Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B NEXT Black Sea Basin

Date of latest update: 2025-09-26

Description

Description (EN):

Sustainable tourism is an integral element in blue growth due to its potential to contribute to economic development while preserving the integrity and resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems. Innovation plays a crucial role in driving sustainable tourism and blue growth. However, tourism and related services in the Black Sea Basin are still considered knowledge- and technology non-intensive, which entails economic but also environmental and social losses. Black Sea tourism is troubled by overdevelopment, pollution and waste, seasonality and ineffective transfer of knowledge to novel business and practical solutions. This decreases the added value of the sector and makes its improvement over-vulnerable to various global shocks. The regional challenges can be overcome with novel context-relevant solutions based on cross-fertilization of state-of-art social, natural and engineering knowledge and expertise and via raising the innovation absorption and technology take-up in tourism. The rationale is that the stakeholders should innovate locally, in order to use the maritime resources effectively for all economic activities and to protect the marine life and environment. The project “INTERSMARTS: Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin” aims to improve the sustainability performance and innovation absorption of tourism and services via interdisciplinary research, networking, co-creation and holistic knowledge generation. The goal will be achieved through establishing an open interdisciplinary network for applied research and technology transfer and valorizing novel solutions for smart and sustainable tourism and services. In the long run, the project seeks to change the traditional perceptions and to raise awareness on the knowledge-intensive nature of tourism within the blue growth framework. The project intervention logic is aligned with the quintuple innovation helix which brings together the academia, business, government, civil sector and environment in a knowledge economy. The project results in: * INTERSMARTS Network for Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Tourism and Services with task forces on sustainable infrastructure and resource management, anti-pollution and waste management, seasonality solutions, technology transfer and innovations - uniting the project partner organizations work for sharing knowledge, experience and collaboration about raising the sustainability and blue growth performance of tourism and related services in the Black Sea Basin * Needs assessment research about sustainability and blue growth perspectives of tourism and related services regarding the main sectoral challenges * INTERSMARTS Innovation Management Platform with a data-base of novel solutions and technology advancements that demonstrate how sustainability tourism entities can be improved as well as with idea-generation and crowd-sourcing functionalities * Four transnational Interdisciplinary research and networking events for smart sustainable tourism in Bulgaria, Republic of Moldova, Greece and Türkiye. INTERSMARTS implementation is based on delivering challenge-specific studies, interdisciplinary, comprehensive intervention, cross-border applied research and open civic participation engaging citizens as active participants in the research processes. The project will bring benefits to business, academia, communities and policy-makers in the partners’ countries and in whole Black Sea area. Sustainable smart tourism and blue growth are issues that go beyond the national borders. Answering the identified regional challenges in this regards requires the informed participation and cooperation of all relevant stakeholders in the neighbouring countries that rely on the Black Sea as a shared asset. The main feature of sustainability is that it is not limited to a certain type of services or products such as nature-based tourism or eco-tourism but is rather a philosophy that underlies both the demand and supply side of tourism businesses. Enforcing the perception that tourism can drive innovation and technological advancements in the blue economy requires wide-spread recognition and celebration of the innovative tourism initiatives in the Black Sea Basin – particularly when these initiatives are still scarce. INTERSMARTS is a joint initiative of the Varna University of Management (Bulgaria), International Hellenic University (Greece), Moldova State University (Republic of Moldova) and Istanbul Development Agency (Türkiye).

Actual Achievements (EN):

This report covers the first 4-month period since the implementation of the INTERSMARTS project – from 15.06.2024 until 14.10.2024. It accounts for the implementation of the following activities:  A1.1. Creation of a transnational INTERSMARTS Network for Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services in the Black Sea Basin  A1.2 Assessing the country - and region-specific needs about the sustainability and blue growth perspectives of tourism and related services in the BSB  Project Management and Communication The project's main managerial and communication structures were created to streamline the implementation process from the beginning. As a result, Activity 1.1 was completed, and Output 1.1 “INTERSMARTS Network for Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Tourism and Services” was delivered. Work on A1.2 has commenced and is scheduled for completion in the next reporting period. Progress has been made toward achieving the program result indicator P11_RCR84: 'Organizations cooperating across borders after project completion.' Specifically, the cooperation framework among partners on blue economy and growth issues has been formalized. The project workflow referred to: A1.1. Creation of a transnational INTERSMARTS Network…. - Elaboration of a document set for defining the Network, including (i) an establishment agreement (memorandum of understanding), (ii) a portfolio of services, (iii) sustainability actions and (iv) an application form for new potential members - Nomination of the experts to be engaged with the Network and identification of the network premises - Formation of the Network task forces working on sustainable infrastructure and resource management (led by PP3/MSU, anti-pollution and resource management (led by PP2/IHU), seasonality solutions (led by LP1/VUM), and technology transfer and innovations (lead by PP4/ISTKA) - Signature of the Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of the INTERSMARTS Network. - Formal inauguration of the INTERSMARTS Network via an international thematic conference in Varna (BG) A1.2. Assessing the country - and region-specific needs… - Elaboration of a research methodology and templates with the other partners about the needs assessment Management - Establishment of the project Steering and Evaluation Committee (SEC) - Co-creation and adoption of a Plan for Management and Monitoring (PMM) and a Quality Assurance Plan and Methodology (QAPM) of the project - Organisation of 4 SEC/partner meetings (3 online and 1 on-site) with quality panels - Maintaining a shared co-working project space in Google Drive Communication - Co-creation of the Project Communication Plan, accompanied by visualization templates, action plan, and model dissemination log for monitoring the communication progress - Launching the Project Website (https://intersmarts.eu/) and Social Media Channels on Facebook and LinkedIn and posting 20 content notes about the launch of the project, INTERSMARTS Network, and the INTERSMARTS Conference for the inauguration of the Network in Varna - Dissemination of ion of 3 e-News Releases on the – notes about the launch of the project, INTERSMARTS Network, and INTERSMARTS Conference in Varna on 8/10/2024, resulting in 7 national media publications on the project, including on the Bulgarian National Television, National Radio and Telegraph Agency - Dissemination of 12 posts about the INTERSMARTS Project, Network, and Conference via partners’ institutional websites and social media channels. - - Presentation of the project at the Cluster Meet Regions Conference in Chisinau, organized by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, on behalf of DG Grow, UNDP Moldova, and the Romanian Cluster Association. All partners have dedicated efforts and expertise during the first project period managing to mobilise active target group involvement in the project activities and high public interest in the project research themes and focus. This report covers the second 4-month period since the start of the implementation of the INTERSMARTS project – from 15.10.2024 until 14.02.2025. It accounts for the implementation of the following activities: * A1.2 Assessing the country - and region-specific needs about the sustainability and blue growth perspectives of tourism and related services in the BSB * А1.3 Development of an online data-base with applied research and innovations about smart and sustainable tourism in the BSB * Project Management and Communication The period accounts for the completion of the applied research activities, particularly interdisciplinary joint needs assessment, performed in the project by the INTERSMARTS network, and for outlining the structure of the INTERSMARTS Innovation Management Platform. As a result, Activity 1.2 was successfully completed, and Output 1.2, “Organizations performing needs assessment about the sustainability and blue growth perspectives of tourism and related services in the BSB,” was achieved in 90%. The work on A1.3 commenced and will be finalized during the next reporting period. The project workflow referred to: A.1.2. Assessing the country - and region-specific needs about the sustainability and blue growth perspectives of tourism and related services in the BSB: - Finalisation of the common taxonomy, research methodology, strategies for the field, multi-disciplinarity, and civic research (including involvement of non-professional researchers in focus groups and theme-specific interviews to survey the local/national perceptions on the project challenges) - Challenge-based desk and field research in all partner countries, including general surveys, focus-group discussions, and in-depth interviews - Cross-country comparison of the results - Outlining the directions for feasible and new interdisciplinary and smart solutions for tackling sustainability problems in tourism - Outlining prospects for blue growth As a result, 4 Needs Assessment reports were generated about: - Overdevelopment => Sustainable infrastructure and resource management - Pollution and waste => Anti-pollution and waste management - Seasonality => Seasonality solutions - Low innovation absorption =>Technology transfer and innovations. The needs assessment reports are in final drafts and shall be formally shared following peer review and formatting that is to occur in the next reporting period (as planned) - Organization of an International Workshop in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova for sharing the needs assessment findings and results, hosted by the Moldova State University on 7.02.2025 and attended by 45 stakeholder participants on site. The project partners shared the results of their field research and the involvement of civic researchers in their focus group and interview activities. Local champions of sustainable tourism and services discussed context-specific solutions and findings. А1.3 Development of an online data-base with applied research and innovations about smart and sustainable tourism in the BSB - Elaborating a common template for the description of best practices, including tags and categorization for organising the best practices in a DB - Identification of best practices in all partner countries with the support of the non-professional researchers and experts engaged in the project focus groups and interview sessions. Management - Elaborating and submitting the first interim reports at partner and project levels - Preparing and submitting a notification for minor budgetary adjustments - Organising 3 SEC/partner meetings (2 online and 1 on-site) and quality evaluation procedures, to which all partners contributed - Maintaining a shared co-working project space in Google Drive. Communication - Maintaining the Project Website (https://intersmarts.eu/) and Social Media Channels on Facebook and LinkedIn - Posting 26 content notes, images, and news releases on LinkedIn, Facebook, and the partners' websites about the intermediate results in the process of the needs assessment and the INTERSMARTS International Workshop in Chisinau, including a YouTube video from the event and video reels - Presenting the project methodology and elaborating a research article at the International Scientific Conference “Modern Paradigms in the Development of the National and World Economy”, organized by PP3-MSU - Monitoring and revision of the project dissemination across the partner countries - Reaching out >7000 views in the project social media and >400 users for the project web-site In the reporting period, all partners jointly contributed to the achievement of one NEXT BSB programme result indicator associated with the project, namely RCR84 “Organisations cooperating across borders after the project completion”, refers to the INTERSMARTS Network.

Project outputs: INTERSMARTS Network for Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Tourism and Services(EN)
Organizations performing needs assessment about
the sustainability and blue growth perspectives of tourism and related services in the BSB(EN)
INTERSMARTS Innovation Management Platform(EN)

Thematic information

Tourism

Priority: (VI-B_BSB_P1) Blue and Smart Region

Priority specific objective: RSO1.1. Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO1 A more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity

Type of intervention: 171 Enhancing cooperation with partners both within and outside the Member State

Partners (4)

Lead Partner: Висше училище по мениджмънт

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 949581695

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 124140232 | 124140232 | Unique identification number (EN)

Department: School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Address: Oborishte, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria

Department address: Oborishte, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://vum.bg

Total budget: EUR 190 181.60

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 171 163.44

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 90.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 19 018.16

ISTANBUL KALKINMA AJANSI

Name: ISTANBUL KALKINMA AJANSI

Department: INVESTMENT SUPPORT OFFICE

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 921366917

Partner’s ID if not PIC: TR4810546973 | 27062 | number of the act for registration (EN)

Address: Asmali Mescit Mah. Istiklal Caddesi, 34430 Istanbul, Turkey

Department address: Asmali Mescit Mah. Istiklal Caddesi , 34430 Istanbul, Turkey

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Other

Website: https://www.istka.org.tr

Total budget: EUR 101 228.40

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 91 105.56

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 90.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 10 122.84

Universitatea de Stat din Moldova

Name: Universitatea de Stat din Moldova

Department: Faculty of Economic Sciences

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 996760361

Partner’s ID if not PIC: n/a | 1006600064263 | National Identification Number (EN)

Address: Alexei Mateevici , MD-2009 Chișinău, Moldova

Department address: Alexei Mateevici, MD-2009 Chișinău, Moldova

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.usm.md

Total budget: EUR 93 396.80

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 84 057.12

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 90.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 9 339.68

ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ

Name: ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ

Department: Department of Organisation Management, Marketing and Tourism

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 969038343

Partner’s ID if not PIC: EL997015012 | 997015012 | taxpayer identification number (EN)

Address: 14 km THESSALONIKI-N.MOUDANIA, 57001 THESSALONIKI, Greece

Department address: 17 Km Thessaloniki-Sindos, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.ihu.gr/en/enhome/

Total budget: EUR 169 799.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 152 819.10

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 90.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 16 979.90

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

ISTANBUL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin

Partners and Projects info

Moldova State University

Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin

Partners and Projects info

International Hellenic University - Special Accounts for Research Funds

Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin

Partners and Projects info

Varna Univeristy of Management

Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin

Project acronym: INTERSMARTS

Project ID: BSB00332

Project start date: 2024-06-15

Project end date: 2025-12-14

Project status: ongoing

Relevant linked projects:

MED-QUAD: Mediterranean Quadruple Helix Approach to Digitization (ENI CBCMED) (EN) | INTERSMARTS can foresee synergy with the MED-QUAD project by leveraging and building upon:
* Quadruple Helix Model: MED-QUAD aims to establish a Quadruple Helix Model tailored to regional expectations, emphasizing collaboration among academia, industry, government, and civil society. INTERSMARTS can align with this model by incorporating stakeholders from these four components into its own project activities. By involving representatives from academia, industry, government bodies, and civil society organizations, INTERSMARTS can ensure diverse perspectives, knowledge exchange and collaborative decision-making in the development and implementation of smart sustainable tourism and services solutions.
* Innovation and Technology Transfer: MED-QUAD focuses on supporting education, research, technological development, and innovation, with a particular emphasis on technology transfer and commercialization of research results. INTERSMARTS can benefit from the knowledge and experiences gained in MED-QUAD to enhance its own innovation processes. This can involve adopting best practices for technology transfer and integration of innovative technologies and solutions into the smart sustainable tourism and services context of the BSB.
*Cross-Border Living Labs: MED-QUAD aims to establish innovative cross-border living labs as physical and virtual spaces where the demand for new products and services finds suitable solutions. INTERSMARTS can collaborate with MED-QUAD in developing and implementing these living labs, particularly in the context of smart sustainable tourism and services.
* Indicators and Metrics for Innovation: MED-QUAD identifies and tests new indicators and metrics that go beyond a research-and- development-centric approach to measure innovation outputs. INTERSMARTS can collaborate with MED-QUAD to explore and develop suitable indicators and metrics that capture the innovation capabilities and outcomes in the context of smart sustainable tourism and services. (EN), The Tourism and Service Management Research Laboratory “TourLab” at IHU (EN) | INTERSMARTS project can foresee synergy with the "TourLab" at IHU through:
* Collaboration in Research: TourLab laboratory specializes in tourism management and service management research. INTERSMARTS can collaborate with TourLab in conducting joint research projects that align with the objectives of both initiatives. This collaboration can involve sharing resources, expertise, and data to enhance the understanding of smart sustainable tourism and services in the BSB.
* Knowledge Sharing and Exchange: Both INTERSMARTS and TourLab contribute to the study and solution of problems related to tourism and service management. The projects can engage in knowledge sharing, organizing joint workshops, seminars, scientific events. Their platforms can facilitate the exchange of ideas, experiences, and best practices among researchers, academics, and professionals from both projects, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and promoting innovation.
* Educational Enhancement: TourLab meets the teaching and research needs of the Department of Organizational Management, Marketing & Tourism of IHU/PP2. INTERSMARTS can collaborate with TourLab to enrich the offered educational programs in the context of smart sustainable tourism and services.
* Publication and Dissemination: The collaboration can enhance the visibility and impact of the research conducted by both projects and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge.
* Industry Connections: TourLab aims to connect with productive sectors and other social agents to promote its scientific goals and give back to society. INTERSMARTS can collaborate with TourLab in establishing connections with relevant industry stakeholders in the BSB. By leveraging the industry networks and relationships of both projects, INTERSMARTS can ensure the practical relevance and applicability of its research outcomes, as well as facilitate the adoption and implementation of smart sustainable tourism and services solutions by industry actors. (EN)

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 554 605.80

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 499 145.22

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 90.00%

Co-financing sources:

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

SeaBasinStrategyBlackSea CMA is relevant for Bulgaria, Türkiye and RMoldova.
INTERSMARTS fits in Goal II: A competitive, innovative and sustainable blue economy for the Black Sea of the Common Maritime Agenda.
CMA recognizes the value of research& innovation for region’s growth and stimulates the transfer of knowledge from the labs to the market. INTERSMARTS interdisciplinary applied research and open civic research approaches (C.2.2) implement this philosophy in real terms.
The project addresses on sectoral level the main gaps undying Goal II (C.2.1, C2.2), namely
- Ineffective transfer of knowledge into innovation,
- Limited maritime innovation,
- Insufficient existing know-how to ensure the level of standards in
- Services, which are required by the market (about tourism).
CMA recognized that supporting research and innovation across the blue economy is key to unlock the region's growth potential and stimulate the transfer of knowledge “from the labs to the market” as is the specific objective of INTERSMARTS.
In particular, INTERSMARTS corresponds to specific objective follows Priority 1: Foster innovative business models, stimulate research and innovation, and sustainable growth and up-to-date jobs. The project has all these elements in its rationale, objective, activities, outputs and results. It aims to present the tourism as innovation- and technological advancements-driver in the blue economy by identifying and promoting successful solutions from applied research and practice and motivating stakeholders to replicate and scale-up this approach.
EUStrategyDanubeRegion EUSDR is relevant for Bulgaria and RMoldova.
INTERSMARTS objective and activities are aligned with
Pillar “Connecting the region”, Priority Area Priority Area 3 "Culture and Tourism" as tourism is the sector that INTERSMARTS addresses
and
Pillar “Knowledge Society”, Priority Area 7 "To develop the Knowledge Society (research, education and ICT)" as the focus of the project is on the smart sustainable solutions for tourism.
EUStrategyAdriaticIonianRegion INTERSMARTS objective and activities are aligned
in general with Pillar 1: Blue Growth, aiming to promote research, innovation and business opportunities in blue economy sectors, by facilitating the brain circulation between research and business communities and increasing their networking and clustering capacity as INTERSMARTS deals with the liaison between sustainable tourism and blue growth,
and
in particular with Pillar 4: Sustainable Tourism, aiming to Improving the quality and innovation of tourism offer and enhancing the sustainable and responsible tourism capacities of the tourism actors across the macro-region. Its topic 2 refers to Topic 2 Sustainable and responsible tourism management (innovation and quality) where INTESRMARTS will contribute directly focusing on the smart sustainable solutions for tourism coming from innovations and interdisciplinary research.
Other Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA)
aims to guide stakeholders from academia, funding agencies, industry, policy and society to address together the fundamental Black Sea challenges, to promote blue growth and economic prosperity of the BSB Region, to build critical support systems and innovative research infrastructure and to improve education and capacity building.
INTERSMARTS is in line with SRIA. Its objectives contribute to the SRIA aim addressing fundamental sectoral challenges (in tourism), blue growth, and building an innovative research infrastructure in the form of an idea/innovation management platform and support structure in the form of a network (C.4.1)
Further, the project contributes to
Pillar 1: Black Sea Knowledge Bridge, MG 1: Developing multi-disciplinary research, building on existing initiatives, including data-sharing mechanisms that will generate knowledge needed to increase ecosystem resilience – as the interdisciplinary research, identification of best-practices and sharing of knowledge/on-line crowdsourcing for identifying smart solutions for sustainable tourism are main approaches in activities and outputs’ delivery
Pillar 2: Black Sea Blue Economy, MG 1: Supporting marine and maritime research and innovation domains… to create synergy, increase economic benefits…in service of prospering, resilient and empowered communities… - by relying on interdisciplinary networking among research institutions and a regional development agency, building on and promoting existing knowledge from other initiatives on similar topics (C.2.6 and C.2.7), pooling experts and civic researchers together to devise holistic, context-relevant and impactful solutions for raising sustainability performance of tourism in view of blue growth (C.2.2). The project activities integrate the local communities’ perspectives.
Pillar 4: Education and capacity building, MG2: Empowering ocean-engaged citizens… regarding citizen science approach in A1.2, 1.3,1.5.

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 007 - Research organisations participating in joint research projects, Measurement unit:
RCO 087 - Organisations cooperating across borders, Measurement unit:

Delivered output indicator(s):

(RCO87) Organisations cooperating across borders: 4.0

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 084 - Organisations cooperating across borders after project completion, Measurement unit:
RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSDR

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSAIR

EUSAIR Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSAIR Degree of compliance:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B NEXT Black Sea Basin

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-09-26

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

42 / 42 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

189 / 189 (100%)

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Interdisciplinary Solutions for Smart Sustainable Tourism and Services for Blue Growth in the Black Sea Basin

Description

Thematic information

Partners (4)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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