The RELIGHT project has officially begun with the celebration of its kick-off meeting held in Madrid on July 2nd and 3rd. The event brought together representatives from all beneficiary entities, marking the start of an international collaboration that will unfold over the next three years.
Led by Fundación Banco Santander, RELIGHT is an ambitious three-year transnational initiative framed within the Interreg Sudoe 2021–2027 programme. With a budget exceeding €1.4 million and 75% co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the project aims to promote cultural and sustainable tourism in the rural areas of inland Spain, France, and Portugal. To achieve this, RELIGHT brings together a multidisciplinary consortium composed of Fundación Banco Santander, Fundación Camino Lebaniego, and Fundación Santa María la Real from Spain; Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain Occitanie Montpellier, Syndicat Mixte Les Abattoirs, and the association Bruit du Frigo from France; and, from Portugal, the Universidade de Coimbra – Faculdade de Letras, Fundação Côa Parque for the preservation and promotion of the Côa Valley, and Turismo do Porto e Norte de Portugal. This strategic alliance ensures a collaborative and participatory approach that connects cultural and tourism institutions in urban settings with rural communities to design sustainable tourism products that contribute to balanced socioeconomic development across the territory.
The main objective of RELIGHT is to define and test a collaborative methodology that connects cultural and tourism stakeholders—both public and private—from urban and rural environments. This methodology is based on the creation of relational nodes that will support the development of sustainable tourism products and destinations, fostering socioeconomic growth in rural areas while balancing tourism flows according to the characteristics and needs of each territory. The project’s clear ambition is to promote a tourism model that values existing cultural and natural heritage, encouraging economic growth that is both environmentally respectful and socially inclusive.
Throughout its implementation, the project will focus on designing and launching a transnational strategy and action plan, developed through a participatory diagnosis involving local organizations from the three participating regions. This will ensure that the resulting methodology and actions respond to the specific opportunities and challenges of each context, adapting to their particularities and maximizing positive impact. RELIGHT will thus support local organizations, strengthen multisectoral cooperation, and enhance their capacity to develop and promote innovative and sustainable cultural and tourism products.
One of the most relevant aspects of the project is the practical experimentation through four pilot projects carried out in the participating territories. These pilots will include: the creation of itineraries to revitalize disused historical paths or generate new ones; initiatives to enhance the natural and cultural heritage of rural inland areas; artist residencies involving local actors and communities; and educational cultural mediation activities jointly organized with community stakeholders.
RELIGHT also includes the creation of an interterritorial committee responsible for overseeing the project’s implementation and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and best practices among partners. This coordination body will be essential to ensure coherence, continuous evaluation, and the long-term sustainability of the initiatives promoted. In addition, recommendations and tools will be developed to facilitate the transfer of results, ensuring that the methodology can be applied in other regions and contexts beyond the Sudoe area.
Through this initiative, the RELIGHT project partners reaffirm their commitment to cultural and sustainable tourism as a driver of territorial development. By fostering a transnational cooperation model, RELIGHT seeks to build new forms of collaboration between cities and rural areas, promoting the joint appreciation of cultural and natural heritage and contributing to more balanced and inclusive socioeconomic development in the rural regions of southwestern Europe.