CROCUS is a European project focused on the challenges and opportunities of cultural and creative tourism in rural and remote areas, where cultural and natural resources are rich but socio-economic fragilities often remain strong.
Its method: the project sets up cross-border living labs where stakeholders and residents co-design innovative business models through participatory and design-thinking approaches.
Its objective: to foster sustainable and inclusive tourism development without triggering overtourism or heritage degradation, while generating concrete opportunities for local communities.
A policy dimension: beyond prototyping, CROCUS also examines how national and macro-regional policies affect tourism development in these areas, producing evidence that can support more effective future decisions.
