Project results justifying continuation of the transnational fortress cooperation

During the summing up conference of the project “Forte Cultura – capitalising of fortified heritage for sustainable development and competitiveness of cities and regions”, held on 25th-26nd November 2014 in Kostrzyn nad Odra (PL), the 13 project partner from 8 Central European Countries were able to provide an impressive list of results. The transnational cooperation was possible with the funding of the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme. Additional guests from Spain, Belgium and Croatia observed the conference and verify to participate in the future activities. The interest was focused on the developed European culture route fortification FORTE CULTURA (www.fortecultura.eu) as a new tourist product to win tourists wit economic effects for the maintenance of the cultural heritage fortified monuments.

At the same time, some publications were produced to improve the monument economy, the management quality and the market presence of the fortifications in Central Europe. Assessed as important is the progress and the new quality in the fortress marketing. Therefore a guideline was elaborated.

The more than 60 participants at the conference expressed their great interest in the joint implementation of the project results for a wide dissemination of the knowledge progress.

“European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network reg.ass.” was founded

As one of the most important results of the project, a new permanent cooperation network of the fortified monuments in Europe was founded. The project partner agreed to create a legal organisation to manage the transnational cooperation in a professional quality.

Common interest of the network members is the development of the fortress tourism, based on the culture route FORTE CULTURA, and the effective fortress marketing. It’s planned to offer new instruments for the fortifications to be present at the European tourist markets. “FORTS-2-MARKET” is the common slogan for the network activities:

www.forts2market.net

A Managing Committee was elected. Dr. Frank Riesbeck, Humboldt University at Berlin (DE), is the first Chair person.

Members of the network can be public or private organisations or experts that legitimately represent a fortified monument or have expertises in the field of fortified heritage, fortress tourism or fortress marketing.

The central network office will be in Berlin (DE), managed by the European Cooperation Centre of Fortified Heritage – ECCOFORT reg.ass.

Summing up Conference gave new impulses for the continuation of capitalising activities for the fortified cultural heritage in Central Europe

Impressions of the Summing-Up-Conference in Kostrzyn nad Odra /PL, November 2014

Representatives from 12 European countries participat-ed in the summing-up-conference of the transnational cooperation project “Forte Cultura” to capitalise the fortified cultural heritage in Central Europe, which held on 25th and 26th November 2015 in Kostrzyn nad Odra. There is a great interest in the results of the project, especially in the new tourism product of the cultural route FORTE CULTURA.

This new tourism brand effects tourism in the fortress monuments as an economic factor, to generate more income and to improve the market presence.

Prof. Bragard from Belgium, Vice president of the International Scientific Committee on Fortification and Military Heritage – ICOFORT, commended the project’s contribution for the maintenance of the fortified cultural heritage and offered the future cooperation with FORTE CULTURA.

Mr Christophe Ebermann, project manager and controller of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Central Europe Programme, attested a very intensive work of the project partners in a relatively short time. He expressed his hope that the project results will bring sustained impact.

Mrs Sorina Capp, Deputy Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes Luxembourg.

Mrs Capp gave valuable advice on the process of certification of the cultural route FORTE CULTURA according to the rules of the Cultural Routes Institute.

The guest speakers Mr. van Espen (Belgium), Mr. Natale (Italy) and Mr. Valdenebro (Spain) reported about European funding projects and showed interest in FORTE CULTURA.

At the end of the conference, a part of the participants had have the occasion to visit the new exhibition about the fortress Kostrzyn in Bastion Philipp.

Dr. Wilfried Görmar (left) and Prof. Dr. habil. inz. Maciej Nowicki (right) as representatives of the EU Monitoring Committee confirmed the big potential of the European heritage of fortified monuments.

Hartmut Röder, Project manager, awards Mrs Dr. Isabella Ganzarolli, representative of the project partner Province of Verona, to the active contribution to successful project realisation.

Joseph Spiteri, president of the “European Walled Towns“, expressed best wishes in a greeting for further development of the cultural route and looks for a good cooperation between both associations:

“… our Cities have a huge asset in our Cultural and Historical heritage, which also gives us our own and European identity. Therefore each and every town and city, should strive to create an awareness about our Cultural and Historical heritage, within our own communities, particularly among our younger generations and also on a European Level. In the past, our Walls, Fortifications, and Fortresses served our towns and cities for defence purposes. Now, in this modern world, these same Walls, Fortifications and Fortresses are an economic tool, for the benefit of our communities and the Europe.”

An art exhibition “Borderland” has opened in the evening of the first conference day showing strong relations between art and fortress tourism.

Contribution to Capitalise the Fortified Heritage in Central Europe

The project FORTE CULTURA opened new aspects for capitalising of fortified cultural heritage

The central aim of the project FORTE CULTURA was to mobilise the big potential of fortified cultural heritage for the economic, cultural and social development of cities and regions. On the basis of analyses the project partner elaborated some positions and experiences to improve the fortress monument policy, economy, financing, utilisation, management, marketing as well as the reconstruction and monument protection. Exemplary cultural-economic concepts, best practices for fortress monument utilisation, development as sites of tourism, culture, arts, leisure and modern entertainment were elaborated. This attracts the cities and regions for more tourism and living quality. At the same time effects as stimulation for new investments in monuments. A knowledge progress was achieved and is available for the public.

Handbook “Capitalising of fortified cultural heritage …” summarizes some project results

The Handbook “Capitalising of fortified heritage” summarises and publishes the main actions, outputs and results of knowledge progress during the trans-national cooperation project FORTE CULTURA.

It informs about different joint developed strategies, best practices, exemplary solutions
and new innovative instruments for capitalising and the market implementation of fortified heritage, to support the economic growth of cities and regions.

It describes for example the role of a qualified monument protection and best practices of monument management for the valorisation of fortification.

A key role to generate incomes plays the quality of utilisation concepts in connection with targeted investments in the tourist offers and tourist infrastructure. The handbook shows the high effects of the European culture route FORTE CULTURA in the international marketing and mobilisation of tourists for the fortifications, added with important effects of the transnational networking.

Development of effective management models supports the fortress maintenance

The quality and methods of monument management is a very important factor for the successful operation and integration of fortified heritage onto markets and into urban and rural development. Based on a transnational status analysis to practised management forms, structures and capacities in selected European fortresses, conclusions for effective fortress management were drawn.

It laid the ground for the development of an exemplary utilization concept and management model for the citadel Petersberg in Erfurt as a single monument. An exemplary fortress cooperation model for regional Fortress network “Franconian Fortresses” was developed for a new quality of regional cooperation and linking of fortified heritage. Leaded from the City Kronach, an agreement between the Franconian fortresses for regional cooperation was signed, including a cooperation plan.

Fortress Plassenburg, Kulmbach (DE) Mr. Helmut Völkl, head of tourism and event service of City Kulmbach, undersigns the “Cooperation Agreement” between the Franconian Fortifrtifications under the label FORTE CULTURA in Kronach (DE), September 2014

Exemplary studies to the monument economy, financing and investment stimulation

The project partner TIAW Erfurt (DE) elaborated a recherche for the problems and needs of fortifications for improvement of the financing basis and management quality.

The project partner City of Kronach (DE) elaborated an exemplary study of selected fortification in Bavaria and Austria to financing and monument economy, the strategy of income generation, and the strategy of investments. The results shows a successful way for the capitalising of the fortress monuments.

An exemplary study to develop recovering concepts of fortresses to attract the region for tourism, to generate new offers for markets and to stimulate investments for economic growth of regions, was realised from the project partner Province of Verona (IT).

Fortifications along the Elbe-River agreed for cooperation with FORTE CULTURA

The example of the Franconian fortress cooperation stimulated the fortification along the Elbe-River between Josefov (CZ) and Cuxhaven (DE) on the mouth of the Elbe into the North Sea.

Fortress Marketing is the key for market implementation

New qualities for fortress heritage to form a modern image and to reach new target groups

One of the biggest deficit and reason for economic weakness of fortress monuments is the marketing quality. Fortress heritage in general is not enough present in the culture and on tourist markets. During the project exemplary marketing concepts under the usage of innovative e-marketing instruments and tools were developed. FORTE CULTURA for the first time provides the ability to anchor fortress and heritage as a joint product under the label of a cultural route in the tourist market.

A main result of the project is the founding of the European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network reg.ass. (FORTS-2-MARKET) during the summing up conference of project FORTE CULTURA.

E-marketing as most important instrument for the
public presence

The world wide web is an important component of your market presence, without nowadays it works hardly. Online Marketing has excellent opportunities to place the brand, the product, the image.

The project FORTE CULTURA developed tools and instru-ments to helping fortified monuments to a better visibility on international markets under a common label.

The new FORTE CULTURA webpage (www.forte-cultura.eu) with event calendar tool, media centre and information about the history, architecture, experience world and travel word of the fortified heritage is an important result. Also the online marketing guideline and a social media concept were developed, workshops and conferences were held.

Transnational Conference fortified heritage goes to market

The conference, took place in Verona, presents the developed layout of the brand “European Culture Route FORTE CULTURA”. So the fortified heritage in Europe got on the first time a common label, a face for the tourist market.

A layout style guide for the using of the FORTE CULTURA label was developed and many marketing instruments are produced, including Roll Ups, poster, flyer, folder and some merchandise articles.

Transnational Training Course e-marketing for fortification

The training course imparted knowledge and online marketing strategies for using e-marketing as modern instrument to achieve marketing ambitions of fortified monuments, like:

• Higher level of awareness,
• Better or new image,
• Increasing ticket sales,
• Marketing events,
• Reaching out to new target groups,
• Sale of books and souvenirs,
• Generating new contacts

Guideline for effective e-marketing strategies of fortifications

Online marketing is an essential part of any marketing strategy and includes measures that will be taken on the Internet (World Wide Web), such as e-mail marketing, search engine marketing and image building on your own website.

The “Guideline for effective e-marketing for fortified heritage” introduces into the world of Internet marketing and teaches the basics and strategies of successful product presentation. Main topics are:

• online marketing step by step
• webpage structures
• e-mail marketing
• search engine marketing
• social media marketing
• affiliate marketing

Social Media Concept

The significant improvement of communications, to increase public contact and to mobilize new target groups.

Social media allows publicly managed communications on any topic. Here people talk to each other, publish their opinion directly, are emotionally open, critical and merciless. Social media points out what fortress visitors think about the new exhibition, the last concert or the coffee in the restaurant.

The actively participation in social media opens the opportunity to influence public opinion and to launch new themes and offers related to the fortified heritage.

Nevertheless, if it’s don’t handle correctly, social media carries the risk of destroying a good reputation within minutes, that have been building up for years using conventional means. The worked out Social Media Concept will helps to understand social media and to develop strategies for dealing with it.

Effects of Fortified Heritage for the urban, cultural and social development are increased

Conference in Verona showed the broad range of project results

One of the intended effects of the project “FORTE CULTURA” was a more intensive connection of fortified cultural heritage with the development of cities and regions, especially to implement the fortification into the cultural and leisure needs of the modern society and to ensure on this way their long term maintenance. Fortifications should reach new functions as places for encounter. The project activities promoted exemplary the implementation of fortified heritage into the city modernisation.

Fortifications can contribute to increase the attractiveness, identity and living quality of the cities. The fortresses in Kronach (DE), Erfurt (DE) and Komarom (HU) demonstrated successful activities for the involvement of the citizens with various events for different age groups and social groups. With the philosophy “new life in historical fortress monuments” functions and demands of modern society and of new target groups in the younger generation were mobilised.

Involvement of young people into the fortress cultural life

Long tradition and good practice to implement the citizens into the cultural life of fortifications demonstrated the “Fort Monostor” Military Cultural Centre Komarom (HU). The workshop with experts from 7 European countries (September 2013) enabled an intensive exchange of experiences for the mobilisation of the creativity and interest of youth and children.

The active association collected experiences with transnational projects for explicit social effects, such as International Youth Exchanges. Young people worked on environmental issues, museum concepts, theatre performances and others.

Strategies for implementation of Fortifications into the City development

During the transnational workshop “Identification of Integration Strategies with social Effects” in the Citadel Erfurt (DE), the project partners from 5 countries analysed the rich experiences of the City Erfurt and the TIAW reg. ass.

In the Commander’s house of the citadel a Learning Centre for children established with different rooms for crafts.

During the guided visit through the citadel, the participants learned the various places with historical importance and saw the attractive museum. In the citadel Petersberg Napoleon and the Russian Tsar Peter have met.

Transnational Information System to the Fortified Heritage – TIS

The project partner Humboldt-University at Berlin leaded the development of a Transnational Information System (TIS). It’s a centralised electronic databank (electronic registration system) to the fortified heritage in Central Europe. The databank collects electronic documents, information and activities of fortress monuments and present it for a wide range of users.

As new modern information pool it serves as an instrument to accumulate and to distribute information and knowledge Europe-wide via world wide web. The TIS Fortified Heritage will be linked with interested public and private knowledge carriers in Europe. It create e new trans-national information and communication network to fortified heritage. A new quality of consulting for monument owners, cities and regions will be reached.
http://TIS.eccofort.eu

The Culture Route of Fortified Monuments “FORTE CULTURA”

New brand for the Central European fortified monuments to be present at the tourist markets

The most effective activity for capitalising of fortified cultural heritage is the development and market implementation of tourist products. Under the leading of ECCOFORT -European Cooperation Centre of Fortified Heritage, was created a new culture route “FORTE CULTURA from Baltic to the Adriatic Sea” to implement fortress monuments onto organised tourist markets, like culture tourism, event tourism, city tourism, nature and landscape tourism. The culture route FORTE CULTURA is a common transnational tourist product family with various target-group oriented offers. It presents individual attractiveness, historical value, nature and exciting architecture. As an economic effect organised tourism with culture route should initiate investments into the tourist infrastructure, service, tourist guiding and conservation of fortress monuments. It establishes new jobs and income

International Workshops for culture route development and placement on tourist markets

With intensive discussions in 3 workshops in Salzburg (A), Jaromer-Josefov (CZ) and Berlin (DE), the project partner discussed the development strategy and the methodological steps for the development of the tourist culture route FORTE CULTURA. External experts were implemented.

The project partner agreed a guideline for step by step development, based on the tourist offers, the quality of tourist service and infrastructure in the participating fortifications.

Tourist Guide Book

One of the important marketing outputs of the project FORTE CULTURA could now realised by the project partners Humboldt University, ECCOFORT and TIAW.

The Tourist Guide Book presents the culture route FORTE CULTURA. It shows the exciting architecture and history of the fortified heritage, the attractiveness of the experience world in fortified monuments and the possibilities for travelling under the label FORTE CULTURA.

The book has 120 pages, an english version was printed with 1.000 copies. The website www.forte-cultura.eu presents online versions in english and german language.

Keeping of the traditional Knowledge and exchange of knowledge for
fortress construction

New instruments and transnational partnership contribute the protection of fortifications

The project FORTE CULTURA contributed to the saving and dissemination of the historical constructional measures and specific handicraft methods for the fortified heritage. This knowledge is urgently required for the redevelopment and maintenance of monuments.
Steered by the special profiled Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, a new quality of knowledge content, knowledge saving and trans-national transfer of expertises in the field of traditional/historical construction technologies, handicraft methods and materials was established. Different studies and exemplary activities laid the ground for research and local pilot experiments to generate new expertises, for the identification of historic technologies, handicrafts for fortress conservation and effective monument protection. The technologies are stored in a new databank, managed by the Slovenian institute.

Deficit analysis – needs for knowledge keeping

Very important basis for the further project activities was a deficit analysis in Central Europe to the knowledge of traditional technologies in the reconstruction and restoration of fortification. In the same time it was very important to search and define the future needs of technologies for fortress conservation, protection and nature management. The Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia proved, that there is a relevant need for such special information.

Exemplary conceptions for authentic fortress reconstruction

The City of Kostrzyn nad Odra (PL) contributed the knowledge keeping with exemplary conception and technical documentation for Fortress Bastion King to definition traditional handicraft and technologies for monument compatible reconstruction. This pilot investment demonstrate the methodological process in the preparation and realisiation of reconstruction works under using of traditional and modern technologies.

Handbook of typical historic technologies of fortress construction

The handbook of typical historic technologies of fortress construction is a big milestone in the common intention to rescue the fortified heritage with adequate and optimal restoration technologies under using of the traditional techniques. Leaded by the Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, a group of international experts gave their expertises. The handbook is a good source for the fortification in the essential question of monument compatible fortress construction.

Exemplary study for the valorisation of the fortified heritage of the Province of Verona

An exemplary study to develop recovering concepts of fortresses to attract the region for tourism, to generate new offers for markets and to stimulate investments for economic growth of regions, was realised from the project partner Province of Verona (IT) with the external expertise of the architect Fiorenzo Meneghelli.

TaCKeDat – the Databank for Traditional Knowledge of Fortress Construction available

The project FORTE CULTURA generated an extraordinary instru-ment to collect and save procedures in the fortress reconstruction and restoration under using of traditional technologies and materials: the databank “TaCKeDat”. Developer and operator of this databank is the Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia. There is a new possibility for European fortification, special profiled companies or experts, to register their experiences in fortress reconstruction in written documents with the electronically databank TaCKeDat. The databank will be a growing information pool in the next years.
www.tackedat.eu