Project; 01.01.2024 – 30.06.2026
EUSDR Priority Area(s): PA 3 Culture & Tourism
Several transnational cycling trails have been developed in the Danube Region as innovative instruments for promoting sustainable tourism and mobility, while simultaneously valorising the Region’s rich and diverse natural and cultural heritage. However, trail sections traversing peripheral and border regions often encounter complex socio-demographic challenges, including outward migration, population ageing, elevated shares of vulnerable groups, and structural economic disadvantages. These challenges, compounded by infrastructural and service-related deficiencies, frequently result in less attractive trail offerings that are not competitive in international cycling tourism markets.
The effective valorisation of local tangible and intangible heritage along these trails remains limited, primarily due to a lack of inclusive, community-based initiatives and insufficient coordination among existing efforts. The Inclusive Border Cycling (IBC) project seeks to address these issues by promoting the sustainable development of cycling trails in disadvantaged border regions, with a particular focus on the inclusion of vulnerable local populations.
Through pilot actions and the implementation of inclusive trail management models, the project aims to engage the elderly and marginalised groups in the development process. This is complemented by transnational marketing and promotional activities designed to increase the visibility and attractiveness of these routes. The overarching goal is to establish a socially inclusive, accessible cycling trail network with broad European recognition.
Objectives: The Inclusive Border Cycling project aims at valorising natural and cultural assets of lagging behind border areas of the Danube Region by transnational development of border cycling trails, focusing on the inclusion of local vulnerable groups. Innovative social inclusion activities and targeting of the silver economy, accompanied by transnational marketing and promotional activities, lead to an accessible network of socially inclusive border cycling trails with European acceptance.
- Involvement of local vulnerable groups to the development and maintenance of border cycling trails
- Adaptation of border cycling routes to the needs of the silver economy and the young generation
- Valorisation of the tourism potential of border cycling trails in an international context
Need and (expected) impact: The IBC project reflects on the complex socio-economic challenges of rural areas in the Danube Region. On the one hand, the project’s geographical focus are the rural border areas which belong to the least developed regions of Europe. The project strives to generate an endogenous development process in these areas built on their natural and cultural assets and assists to valorise them to be marketable on the global tourism market. On the other hand, the project’s main target groups are the vulnerable elderly and young people which are all significant in the demographic composition of the remote rural border areas. The project initiates several inclusive incentives to foster their involvement in border cycling tourism offers, maintenance and management which provides them local job and income possibilities and also strengthens the commitment of the disadvantageous local communities towards valorisation of local cycling tourism.
IBC pilots will capitalise on available methods and good practices of local cultural heritage valorisation in border areas and provide tested methods building on local resources and knowledge of communities for integrating and presenting local stories and other intangible cultural heritage elements (crafts, traditional local products) into rural cycling tourism offers and trail branding/marketing – thereby also increasing capacities, strengthening local identity and communities of rural areas as well as trail ownership. Furthermore, innovative route maintenance approaches based on endogenous resources of these areas will be tested and provide niche solutions needed for efficient trail management while also contributing to the social inclusion of local disadvantaged groups.
The project includes cycling trails with versatile institutional setup, reflecting on the challenge of the diversity of the organisational background of the cycling trails of the Danube Region.
The IBC project is expected to generate both immediate and long-term impacts across several dimensions:
- Social Impact: By engaging vulnerable groups—such as elderly residents and marginalised communities—in trail development and management, the project will foster social inclusion, strengthen local identity, and enhance social cohesion in border regions.
- Economic Impact: The development of innovative, accessible tourism products will increase the attractiveness of remote areas for domestic and international cycling tourists, generating new economic opportunities for local service providers and entrepreneurs.
- Cultural and Environmental Impact: The valorisation of local heritage through inclusive cycling tourism will contribute to the preservation of cultural landscapes and support the sustainable use of natural resources.
- Transnational Cooperation and Policy Impact: Through the exchange of good practices, joint marketing strategies, and transferable models, the project will strengthen cross-border collaboration and inform regional development policies, offering a replicable model for socially responsible tourism elsewhere in Europe.
- Market Impact: The project will position socially inclusive cycling trails as viable and competitive tourism products within the European market, particularly appealing to the growing demographic of socially conscious and older tourists.
Macro-regional dimension: The project promotes functional connectivity between regions in different Danube countries, enhancing cross-border mobility and accessibility through cycling infrastructure. By integrating cultural and natural heritage into trail development, it fosters a shared identity and mutual understanding across borders.
Macro-regional cohesion is supported by addressing socio-economic disparities and demographic decline in disadvantaged border regions. The project contributes to balanced territorial development, which is a core principle of the EU Cohesion Policy and the EUSDR.
The solutions developed (e.g., inclusive trail management models, silver-generation-oriented tourism products) are designed for replication across the Danube Region and potentially in other EU macro-regions (e.g., the Alpine or Adriatic-Ionian Regions). This supports knowledge transfer and the creation of a broader Danube-wide network of socially inclusive cycling tourism initiatives.
Through coordinated marketing efforts and transnational tourism products, the project contributes to the international positioning of the Danube Region as a sustainable, inclusive, and culturally rich cycling destination. This enhances the global visibility of the Region and contributes to its identity and competitiveness in the European tourism market.
Stakeholders involved: Project partners of the IBC: Westpannon Regional and Economic Development Public Nonprofit Ltd., CROST Regional Development Nonprofit Ltd., Iskriva, Institute for Development of Local Potentials, Arctur compute engineering d.o.o., Development centre Murska Sobota; Koprivnica Križevci County, Tourism Board of Međimurje, Association for Nature and Environment Protection Green Osijek, Ekopolis Foundation, National Institute for Research and Development in Tourism, Timis County Council, Municipality of Apatin, City of Sombor, Nature Reserve ”Lower Prut”, Tral Angels GmbH, Tourism Association Thermal&Vulkanland
Budget and Funding: Interreg Danube Region Programme
Further information: https://interreg-danube.eu/projects/ibc
