Between proximity-based social innovation and tourism: initiatives of micro-regeneration in the Po Delta and Polesine region

Faced with pressing challenges including unemployment, depopulation, over-tourism, the erosion of social cohesion and the loss of collective identity, many local communities’ tourism initiatives include proximity-based forms of social innovation. These are often initiated by small-scale, bottom-up stakeholders - small entrepreneurs, family firms, cooperatives, museums, and social enterprises – and aim to preserve and enhance local cultural heritage in its diverse forms. Social innovation in tourism has become an increasingly relevant field of research, shedding light on how communities mobilize tangible and intangible cultural heritage to foster processes of micro-regeneration and sustainable local development. The chapter examines various case studies in the Po Delta and Polesine region, looking at stakeholders who are involved in promoting local cultural heritage. A qualitative approach has been employed, based on interviews and life-stories of key stakeholders involved in cultural heritage enhancement and narration. The goal is to explore how these professionals act as key agents to preserve and enhance the historical memory of their territories, generating benefits both for themselves, their local communities, while also launching micro-regeneration processes in the area.