WebinarOnline
Planning for resilient destinations: Integrating cultural heritage, rural tourism and community-led strategies
Friday, 29 January 2027
Explore how heritage, rural livelihoods and community leadership can strengthen long-term destination planning.
About this event
Destination resilience requires preparation for long-term change as well as the capacity to respond to immediate disruption. This webinar integrates cultural heritage, rural livelihoods and community leadership within regional planning. It considers resilience as the ability to protect valued assets, maintain essential functions and make deliberate choices about transformation. The session will examine how tourism plans can support continuity without treating communities, landscapes or heritage as static resources preserved primarily for visitor consumption.
Panellists will analyse vulnerability mapping, scenario development, municipal infrastructure, seasonal diversification and models of local ownership. The discussion will ask who defines resilience, which risks receive attention and who finances necessary adaptation. It will consider the position of small businesses, cultural institutions and rural residents whose resources and political influence may differ substantially. Local knowledge will be examined alongside technical evidence, with attention to how each can inform priorities, reveal dependencies and challenge assumptions within formal planning processes.
Participants will learn how to connect risk assessment with transparent governance and practical implementation. They will consider methods for identifying critical assets, agreeing acceptable levels of change and monitoring whether interventions protect community interests. The webinar will also address conflict among stakeholders and the need for clear responsibilities when plans cross administrative boundaries. Delegates will leave with a framework for developing destination strategies that strengthen local capacity, preserve cultural meaning and support economic adaptation without transferring risk to groups with the least authority or financial protection. This supports resilience as a continuing process rather than a temporary project.