REGENERATE Hackathon concluded: from ideas to reality by 2026

2 minutes

Two days of intense work, creativity, and collaboration marked the final REGENERATE Hackathon, held in Tarvisio and organized by the Tourism Promotion Consortium of Tarvisio together with partners NLW Tourismus Marketing GmbH, Alta Badia Tourism Cooperative, and Etifor | Valuing Nature.

Four teams from Italy and Austria came together to address local tourism challenges, developing in just 24 hours ideas that were relevant, feasible, and regenerative. Guided by Etifor’s facilitation and design thinking methodologies, participants worked alongside mentors specialized in regenerative tourism, marketing, and communication—brainstorming late into the night and waking up at dawn in true hackathon spirit.

The experience was further enriched by the inspiring case of CasaNetural, a Basilicata-based initiative that demonstrates how tourism can spark community building and territorial regeneration.

The final ideas

At the end of the event, teams presented their pitches to a panel of experts, proposing innovative solutions to enhance Alpine destinations:

  • transforming the Saifnitz Biolake into an all-year-round attraction (Tarvisio, Udine – Italy);

  • reducing littering in nature in Carinthia (Austria);

  • enhancing the Burjé area in Alta Badia (Bolzano – Italy);

  • revitalizing the Strada della Vena between Arabba and Colle Santa Lucia (Belluno – Italy).

A new paradigm for Alpine tourism

The REGENERATE Interreg project aims to shift Alpine tourism from a logic of mere sustainability to a truly regenerative perspective.
Placing nature and communities at the core means viewing tourism as a means to create shared value, strengthen the bond between people and places, and foster cultures capable of adapting and innovating in the face of global change.

REGENERATE promotes a new way of thinking about tourism by:

  • redesigning governance through bottom-up, participatory approaches;

  • fostering slow, connected, and positive-impact travel experiences;

  • transforming organizations to generate value beyond profit;

  • building purpose-driven business models.

A journey that looks to the future, with the ambition of making the Alps a living laboratory for regenerative tourism—where ideas become experiences, and people together drive positive change.