The jewel in the crown of the artist king.

In the National Palace of Pena, a remarkable digital narrative awaits us, taking us back into history. It reveals the fascinating story of the creation of the National Palace of Pena and its neighbouring buildings.

At the centre of this narrative was Ferdinand I, who was known by the enchanting name of “The Artist King”. He embarked on a great adventure and acquired the Monastery of Saint-Jérôme and the vast lands that surrounded it. This decisive act was the birth of the magnificent National Palace of Pena.

The narrative makes connections between the unique features of the place and the vivid imagination of the Middle Ages. It engages its audience with intriguing parallels to well-known literary works and enriches the experience. The winding paths leading to the National Palace of Pena invited visitors to travel back in time and immerse themselves in the lives of the ancient Portuguese kings – a picture of Portuguese romance.

Why is it regenerative?

The digital storytelling of the National Palace of La Pena is a good example of regenerative due to its holistic approach to revitalising an abandoned village. This project encompasses sustainable reconstruction, a slow-paced lifestyle, arts and crafts education, artist residencies, outdoor activities that contribute to ecosystem preservation, respect for local traditions and products, and a commitment to reducing environmental impact.

Project partners met in Aveiro on the 14th and 15th of September 2023. It was the perfect opportunity to visit the destination with regenerative glasses on, to understand its many assets but also some of the challenges the destination is facing. Face to face project meetings always provide the partners with the unique opportunity to learn about the work of the hosting partner and get valuable insights about the destination. In this case partners were hosted by the dedicated team of management and tourism professionals of the University of Aveiro who shared a wealth of insights about a city that was new to many of the participants.

The Enforce project is well on track when it comes to the project work plan, which means that after having completed the Best Practice collection of innovative examples about storytelling for regeneration and also the Storyteller’s Guide, partners used the meeting to discuss the development of the Enforce Training Programme.

For the next few months partners will be working on developing the content in line with guidelines provided by the University of Usak, our project partner from Turkey.
The course should be available for piloting in January/February 2024 and will also be available in the partner languages once all translations are finalised.

The ENFORCE team met in the beautiful city of Luxembourg for its kick-off meeting. It took place at the premises of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg (also known as CCIL), which opened its doors to warmly welcome all partners.

The team was aware of the importance of this first meeting and approached it with the same enthusiasm, as it plays an important role in building strong bonds that will contribute to the success of the entire cooperation. With the common goal of building a solid foundation, the participants discussed in depth the first steps required for the project ENFORCE.

During this visit, the project objectives were discussed in depth to ensure that each partner has a comprehensive understanding of the overarching goals. The outcome of the kick-off meeting was extremely satisfying for all partners and generated enthusiasm among the team. It was a success and left everyone inspired and energised.

The journey of ENFORCE has officially begun and with the collective expertise of the committed partners, there is no doubt that it will thrive and achieve remarkable results.

Enforce

“The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”

Project N: 2022-1-LU01-KA220-VET-000089887

© 2024 Enforce Project
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