SMARTDEST GOES PUBLIC!

Although the project kicked off already in January, its set-up stage is now complete and research work has started.

SMARTDEST examines the production of social exclusion in tourist destinations, seeks for community-engineered forms of coping, and contributes to scale them up to urban policy for resilient cities.

As anybody can imagine, it’s been a shock to start a project like this and, in the verge of 2 months, find ourselves in a world where society has been ‘immobilised’ by COVID-19, and there are great concerns whether tourism as we know will ever go back to normal. Yet the conceptual framing and methodological approach of this project is such that in the post-covid stage our researchers will be in the front line, and will be able to track, inform and accompany the process of recovery.

A description of the ambitions, approach and structure of SMARTDEST is included. We’d like to establish a wide network of connections and collaborations around this work plan, so anybody interested, at personal or professional level, is invited to join us in this page and engage.