04/26/2019

Museos Vivos is a project launched by six Local Action Groups in Castile and León within the framework of the LEADER cooperation measure of the Castile and León Rural Development Program . This innovative project focuses on incorporating new technologies in reservation management and self-guided tours in a network of fourteen museums in the provinces of Burgos, Segovia, and Valladolid, allowing visits to be scheduled through a mobile app. Since the launch of this project, presented just a year ago, more than 600 people have been able to visit the various centers integrated into the network, breaking the trend of disuse.

The enhancement of existing ethnographic resources, cultural spaces, and nature interpretation classrooms in the region is a factor in their development, although this sometimes requires unaffordable efforts on the part of their managers. Within this framework, digital innovation and the application of new technologies allow for greater efficiency in the use of resources, adapting existing infrastructure and facilities to the needs of their users. This approach is inspired by the European Commission's Smart Villages initiative , which mobilizes rural stakeholders to find practical and innovative solutions that take advantage of existing opportunities at the local level.

The potential of this project has led to its selection as one of the two LEADER experience exchanges included in the National Rural Network's 2019 action plan, with the aim of promoting LEADER Cooperation. Specifically, the Experience Exchange of the Living Museums Project has allowed the Association for the Integral Rural Development of Tierra de Campos-North Zone of Valladolid (ADRI Valladolid), the project coordinator, to establish ties with Local Action Groups interested in the project and lay the foundations for the creation of a future inter-territorial cooperation project, and even expand horizons by becoming the first transnational cooperation project. Representatives of 12 Local Action Groups from Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Extremadura, and from Romania , the Czech Republic , and Portugal , have participated in this project .

In addition, so that attendees could see To learn how the application works and experience it firsthand, various visits were scheduled to three of the museums that make up the project: the Carnival Museum in Mecerreyes; the Día de Escuela and Marzas Ethnographic Museum in Ciruelos de Cervera; and the Comic Museum in Solarana. This experience served as a basis for sharing the different expectations and needs associated with the project, as well as for sharing concerns about the difficulties in managing cooperation projects and the restrictions that the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 may present. on the processing, storage and custody of personal data.

Through these types of actions, the National Rural Network promotes the implementation of LEADER cooperation projects and supports the work of Local Action Groups, enabling the search for intelligent solutions to address current needs and future challenges.