Interreg projects
Department of Economics

The TO CARE MED project aims to strengthen sustainable ecotourism across Mediterranean destinations by transferring and refining the Tourism Carrying Capacity Limit (TCCL) tool, originally developed within the ALTERECO project. The initiative responds to shared challenges in the MED region, such as tourism seasonality, pressure on natural resources, waste generation, and the broader risks associated with over‑tourism, which threaten both environmental balance and the preservation of cultural heritage and local identities.
By introducing the TCCL tool to partner destinations and adapting it to their specific ecological and social contexts, the project seeks to improve how tourism flows are managed and to support policymakers in designing strategies that balance tourism development with environmental protection. The project also promotes a broader vision of ecotourism that integrates conservation, restoration, and the valorization of natural and cultural assets.
Among its key results, TO CARE MED will deliver an optimized version of the TCCL tool, a jointly developed ecotourism strategy involving local stakeholders and communities, and a cascade training model that moves from transnational training of trainers to local capacity building for tourism professionals, planners, and operators. This structured approach ensures that destinations not only learn how to use the tool but also apply it effectively, share experiences through peer learning, and engage their communities through awareness‑raising activities.
A transnational approach is essential because Mediterranean destinations face similar tourism pressures and can benefit from exchanging best practices and aligning policies. The project’s innovation lies in its structured transfer process, the integration of environmental and social dimensions into the tool, and the emphasis on peer learning, which together support widespread adoption and more effective tourism management.
Overall, TO CARE MED aims to foster a more balanced and sustainable tourism model in the Mediterranean, enabling destinations to protect their natural and cultural heritage while ensuring long‑term benefits for local communities.

Project FORTIC overall objective is to strength the role of Adriatic CB cultural heritage, recognizing business models of fortifications, in order to promote a sustainable tourism with respect to innovative digital solutions and new inclusive social models which will guarantee development of common territory adjusted to the needs of vulnerable groups and heritage community. Reaching the objectives will ensure more strategic, coordinated and a sustainable management of tourism in the common area with special emphasis on the role of natural heritage and reduce vulnerability of the territory considering different aspects.
The outputs will be pilot actions that will be testing digital and physical solutions ensuring better access to cultural heritage for a wide spectre of users according to jointly developed solutions.
FORTIC will boost cooperation and promote jointly Adriatic CB area as up-to-date technologically developed and sustainable territory.