A Workshop on Cross-border Collaboration and Macro-regions for Cultural Tourism
Beyond Borders
A Workshop on Cross-border Collaboration and Macro-regions for Cultural Tourism
USI – Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
October 22nd to October 25th, 2025
You are cordially invited to attend Beyond Borders. A Workshop on Cross-Border Collaboration and Macro-Regions for Cultural Tourism, organized by the UNESCO Chair at USI – Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland from October 22nd to October 25th, 2025. Honoring the cross-border theme and thanks to a long-lasting collaboration, the UNESCO Chair at Università di Genova has been also involved in the organization.
The workshop gathers representatives of the SECreTour consortium, as well as other international invitees from organizations in the fields of heritage and tourism.
The workshop is guided by the following goals:
- understanding the concerned public activities, challenges and dynamics faced by cross-border tourism projects;
- defining guidelines and operational models for cooperation in the tourism and heritage field;
- reinforcing cross-border collaborations in the context of SECreTour project;
- developing synergies between SECreTour and other similar EU projects.
Program (as of October 3rd, 2025)
Wednesday, October 22nd
13:00 – 14:30 Welcome coffee
14:30 – 16:00 Project meeting for the coordination of SECreTour teams
16:30 – 18:00 Internal meeting of cluster projects’ representatives:
CROCUS, CULTURALITY, TOURAL, SECreTOUR funded under Horizon Europe call
HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-01-05 - Fostering socio-economic development
and job creation in rural and remote areas through cultural tourism
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Lugano – Room 402, Main Building
18:30 – 20:00 Keynote. Sara Rosso Cipollini, President, Planhotel Resorts and Hotels, in conversation with Carmine Garzia, Professor of Management at University of Gastronomic Sciences at Pollenzo (UNISG), a university established and supported by Slow Food, on “Food, Tourism and Hospitality: how do they fit together?”
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Lugano – Auditorium, Main Building
Informal dinner. Locations will be recommended.
Thursday, October 23rd
Swiss Diamond Conference Room, Melide
09:15 – 9:30 Welcome and introduction. Lorenzo Cantoni, USI
09:30 – 9:45 Welcome message. Giuliana De Francesco, Policy Officer, Seconded National Expert (DG RTD), European Commission
09:45 – 11:15 Keynotes. Matteo Nardin, The European Travel Commission; Nadia Fontana Lupi, Mendrisiotto Tourism & WHES – World Heritage Experience Switzerland (moderation by Adine Gavazzi, USI & UniGe)
11:15 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30 Case studies of cross-border collaborations by members of SECreTour – Sustainable Creative Tourism, including:
- Matevž Straus, ARCTUR, on digital nomadism and the Slovenian pilot;
- John Tierney, EACHTRA;
- Alexandra Bitušíková, UMB;
- USI team, on the Monte San Giorgio pilot
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch, kindly offered by Swiss Diamond
14:00 – 16:00 Presentations of case studies of cross-border collaborations
- Members of sister projects
- Dauro Mattia Zocchi, CROCUS – Cross-Border Cultural and Creative Tourism in Rural and Remote Areas
- Ana María Fernández García (Universidad de Oviedo), CULTURALITY – Cultural Heritage in Rural Remote Areas for Creative Tourism and Sustainability
- Vasiliki Drouga, TOURAL – Multidimensional model of tourism verticals driving the sustainable balanced growth among rural & remote grids and urban clusters of rural regions, fostering macro-regional cooperation
- Puya Jazayeri, DESy INTERREG Project Manager
- Stefano Scagnolari, on cross-border collaboration in FART Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi
16:00 – 17:00 Maria Pacolli, Jürg Schwerzmann and Adine Gavazzi. Presentation of the case of Anfiteatro Ceresio heritage destination as an integrated landscape
Visit to the regenerative garden
17:00 – 18:00 Keynote. Dilyor Khakimov, UN Tourism Director for International Relations, Partnerships and Advocacy, “On the importance of cross-border tourism in rural and remote areas in Europe and beyond”
Hosted by the Municipality of Morcote, 2023 UN Tourism “Best Tourism Village,” and Swiss Diamond Boutique Hotel, Melide.
18:00 – 19:00 Apero
19.30 Transfer from Lugano FFS to Melide via S10 train (included in Ticino Ticket)
Friday, October 24th
08:20 – 08:40 Transfer from Lugano FFS to Riva San Vitale via train (included in Ticino Ticket)
09:00 – 17:00 Guided visit to the Miraculous Catch itinerary developed for Monte San Giorgio SECreTour pilot
Riva San Vitale – Meride – Serpiano – Brusino Arsizio – Morcote
18:00 – 18:40 Transfer from Morcote to Lugano via public transit (included in Ticino Ticket)
09:00 – 17:00 In parallel: workshop on Fashion and Cultural Tourism, co-organized with UN Tourism
Lifestyle Tech Competence Center – Lugano
Informal dinner. Locations will be recommended.
Saturday, October 25th
09:00 – 16:00 Beyond Borders Hackathon. A Europeana x SECreTour Hackathon on Cross-border Culture and Participation
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Lugano – Aula Polivalente, Campus Est
ACCOMMODATION
You might consider, among others, the following hotels:
- Hotel City
- https://www.hotelcitylugano.ch/en/
- Just a few meters from USI
- Lugano Dante Hotel
- https://luganodante.com/
- A very innovative boutique hotel, which has been consistently ranked on TripAdvisor among the best rated hotels in Switzerland
Rates for both hotels are around 200CHF per night; this includes the Ticino Ticket card, which allows free travel on all public transport in Ticino and offers benefits on cable cars, lake navigation, and other major tourist attractions.
TRANSPORT
By train: Lugano train station, easily accessible from south (an hour from Milan) or from North (2 hours from Zurich).
By plane: you might fly
- to Milano Malpensa – served by a direct train to Lugano, the S50 Direzione Biasca
- to Zurich, then arriving to Lugano by train
Beyond Borders. A Workshop on Cross-Border Collaboration and Macro-Regions for Cultural Tourism benefits from the participation of:
