INSPIRE

The Mediterranean region is one of the world’s most attractive tourist destinations, celebrated for its rich landscapes and biodiversity. However, mass tourism exerts significant pressure on natural and cultural environments, threatening ecosystems and local communities.

According to the Agrobiodiversity Index Report 2021, between 15,000 and 25,000 species thrive in the Mediterranean basin—60% of which are endemic.

Losing this agrobiodiversity means losing a vital part of the region’s shared identity, as well as a valuable reservoir of genetic resources for food and agriculture. It reduces the capacity to adapt to climate change and pests, while also diminishing the nutritional and cultural richness of local diets.

INSPIRE was launched to transform these challenges into opportunities. The project develops and tests a co-development and co-management model for tourism that actively involves both public and private stakeholders at the local level.

The goal is to foster resilient communities that act as convivial systems—collaborative networks that welcome visitors to explore the region through its agrobiodiversity and the people who safeguard it. These communities will become ambassadors of biodiversity, local culture, and rural identity, as well as educators in environmental preservation.

Inspired by the Slow Food Travel approach, INSPIRE aims to embed biodiversity preservation into destination management, ensuring long-term sustainability for both ecosystems and local populations.

INSPIRE’s overarching mission is to unlock the potential of Mediterranean agrobiodiversity as a catalyst for sustainable, inclusive, and regenerative tourism.

By enhancing local agri-food systems and valuing traditional knowledge, the project promotes territorial development while safeguarding cultural, environmental, and social heritage in rural areas.

Key objectives include:

• Developing practical, scalable solutions that align tourism destination management with biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services in the Euro-MED region.
  
• Improving the socio-economic conditions of communities affected by biodiversity loss.
  
• Delivering impactful results to inform policy at local, regional, and international levels.
  

INSPIRE embraces a Slow Food-inspired model of tourism—where travelers slow down, engage with local communities, discover sustainable food practices, and experience biodiversity through taste, storytelling, and landscape.

Local producers and artisans take center stage as hosts and storytellers, reconnecting visitors with the culinary and ecological heritage of the Mediterranean.

Project Structure

The project is organized into three core Work Packages (WPs), each contributing to a comprehensive and replicable framework:

• WP1 – Strategy & Tools
  Led by the Municipality of Messina
  Focuses on co-developing a shared strategy for sustainable tourism rooted in agrobiodiversity, through mapping, tool development, and stakeholder engagement.

• WP2 – Local Action & Co-creation
  Coordinated by Slow Food
  Implements Living Labs in pilot areas to co-create tourism services and action plans with local communities, emphasizing inclusion and capacity building.

WP3 – Transfer & Capitalization
Led by EuroVértice
Ensures the dissemination, adoption, and scaling of project outcomes throughout the Euro-MED region, including through policy engagement, transnational networking, and the establishment of the INSPIRE Pact.

INSPIRE brings together 8 partners from 5 Mediterranean countries, combining public authorities, tourism boards, NGOs, and sustainability experts. Each partner contributes local knowledge and thematic expertise to co-develop, test, and scale the project’s solutions.