zvoki miru – Suoni della Pace (Sounds of Peace), Umetnost proti puški (Art Against the Guns) …),
  • action plan on the future global development of the cross-border cultural and touristic product the Walk of Peace,
  • adopting a common strategy in order to prepare for the candidacy of the Walk of Peace at the European Council,
  • dissemination and capitalisation activities by collaborating in other projects and initiatives.

 

Goals:

  • increase and diversify tourism streams, as new cross-border integrated tourism products and programmes are being implemented as part of the cross-border destination – The Walk of Peace, with the emphasis being given to sustainable and conscious cultural tourism,
  • a higher level of accessibility and organisation of the three pilot cross-border areas (Mt. Kolovrat, Mt. Sabotin and Cerje – Monte San Michele/Debela griža) to encourage a uniform economic development,
  • integrated tourism promotion of the cross-border area with the emphasis on raising awareness between the visitors and working towards creating the area in question more attractive for tourists, which is one of the objectives of GO! 2025,
  • to further develop and strengthen the good experience of cross-border cooperation up to now by the BeWoP project with various investments, tourism and research activities and big events (related to GO! 2025 and the historical festival èStoria),
  • dissemination of knowledge and behaviour about historical events and topics of the cross-border area among different target groups,
  • ensuring sustainable and cross-border management of the Walk of Peace vision and the trail, including through successful entries on the international list of cultural heritage.

 

The BeWoP project is co-financed by the European Union within the Interreg VI-A Italy−Slovenia Programme.

More about the project >>

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