ID Guide - Rota Vicentina®

Guide to good practices

PREFACE: STORIES FROM THE TERRITORY

The ID Rota Vicentina project has as its starting point the RV trails and this gives continuity to its work in showing the value of natural resources and local products. It is based on a dynamic of collaboration between partners from different sectors, who collectively form an open and sustainable network of tourism and culture.

ID Rota Vicentina stimulates cooperation between tourism and local culture.

Using its own methods, drawn from the region's identity, it proposes an integrated development, to achieve consequent results. The RV trails are instrumental to these methods, as they provide and stimulate access and community involvement - only in this way will a more sensitive, conscious and true experience of the place be achieved.

The action programme intervenes in three areas: local culture, tourism and training. In particular, it integrates certain projects that, in the Alentejo counties of Sines, Odemira and Santiago do Cacém, demonstrate more maturity, impact potential and the capability to create examples of good practices for the entire territory.

Four axes support the ID Rota Vicentina project:

Involve the local community in a sustainable recognition and promotion of natural and cultural heritage through tourism. At the same time, to support and enable cultural and tourist agents in the territory in working with local culture as a tourist experience, in a responsible and consistent manner.

Encouraging proposals that make sense to all agents and interested parties, within the framework of the preservation and enhancement of tourism of the endogenous resources in the region.

Starting from the expectations, premises and skills of local stakeholders (residents, tourists, entrepreneurs) to implement a practice based on local culture. The specificities of this region will transform and spread a dynamic of innovation and good practices.

Original tourist network

Build, in a collaborative environment, a structured network of cultural and touristic products and services, diversified and perfectly integrated into the regional context. The uniqueness of the territory will be transformed into original content and formats, aimed at different target audiences.

ID Rota Vicentina Manifesto

Community. The Rota Vicentina is the project of a true Community, of a group of people who share this land and are attached and dedicated to it. We believe in the power of an ideal, of union, of joint work and of the common good. Life in this region is not what it was and the world has taken many turns. Globalisation has brought new ways of fishing, sowing, harvesting, buying, eating, walking, traveling… living. But the Southwest is unique and indivisible: coastal and inland, Portuguese and foreigners, residents and visitors, local life and tourism.

We want to mobilise local resources and invest in a model of truly sustainable development.

We want to reject investments and initiatives that do not serve everyone and encourage ones that do not give up the essentials. We want the impact of our life and consumption choices to be proudly taken by us and those who visit us.

We want to dialogue and work with this region, to give it as much as it has to give us. Using hands, alchemy, creativity and knowledge to transform what the land and sea give us, in much of what we need to eat, drink, use or smile.

We want the inspiration of this place to gain wings and become real stories, to relive countless times and add our full stop, when the time comes. We want everyone to be able to know what this land has always been and what it continues to be every day, so that, with new energy, we can accompany and enrich this joint journey. We embrace this movement that the people of the Southwest started and we want to give it strength, form, openness, reflection, action, citizenship. It is urgent to participate, today and always.

Only with an open heart can we, everyone and all together, feel the vibration of this land beneath our feet and let ourselves be guided by it.

Rota Vicentina

– Association for the Promotion of Nature Tourism on the Alentejo and Vicentine Coast

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

PRODUCTS | RESOURCES | SKILLS

1. Responsibility and Sustainability

2. Local Culture

3. Quality

4. Commerce and Communication

1. Responsibility and Sustainability

SOCIAL, ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC

Environmental Collective

Economy

2. Local Culture

ORIGIN AND AUTHENTICITY

Originality

3. Quality

VERACITY AND TRUST

Material factors

Intangible factors

4. Commerce and Communication

MARKET ORIENTATION

Commercial Communicational (disclosure)

Communicational (network)

1. Responsibility and

Sustainability

SOCIAL, ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC

All economic activities have an environmental and social impact on the territories. On identifying this impact, it is necessary to act consciously on its effects. The best way to preserve the recognisable and differentiating characteristics of places is to use resources intelligently and to develop skills. This project recognises the existence of an increasingly expressive search for opportunities and experiences in this area, therefore integrating and echoing an increasingly conscious search, from social, ecological and cultural points of view. Preserving innovating is also the surest way to a sustainable future for the territory and the planet.

Preserve the environment at all stages (from production to consumption).

Use local and regional products.

Value local resources.

Opt for environmentally friendly products.

Use energy efficient and renewable means. Promote the balance between natural resources and tourism.

Stimulate a circular, collaborative and participatory economy.

Involve the local population in an equal, inclusive and active way.

Promote the meeting of the various groups and social sectors that inhabit the region.

Promote fair trade.

Assure fair conditions for the human resources involved.

Promote innovative business ideas, with a balanced potential for profitability. Encourage proposals that favour reasonable growth and long-term sustainability.

Commitments

Shared responsibility

Create a feeling of belonging to the place that motivates joint accountability in the implementation and development of activities.

Encourage collaboration between producers, agents and customers in the preservation of defining and differentiating characteristics of the territory.

Ethical tourism

Promote effective methods of involving the visitor (other) and the tourist (client).

Foster discussion and awareness through volunteering.

Stimulate civic involvement in the issues and problems of the territory.

Guarantee the consumer / tourist access to knowledge about their personal impact, in an awareness process that promotes responsible choices.

Inform the consumer through advice and recommendations.

2. Local Culture

The identification of people with places is a complex, multiple and inclusive process, and it is under permanent construction. It is reflected in everyday life through the relationships between individuals, communities and the landscape, all playing an active role in the construction of “identity”. Attachment to the land and the feeling of belonging are the factors for visiting and staying that need to be recognised, valued and enhanced. The potential of relations between the permanent and floating population (immigrants, locals, tourists) also demonstrates the collective value of identification with this territory.

How do the characteristics of culture constitute a touristic opportunity?

How does ID Rota Vicentina contribute to the construction and renewal of local culture?

Develop self-identity and assert the difference. Recognise and access the primary local sector.

Value vernacular knowledge. Preserve and develop the natural and cultural ecosystem. Spread its contemporary and updated identity throughout the territory.

Establish the natural landscape as a foundation of cultural processes and expressions of the territory.

Generate critical reflection on the volume of regionally supportable tourism and its future consequences.

Promote the preservation and growth of genuine local knowledge.

Cover the primary sector in promoting the territory.

3. Quality

The quality of the product depends from the very beginning on the technical characteristics of the production - choice of raw material, resources and skills to be used - as well as on the design and delivery of the service. Quality will then be assessed through the effects of the total experience and customer loyalty. For this to happen, it is necessary to provide a real experience, offering products and services based from the start on principles of transparency, honesty and truth. The total satisfaction of expectations is instrumental in winning the trust of the client. The territory is rebuilt in an authentic narrative, which constitutes an alternative and a replacement for traditional marketing: services and products speak for themselves, and the experience has a transforming effect, through participation in this narrative and the resulting elevation of tourism, culture and spirituality.

Material factors

Opt for resources (raw materials, products, energy, etc.) of regional origin and obtained in a responsible manner.

Invest in product durability and business longevity.

Maintain a capacity of scale adequate to the service's promise.

Generate trust with the customer and a personalised service.

Understand the customer and the transformative power of a successful experience.

Ensure the transparency of all the activities of the operation.

Promote social and commercial relations of proximity and trust, generating consistency in the network.

Create authentic contents within the scope of a differentiating product.

Invest in the training of human resources.

Commitments

Preserve and promote good practices at local and regional levels.

Stimulate a specific differentiated attitude and stipulate high quality criteria.

Collaborate in research, documentation and knowledge transfer.

Guide good choices.

4. Commerce and Communication

The projects must have a high degree of maturity, proven through the organisation, the capacity for realisation and access to the proposed product and service. It must be ensured that the experience corresponds to the created expectation, and that it effectively communicates its values and the specificity of what is offered. The ability to integrate and spread networking is important: involving regional partners and products, contextualising endogenous resources and promoting the local market, in a context of communication and a circular economy.

Guarantee the quality (cultural, social, ecological and economic) of products and services.

To favour quality and not quantity, through scale and proximity to the origin.

Embody an attitude and be persuasive as to its effectiveness and importance: “You can't give the tourist everything, nor exactly, what they want.”

Promote

Assume

Defend regional origin as a value factor.

individual and common values to the network.

an attitude of transparency and honesty in the business: "Sell the story."

Consolidate and make the most of the ID Rota Vicentina brand.

Work and communicate in a network.

Disseminate good practices through recommendations. Suggest the most sustainable choices.

Communicate in a clear, shared and participatory way.

Monitor and value the impact through studies (ensure

accessibility of numbers).

Listen to the market: identify trends, produce knowledge and promote alternative approaches.

Map the existing range of products and services and identify, characterise and promote the new product.

Use the demand > supply relationship to impart a range and rhythm appropriate to consumption.

Defend the common values of the network, through a public manifesto.

TYPOLOGIES AND CATEGORIES

The values described here can be applied in this region at various scales and in the most diverse activities. It can include the production of food and goods, gastronomic experiences, services provided by rural tourism accommodation or hotels, occasional or recurring cultural activities, a performing arts festival, among others. Products and services, public or private, are part of what the region offers, and all contribute to the development and to the affirmation of the region.

Specifically, we consider it of the utmost importance to respect, in all activities, the following recommendations:

PRODUCT

Food and non-food production must meet a quality standard that favours the ecosystem and uses raw materials in a qualitative way, as well as fair and clean production methods.

SERVICE

All services must commit to respecting and incorporating the values of ID Rota Vicentina in their activities, using local and ecological products, as well as integrating fair working conditions for the human resources used.

Transparency is essential in the three axes of action: conception of proposals, implementation of activities, and communication / dissemination of the objectives and results of the activities developed.

It also highlights the importance of respect for diversity and cultural freedom, with a view to the formation and consolidation of an inclusive and supportive regional community.

The Rota Vicentina network extends over a wide territory and interconnects several important facets in the region. The most visible side of this network is tourist activities. However, there are diverse local activities in addition to tourism: social, cultural, agricultural, ecological and others.

ID Rota Vicentina reaches and covers all agents and entities of the community and local culture, creating an effective and sustainable network for all.

In the field of tourism, the network includes restaurants, small or medium-sized hotels, rural accommodation, tourist activities, agencies and operators, transport and local commerce.

But ID Rota Vicentina breaks the boundaries of traditional tourism and has made a commitment to be involved in other components of daily life, with a view to creating an interest in the region that is not just seasonal or intermittent.

In the social, cultural, agricultural and ecological spheres, the following are included:

Artistic projects and small and medium-sized events which are one-offs or recurring, promoted either by public or private entities: exhibitions, training in the arts, performing arts exhibitions, music festivals, etc.

Activities in the social arena, aimed specifically at the populations, with a view to their integration into this extended network.

Food projects (perishable and non-perishable) and ecological (respectful use of resources).

Activities that integrate key producers in the region: farmers, fishermen and artisans.

This network movement has the advantage of giving equality to the importance and value of all areas of action of ID Rota Vicentina: at the same time it embraces them and allows them to enrich each other. In this way, it ensures that residents and tourists have access to and benefit from the same resources, provided that it has been foreseen is in the balance with the offered product and its relationship with the territory as a whole.

CASE STUDIES

1. Dozero

2. Touro Azul

3. Herdade do Cebolal

4. Branco de Cal

5. Andarilho da Luz

Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina

are full of ideas and projects that make this region even more alive. People organise themselves to find creative and responsible ways of giving value to local resources, preserving and expanding cultural heritage, welcoming visitors and protecting nature.

Of the many cases we know, we have chosen four examples that illustrate well the diversity of approaches to the territory and inspire us to do more, and we include for a fifth outside example to help us reflect on these issues.

How can a business be created and grow based on a philosophy of respect for nature?

What is the impact on the territory and communities of the adoption of responsible practices in production?

What kind of relationships are established with customers, visitors and other producers within the logic of responsible production?

Dozero is a micro bakery founded by Raquel Dabarra and Rosa Shoel in 2017. Located in Charnequinha (Cercal do Alentejo), its production is based on artisanal methods and natural ingredients that reflect a concern with the ecological impact of the activity and its potential to support sustainable development. Raquel and Rosa started to imagine this project between Rio de Janeiro and Toronto. They participated in several initiatives in this Canadian city where they found a community of producers with similar concerns. The homemade fermentation laboratories in the city opened an appetite for country life, where this activity could be developed in close proximity to nature and a rural wisdom that both admire and respect. Chance and some family connections brought Raquel and Rosa to Portugal.

On the Costa Vicentina they found a melting pot of new visions in contact with the traditional knowledge of the region. They found a neighbourhood interested in their work, open to sharing knowledge and building cultural diversity in tune with the rhythms of nature. It was from this neighbourhood that they learned the secrets of ancient wheat, such as barbell wheat, ground in the Troviscais mill, which has belonged to the same family of millers for five generations. This is just one example of how the activities of Dozero Bakery seek to stimulate cooperation between those who live and work in this territory. The arrival of new neighbours, who have the enthusiasm for change and foreign ideas, is a constructive challenge for those who have lived here for the longest time - and, of course, the reverse is also true!

Therefore, when Raquel and Rosa talk about sustainability, they speak of a human scale where direct contact between people, from producers to consumers, is privileged. This web of relationships does not only strengthen itself in promoting responsible production and consumption logics, where all parties are informed and committed to a certain way of working the land. Behind the bread, the cheeses and other edible specialties that result from this work, there is an attitude of adapting to the environment, to what it gives during each season, to its need for rest and maintenance. Thus, we see a clearer picture of what sustainability is in this context: a set of concerns about the ecological, economic and social impact of a given activityconcerns that have to be addressed together, in a relational way.

Raquel and Rosa found a support platform for this mission at AMAP Sado / Alvalade (Association for the Maintenance of Proximity Agriculture). This structure helps producers and consumers in gaining a better understanding of the territory, its seasonality and its biological heritage.

Dozero Bakery's work has been well received by all the agents involved: from customers who are loyal and want to know more, appreciating the richness of this bread; to other small producers or visitors, who are inspired to start their own projects.

At its origin is a crossroads between countryside and city fuelled by curiosity, a contemporary movement that inevitably enriches what the region can offer the tourist, increasingly marked by another intersection, between the local and the global.

In this sense, Dozero Bakery shows how a food as simple as bread can mediate sharing the rich social, cultural and natural history of the Southwest with visitors, who learn and enjoy in equal measure, while contributing to economic growth of the region and for the preservation, in place and in memory, of its landscape.

2. Touro Azul

— The art of living places

How can tourism integrate local culture?

How can tourism contribute in preserving the culture and landscape of the territory?

The Touro Azul project results from a partnership between Madalena Victorino (Cooperativa Cultural LAVRAR O MAR), CACO - Artisans Association of Odemira - and Rota Vicentina and consists of tours that cross the knowledge of the natural landscape and contact with the community, local culture and artesanal production. These tours take the form of an artistic production, where expressions such as music, dance or theatre interact with the place and people, offering new interpretations. The project takes its name from an old children's saga used by parents and grandparents to delight children. This allusion is not accidental, as the focus of these tours is on the charm of people and their stories, the fables that are evoked by certain places, the ancestral memories shared as myths and the practices that survive time in the most unexpected places.

As a tourist activity, an experience of this nature offers the visitor the unique opportunity to get to know a special reality, which seems magical but is actually a testament to wisdom. It takes visitors to the places where it happens, where it lives, where it coexists. It shows, tells, proves.

The stunning natural involvement reminds anyone of the responsibility to respect and preserve the ecosystem that allows magic to happen. For the visitor, this encounter with alternative rhythms to the speed of modern life does not need to be a cold and distant observation, merely contemplative. There is knowledge that can be taken from here and that can be brought here. This circulates when visitors meet residents, when they chat or share a table. This also circulates when artists plan their interventions in collaboration with the local community.

It is significant that the Touro Azul tours are designed for small groups. Today, the suffocation that global mass tourism can impose on communities is visible, as well as the ecological cost of profit-driven strategies - they are not only destructive in the short term, they are unsustainable in the long term. Moreover, these forms of tourism tend to produce homogeneous and indistinct experiences, increasingly disconnected from the true nature of the tourist destinations. What Touro Azul and other agents with similar concerns do is to reduce the intensity in order to increase the quality.

This exchange opens up space for creativity and imagination, becoming an essential tool for the preservation of traditional arts and knowledge. In addition, it allows the territory to be promoted with its contemporary and updated identity, through responsible and sustainable excursions, which are also memorable and constructive. If the world needs to change its relationship with nature's spaces, this region can reveal leads on how to do it. One of these leads is how much people like their land and how much they strive to take care of it.

A deep and responsible connection to the local culture has the capacity to make others fall in love from the first minute and, on returning home, perhaps find an equally positive fascination and commitment to the preservation of their own land.

do Cebolal

— To live and take care of our land

How is the management of the natural landscape renewed over generations?

Why invest in sustainable approaches to agricultural production and what examples are there?

How do the unique characteristics of the production process contribute to the quality of the final product?

How can agricultural and wine production be part of the regional touristic experience in an equally responsible manner?responsável?

Located in Santiago do Cacém, between Serra de Santiago and Serra do Cercal, Herdade do Cebolal is home to a wine production that, since its origin in 1876, has belonged to the same family. In the fifth generation of owners we find Luís Mota Capitão, who in recent years has dedicated himself to updating the entire production operation, in order to make the estate more sustainable and the final product more unique. As he himself acknowledges, sustainability is not instantly achieved as a result of this or that isolated measure. Instead, it is an ongoing process, a continuous effort to explore new ideas and adopt practices that take care of the land for the future years. At Herdade do Cebolal this is a slowing down activity, in which there is time to reflect and test approaches that result in changes to the methods and logics of production.

Perhaps the most important is the gradual abandonment of monocultures in favor of multicultures. This means, for example, that agricultural activity is not limited to the vineyards, but also attention is paid to the planting and maintenance of thousands of trees that effect a natural decompacting of the soil and allow better control of the different microclimates existing within the estate.

Global climate change is not indifferent here. Rising temperatures and extreme climatic phenomena, such as major forest fires, result in major negative consequences for activities that depend on nature's cycles. Therefore, the concern with making a land sustainable is also linked to its durability and is an investment that will allow the vineyards to remain active over several decades, extending up to and beyond the sixth generation of owners. The longevity of the vineyards illustrates the way in which environmental sustainability and economic sustainability work in harmony, something that Luís Mota Capitão also intends to promote through the sharing of resources, tools and knowledge between local producers.

Often, new problems that are common can be solved with techniques and knowledge pushed aside by technological progress, and now they are again useful for those looking for sustainable alternatives in their production.

Changes in work or social relationship processes are not just for ecological purposes and their effects are observable on the quality of the final product. In wines this translates into unique flavours, which are derived from nuances and details of production unique to this estate, and which, in turn, are integrated into the ecosystem of Alentejo Litoral, with its own characteristics and requirements. We see it, for example, in the unusual Vinho do Mar, which is subjected to a submerged stage, giving away the coastal origin of its producers.

10 km from the sea, Herdade do Cebolal promotes its production and its space through wine tourism activities, such as “Cocaria”, which again links the wine to the land where it is produced, to all the flavours and landscapes that surround it, to the roots that visitors look for when traveling to this region. In that moment of contact, the complex knot of sustainability is tied: starting in the production, materialising in the product, confirmed in sharing. In this, as in other cases, wine, flavours and experiences testify the producers' dedication to the land, their willingness to explore new approaches in conjunction with time-tested knowledge, preserving the natural heritage for future generations.

This is the way to win the trust of customers and make quality the material and immaterial factor of differentiation in all products and experiences.

(*) A traditional meal for rural workers consisting of meats and vegetables cooked in clay pots placed next to embers on the ground. Cocaria was usually made by a woman, known as the ‘coqueira’ (coconut tree), who was in charge of the workers' meals.

– Know how to welcome

What is the visitor looking for on the Costa Vicentina?

How can local agents contribute to a more responsible form of tourism?

Branco de Cal is a family run project offering local accommodation situated in Vila Nova de Milfontes, in the municipality of Odemira. At the head of the project, three siblings (Tomás, Laura and Mariana) and their parents (Luís and Paula) share their efforts in offering visitors a true experience of the region during their stay in one of the four houses available - three individually rented spaces and one bed & breakfast with several rooms. In any of the spaces, what is offered is consistently committed to the values of sustainability and local culture.

This concern can be seen in the restored furniture or in the art that occupies the walls of the rooms and was created by Tomás and Laura. Waste and the environmental footprint must be reduced, while producing an unforgettable environment for guests, whose good reception reflects the success of the investment. The link to the region's economy is reflected in the locally sourced products used or sold, ranging from soaps to foods served for breakfast.

And when the visitor leaves the accommodation to start their day, they can always count on the tips and advice from the family, who try to promote other local projects and businesses, in addition to the territory itself and its secrets. In all acts and all decisions there is a great concern to show the local reality, to ensure that the visitor comes into contact with the ingredients that give Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina its own identity. Nobody can provide this contact better than a family that was born here and took root, and that now decides to share.

Their love of the land guarantees that this sharing will always promote respect for nature and community networks that preserve important social and cultural relationships. This is an example of how responsible tourism also represents an exciting possibility for those who now want to start projects and businesses in this area without contributing to a possible erosion of local qualities at the mercy of mass tourism.

It is these approaches that will allow our region to be a sustainable place, that everyone will be able to appreciate, live and visit for many, many years.

Andarilho da Luz

– The new rhythms of sustainable tourism

What is tourism today?

How can responsible tourism attract an audience equally interested in establishing a positive and constructive relationship with the territory?

Marcus Pavani is from Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil), where in 1998 he created Andarilho da Luz , an ecological tourism agency focused on therapeutic walks. Despite this distance from here, Marcus continues to act and reflect on the Southwest of Portugal through the organisation of his walks and as an associate of Rota Vicentina. These nature walks provide participants with unique moments of proximity to nature, promoting physical and mental well-being while at the same time making the territory accessible to anyone who wants to know it responsibly.

Marcus sees tourism as an expression of deeper human relationships and thus believes that the values and concerns present in the work of Andarilho da Luz can blossom in the lives of the participants even after the walk is over. Whoever gives affection receives affection; whoever respects is respected; whoever knows how to take care of the land, will know how to take care of themselves. Despite its economic, social, cultural or environmental impact, tourism alone cannot solve all the world's problems because it is only a part of the lives of different peoples. However, tourism generates moments of contact between people where the desire for change can be translated into concrete actions that, due to the nature of this activity, can have positive effects both in the territory visited and in the place of origin of the visitor. Our time is marked by mobility, even when it is limited or suspended, like it happens during a global pandemic that jumbles up the usual order of things. It is not surprising, then, that tourism is such an important activity in the development of a region, in addition to being a way of building cultural interconnections that, in fact, open up the world.

We know, however, that mass tourism can be more destructive than constructive and can threaten the survival of the characteristics that make a region attractive. That is why we see alternative and resistance movements emerging all over the world, which believe it is possible to travel, know and share without putting the future at risk. Responsible, sustainable or ecological tourism works on the basis of reciprocity between the visitor and the visited territory. The offer qualifies the demand and, in the Southwest of Portugal, Andarilho da Luz found the right ingredients to design an unrepeatable offer.

One of these ingredients is the slowing down of the incessant rhythm of contemporary life; we can find this in nature, where everyday stress is diluted and we can have another perspective of ourselves. This living heritage belongs to everyone and Andarilho da Luz tours should inspire other tourism agents to find creative ways to show it to visitors, preserving its essence.

Responsible sharing gives rise to the type of tourism that contemporary societies need in order to continue to cross and visit without irreparably destroying the planet. In the Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina there is the possibility to build that future now.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

Agenda Semana

ID

Vozes ID (ID Voices)

Launched in July 2020, the Rota Vicentina Agenda is a dynamic presentation of cultural and tourist activities in the region, from Santiago do Cacém to Lagos. By mobilising its network of partners and local cultural agents, the aim is to inform local residents and visitors of a selection of integrated offers, which allow them to immerse themselves in the landscape hand in hand with the community.

rotavicentina.com/agenda

In the spring of 2021, from the 21st to the 27th of March, the Southwest of Portugal will experience the first public event promoted by the Rota Vicentina Association, which will take place over 7 days in an exclusively online format. Rota Vicentina wants to continue its journey and, in a spirit of communion and sharing of the territory, to invite those who were born here and those who love this land to co-create and participate in this event. The programme will feature touristic products that offer a unique trip along the coast and through the mountains, as well as a component of reflection on sustainability with three online colloquiums.

The entire local community and project partners are invited to participate in the construction of this event, which is wanted by everyone, for everyone.

In order to get to know better and present the five case studies in this publication, illustrating the recommendations for good practice, we interviewed the representatives of each of the projects. These voices tell firsthand what it is like to live and work in this region and can be heard on our Youtube channel.

tinyurl.com/7vw7rfb4

(Only in Portuguese)

Rota Vicentina

Rota Vicentina - Association for the Promotion of Nature Tourism on the Alentejo and Vicentina Coast, is, since 2013, the entity responsible for the management, integration, stimulus, development and promotion of the walking trails of Rota Vicentina, as well as the touristic opportunities associated with the tourist product that the Rota Vicentina represents.

This Private Non-Profit Association aims to assert itself as a defining element of the region, enabling enjoyment and pleasure through one of the most natural practices of the human conditionwalking - and contributing unequivocally to the sustainability of the rural world, through boosting economic activity, stimulating existing activities and services, maintaining and strengthening local traditions and culture, encouraging the creation of new businesses and promoting destinations outside the peak seasons.

The beauty of the landscape, the natural, historical and cultural heritage, the tourist resources and the public nature of the paths, were the main criteria in the process of choosing the route, composed of existing trails and made up of the Historical Way, the Fishermen's Trail and several Circular Routes; itineraries that complement each other revealing the true essence of Southwest Portugal.

In 2019, Rota Vicentina expanded its range of offers, providing a network of more than 1000 km of MTB trails, a Touring Bike GPS track that joins the airports of Lisbon and Faro, and several Nature, Culture and Wellness activities.

Rota Vicentina

Credits

ID ROTA VICENTINA

GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES

Project consultancy and Editorial coordination

Álbio Nascimento

Kathi Stertzig

(The Home Project Design Studio)

Texts

Álbio Nascimento

Equipa Rota Vicentina

Guilherme Sousa

Marta Cabral

Translation

Keeley Cheston

Graphic design

Guilherme Sousa (Contra-Estúdio)

Laura Araújo (Contra-Estúdio)

Madalena Espírito Santo

Maria Manuel Dominguez

Photography

Andarilho da Luz (páginas 69, 71, 73)

Branco de Cal/Matilde Viegas (páginas 63, 65, 66, 67)

camarenaphoto.com (páginas 45, 47, 48, 49)

Herdade do Cebolal (páginas 59, 61)

Rota Vicentina ® (páginas

rotavicentina.com

facebook.com/rotavicentina

instagram.com/rotavicentina

Digital publication

March 2021