Le slow tourisme dans une perspective réticulaire et participative : Le network Centrality of Territories

The article suggests an analytical perspective for tourism: not only as a driving force for economic development, but as an opportunity for territorial regeneration. Considering the extent to which globalization processes have reconfigured tourism, attention is focused on the territory, not conceived as a mere holiday destination, but as a place with a specific social, cultural and landscape value inserted into a network. other places, linked to the experience of individuals. A participatory research methodology, based on the principle of topological and reticular spatiality, is presented as part of a research project entitled "Centrality of Territories", led by the University of Bergamo. The aim of the research is to evaluate the territory of Bergamo compared to a network of European cities of similar size. Combining the criteria of innovation, sustainability and governance, the analysis aims to define the prospects for renovation and regeneration of the territory of Bergamo and its province. The study sees the collaboration between our university and six other universities (Beauvais / Compiègne- Compiègne University of Technology, Cambridge - Anglia Ruskin University, Charleroi - Provincial High School of Hainaut-Condorcet, Girona - University of Girona, Lübeck - Fachhochschule Lübeck , University of Applied Sciences, Santander - Universidad de Cantabria), working on three axes: research, education, social commitment. Taking advantage of the presence of a low-cost airport in small and medium-sized cities that usually create a rapid and mass tourist flow towards the metropolitan area, the methodology analyzes an alternative and sustainable use of the territory of the provinces and regions where the airport is located and considers it as a driver of economic growth of the territory, able to make the city center a tourist destination. This type of tourism is one of the key strategies of local development, as it can generate income and jobs by stimulating local resources and increasing their economic value. The "Centrality of territories" research team adopts an "indisciplinary" approach which, in addition to individual disciplinary affiliations (geography, economics, sociology, informatics, town planning, tourism marketing, etc.), allows researchers to share skills, in highlighting network potential of territories as a crucial point to consider. In addition, the team adopts an operational and participatory methodology that identifies pilot case studies in each country, to test the transition of concepts to operational tools and involves various local actors in a European networked framework. This perspective is inspired by the concept of slow tourism, covering a more complex idea of sustainability adapted to the highly urbanized areas of Europe, characterized by low-cost mobility that strongly affects the tourism sector increasing the general mobility of individuals and creating opportunities for tourist experiences not only for traditional tourists, but especially for visiting friends and relatives or for professionals who commute between European cities. This article, which offers a new interpretation of these phenomena, introduces the s-Low concept, based on a "fast" connectivity that should be accompanied by a slow fruition, focusing in particular on a participatory methodology that seeks to identify possible connections between territories 'resources based on individuals' experiences, shared using the web and the social media.