LIBERtà di muoversi: VIE Culturali e letterarie transfrontaliere accessibili e Inclusive

LIBERVIE aims to enhance the enjoyment of the tangible and intangible heritage of the Lakes, Mountains, and Valleys District in the Ossola and Ticino regions, making it accessible and inclusive. The focus is on social inclusion combined with tourist appeal and the available literary and cultural heritage. For the development of new cross-border tourist routes, the implementation of infrastructure interventions and the requalification for accessibility are based on the strategic premise of Design for All and a human-centered approach. This holistic and innovative approach poses an ethical challenge for cross-border partners, with the goal of enabling all individuals to have equal participation opportunities in every aspect of society, including tourism. It requires the direct involvement of the end-users—people with disabilities or motor and sensory difficulties, the elderly, and families with young children—at every stage of the design process. The proposed design actions indeed have a dual purpose: to allow people with motor, intellectual, and sensory disabilities to move freely without limitations and dangers; to promote the autonomy of people with disabilities, regardless of the support of others, with a view to achieving an inclusive system. LIBERVIE is structured on three closely interconnected levels of work. For the strengthening and enjoyment of the tangible and intangible heritage, cross-border information and awareness actions aimed at young people, training and promotion through the use of different tools (including webinars, educational tours, highly accessible events and advertorials) and the use of new technologies (such as open digital platforms, geo-literary databases, apps, and multimedia content) are planned. The cross-border communities will experiment with innovative and inclusive approaches to digital interaction. A literary digital platform for the Insubric region will be developed, which will allow for a more comprehensive mapping of literary occurrences, providing a detailed knowledge tool and facilitating communication and cross-border relationships in the literary and cultural fields as well as from a tourist perspective. Activities of comparison will be realized through various methodologies: participatory design workshops and thematic cross-border focus groups will maintain a high level of interaction among all partnership subjects involved and territorial stakeholders. With the aim of implementing the accessibility of cross-border cultural and museum routes, a reconnaissance of the sites in the Italian and Swiss project territories will be carried out. The census will allow for an enrichment and expansion, through the creation of new itineraries and related accessible museum spaces, of the guide "PERCORSI ACCESSIBILI FOR ALL". The identification and joint design of accessible tourist itineraries with cross-border significance, taking place on adjacent and interconnected territories, the Italian and the Swiss, support and promote the networking of cultural structures and places. The requalification interventions aimed at improving hospitality services and expanding the museum tourism offer include the creation of a classroom, the realization of tactile visit devices in 6 architectural and art sites of the territory, and the update of 4 paths for multisensory enjoyment and for the blind within museum facilities and in relevant cultural sites of the LIBERVIE territory. Finally, the arrangement and setting up of the cycling path in the Toce Park area in Verbania intended for people with vulnerabilities, where multimedia constitutes the tool for disseminating knowledge of the place (tangible and intangible assets) and where the infrastructure allows accompanying, through the use of appropriate electric bikes, people with motor and intellectual disabilities. Communicative actions will accompany all phases of LIBERVIE's development to enable tourism service providers to open up to a world that will undoubtedly make them better and more inclusive. Collaborative digital tools will be used to collect, structure, and distribute project information. The transposition into video of tourism content in Sign Language will create new means of enjoyment, allowing overcoming personal barriers and limits.