The European project HITTS – Heritage, Innovation, Territory, Tourism & Sustainability has published a new document focused on the adaptive reuse of cultural and natural heritage within the SUDOE area (Southwest Europe).
The publication highlights the importance of reusing heritage as a driver of sustainable development, showing that preservation is not only about safeguarding the past, but also about turning it into a living resource capable of generating wealth, identity, and social cohesion.
When a historic building, infrastructure, or cultural landscape regains a use, it stimulates the local economy, strengthens community belonging, and promotes more balanced and sustainable development.
The document presents tools and practical examples from Spain, France, and Portugal, and proposes seven key steps to ensure that adaptive reuse processes are lasting, inclusive, and environmentally respectful. The methodology is aligned with the principles of the New European Bauhaus, which encourages us to rethink our environments through sustainability, inclusion, and beauty.
HITTS advocates this vision as a positive response to major contemporary challenges: rural depopulation, territorial inequality, and the climate crisis. Reusing heritage is much more than restoring buildings — it is about rebuilding bonds, reactivating communities, and creating new opportunities.
Adaptive reuse shows that heritage can be a powerful engine of transformation, connecting the legacy of the past with the aspirations of the future. Heritage sites thus cease to be dormant ruins and become living assets at the service of present and future generations.
The full report can be consulted and downloaded in Spanish (ES), French (FR) and Portuguese (PT) via the following link:
ES_HITTS GT2_A.2.2 – Readaptación
FR_HITTS GT2_A.2.2 – Réutilisation adaptative
PT_HITTS GT2_A.2.2 – Reutilização adaptativa