Projects

Work in Progress

Exhibition “Mortar. Science and history in fragments”

 

Communicating Tangible and Intangible Heritage

SECreTour

Benediktinerkloster St. Johann im Val Müstair - Foto di Di Wladyslaw Sojka, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2260815

2022 – 2024

The realization of the interactive itinerant exhibition has been supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) as part of the Agorà funding scheme. It is currently diplayed at the Convent of St. Jhon in Müstair (CH) and will be moved to Castelgrande in Bellinzona in May 2024.

2023 –

In collaboration with the Organizzazione Turistica del Mendrisiotto e Basso Ceresio and with the UNESCO Chair of the University of Genova (Italy), several activities have been launched in order to better understand and communicate the Holy Week processions in Mendrisio, inscribed in 2019 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as well as the Monte san Giorgio, inscribed in 2003 as a UNESCO natural World Heritage Site.

2024 –

The UNESCO Chair is a partner in the European project SECreTour, which stands for Sustainable, Engaging, and CREative Tourism aiming for rural and remote areas’ betterment. It prioritizes addressing local communities’ needs, perceptions, and expectations. The project views tourism as a means to enhance income and diversify rural economies, while also spotlighting and honoring rural areas and their inhabitants.

World Heritage on the Northern Amazon Route of Peru: the summer journey of two UNESCO Chairs

 

Benediktinerkloster St. Johann im Val Müstair - Foto di Di Wladyslaw Sojka, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2260815

2024 –

This page documents the journey of two UNESCO staff members to Peru, where they promoted various activities of the chair and connected with the country’s rich heritage and natural beauty.

Concluded

 Ticino WHS Apps

Website “Fondazione Svizzera Pro Venezia”

 

WHACY

logo Fondazione Svizzera Pro Venezia

2012 – 2013

In 2012 ORANGE SA has donated its Swiss Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) budget for a project to design and develop a mobile application for the two UNESCO WHSs in Ticino, i.e. the natural site of Monte San Giorgio and the cultural site of the Castles of Bellinzona.

2013

In close collaboration with webatelier.net and others, the Chair has contributed to developing the new website of the Foundation.

2014 – 2015

The Chair in collaboration with the Hospitality Youth Initiative (HYI), a non-profit organization in South Africa with support of the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa (RETOSA) is designing an awareness campaign for Southern African Development Community (SADC).

#patrimonio_km0

 

Re-design of the Swiss UNESCO Commission online communication

 

Online promotion of the event Pilgertag 20.05.2017

 

2014 – 2015

The project was launched in October 2014 as a spin-off of #faces4heritage, with a focus on the promotion of local heritage (Swiss and Northern Italy WHS) rather than on the destruction of heritage.

2016 – 2017

The Chair received the mandate by the Swiss Commission for UNESCO to analyse, evaluate and re-design its online communication, consisting of the website, the newsletter and social media channels. The analytical stage was conducted in September – November 2016. The re-design stage started in January 2017, and was completed in September 2017.

2016 – 2017

In September 2016, the Chair received the mandate from the Swiss association «Les Amis du Chemin de Saint-Jacques / Die Freunde des Jakobsweges» to design and implement an online campaign to promote an event dedicated to the Swiss paths of the Saint James pilgrimage way, which took take place on May 20th, 2017.

Switzerland Travel Academy

 Exhibtion “Journeys Through Our Fragile Heirtage”

 #faces4heritage

2016 – 2017

Designed and developed together with the USI eLab Service and the Swiss National Tourism Office, the Switzerland Travel Academy is a free online course aimed at travel agents and tour professionals interested in becoming a Certified Switzerland Travel Expert.

2018

The photo exhibition “Journeys Through Our Fragile Heritage: discover, preserve, transmit” was created by UNESCO in collaboration with Wikimedia. The USI UNESCO Chair displayed it in Lugano. 

2015 – 2019

#facesforheritage was a social media awareness campaign to to sensitize society about the importance of preserving and defending heritage as a means for promoting culture and enhancing mutual understanding, thus, to build durable peace.

iWareBatik

 Erasmus+ “ICT for Sustainable Tourism Development”

Interreg Project “MARKS”

2017 – 2022

The iWareBatik website and the corresponding mobile app, available for iOS and Android devices, serve to help international and Indonesian Batik stakeholders to identify the variety of Batik textiles, the philosophical values behind the motif, its place of origin, and useful information about local producers. Since Batik defines the culture of each region in Indonesia, iWareBatik also features information about Indonesian tourism related to Batik in the 34 provinces across Indonesia.

2019 – 2022

Together with Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki i Zarządzania w Rzeszowie in Rzeszow (Poland, project leader), Univerzitet u Novom Sadu in Novi Sad (Serbia) and Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde in Eberswalde (Germany), the UNESCO Chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites of USI – Università della Svizzera italiana, ran the Erasmus+ project “Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Tourism Development”.

2019 – 2022

The MARKS Interreg project aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the cross-border area between Lake Como and Lake Lugano  in the Intelvi Valley.

 Machu Picchu – Seen through the eyes of Fernando Astete

AUDITORIUM – culturAl sUstainability inDIcaTors fOr heRItage toUrism Management

Destination Evolution System (DESy)

2019 – 2022

It was an international and interdisciplinary project for the creation of a website and photo archive, designed to increase awareness about the cultural and natural values of the World Heritage Site Machu Picchu in Perù, and to allow tourists to get a deeper understanding of the richness and complexity of the management of such site.

2020 – 2022

As a Mobility Grant 2020 receiver, “AUDITORIUM” was a bilateral research cooperation with the Latin American Region: The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

2019 – 2023

DESy (short for Digital Destination Evolution System) was an Interreg project between the border areas of Switzerland and Italy and was created to collect and analyze tourist information using AI.

Al-Khandaq and its Architecture

2024

It was created a digital exhibition on Google Arts & Culture on Al-Khandaq, a beautiful town in Sudan recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site tentative list for its rich architectural heritage.

Destination Evolution System (DESy)

2019 – 2023

 

DESy (short for Digital Destination Evolution System) was an Interreg project between the border areas of Switzerland and Italy and has been created to collect and analyze tourist information using AI.

AUDITORIUM – culturAl sUstainability inDIcaTors fOr heRItage toUrism Management

2020 – 2022

 

As a Mobility Grant 2020 receiver, “AUDITORIUM” was a bilateral research cooperation with the Latin American Region: The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)

Machu Picchu - Seen through the eyes of Fernando Astete

2019 – 2022

“Machu Picchu Seen Through the Eyes of Fernando Astete” was an international and interdisciplinary project for the creation of a website and photo archive, designed to increase awareness on the cultural and natural values of the World Heritage Site Machu Picchu and to allow tourists to get a deeper understanding of the richness and complexity of the management of such site.

Interreg Project "MARKS"

2019 – 2022

The MARKS Interreg project aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the cross-border area between Lake Como and Lake Lugano  in the Intelvi Valley.

 

Erasmus+ "ICT for Sustainable Tourism Development"

2019 – 2022

Together with Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki i Zarządzania w Rzeszowie in Rzeszow (Poland, project leader), Univerzitet u Novom Sadu in Novi Sad (Serbia) and Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde in Eberswalde (Germany), the UNESCO Chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites of USI –Università della Svizzera italiana, ran the Erasmus+ project “Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Tourism Development”.

iWareBatik

2017 – 2022

The iWareBatik website and the corresponding mobile app, available for iOS and Android devices, serve to help international and Indonesian Batik stakeholders to identify the variety of Batik textiles, the philosophical values behind the motif, its place of origin, and useful information about local producers. Since Batik defines the culture of each region in Indonesia, iWareBatik also features information about Indonesian tourism related to Batik in the 34 provinces across Indonesia.

 

#faces4heritage

2015 – 2019

 

#facesforheritage was a social media awareness campaign to to sensitize society about the importance of preserving and defending heritage as a means for promoting culture and enhancing mutual understanding, thus, to build durable peace.

Exhibition "Journeys Through Our Fragile Heritage"

2018

The photo exhibition “Journeys Through Our Fragile Heritage: discover, preserve, transmit” was created by UNESCO in collaboration with Wikimedia.

Switzerland Travel Academy

2016 – 2017

Designed and developed together with the USI eLab Service and the Swiss National Tourism Office, the Switzerland Travel Academy is a free online course aimed at travel agents and tour professionals interested in becoming a Certified Switzerland Travel Expert.

Re-design of the Swiss UNESCO Commission online communication

2016 – 2017

The Chair received the mandate by the Swiss Commission for UNESCO to analyse, evaluate and re-design its online communication, consisting of the website, the newsletter and social media channels. The analytical stage was conducted in September – November 2016. The re-design stage started in January 2017, and was completed in September 2017.

Online promotion of the event Pilgertag 20.05.2017

2016 – 2017

In September 2016, the Chair received the mandate from the Swiss association «Les Amis du Chemin de Saint-Jacques / Die Freunde des Jakobsweges» to design and implement an online campaign to promote an event dedicated to the Swiss paths of the Saint James pilgrimage way, which took take place on May 20th, 2017.

Online promotion of the event Pilgertag 20.05.2017

2014 – 2015

The project was launched in October 2014 as a spin-off of #faces4heritage, with a focus on the promotion of local heritage (Swiss and Northern Italy WHS) rather than on the destruction of heritage

WHACY

2014 – 2015

The Chair in collaboration with the Hospitality Youth Initiative (HYI), a non-profit organization in South Africa with support of the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa (RETOSA) is designing an awareness campaign for Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Ticino WHSs Apps

2012 – 2013

In 2012 ORANGE SA has donated its Swiss Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) budget for a project to design and develop a mobile application for the two UNESCO WHSs in Ticino, i.e. the natural site of Monte San Giorgio and the cultural site of the Castles of Bellinzona.

Website "Fondazione Svizzera Pro Venezia"

2013

In close collaboration with webatelier.net and others, the Chair has contributed to developing the new website of the Foundation.