DigiHike - Shaping sustainable local development in outdoor sports through volunteers' skills development
▶Summary
Background DigiHike was triggered by the constant growth of what is called Adventure Tourism, a type of niche tourism, involving exploration and which may require special skills and physical exertion, a growth that represents a huge opportunity for both organizations and communities active in mountain areas or in areas that attract tourists looking for outdoor activities. Therefore, small organizations active in their regional context in the field of outdoor activities could play a major role. Objectives DigiHike intended to respond to the needs of participating organizations by:- Providing technical /digital skills to the staff/volunteers. - Supporting the development of sustainable communities at local/EU level.DigiHike aimed to achieve the following specific objectives:-enhancement of small organizations capacity in outdoor activities-connection of trekking/outdoor activities with tourism opportunities-promotion of environmental heritage-development of staff trekking/digital skills Implementation Digihike involved 5 partners from 4 countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia)WP2 and 3 were the core work packages that allowed the production of the two key deliverables:- IO1 DigiHike Guide - IO2 DigiHike Toolkit The 3 traversal WPs - WP1 (Management), WP4 (Evaluation and quality assurance), and WP5 (Dissemination and exploitation) contributed to the successful implementation of the project. It lasted 24 months as planned despite being implemented in the middle of the covid pandemic. Achievements The main results of DigiHike were:- IO1 DigiHike Guide for the development of basic hiking skills- IO2 DigiHike Toolkit for the digital promotion of outdoor activities- the design and maintenance of a website in a collaborative way where everyone can now find trekking routes from 4 countries mapped by the project partners- the organization of 4 multiplier events that reflected the community-based approach of the project- 2 transnational meetings/training involving staff and volunteers