Good practice:

Beach accessibility, safety and service usability improved (PERLA)

The need to access and use seaside areas, also in the absence of bathing establishments or concessions and in particular by elderly, disabled and families with children, involved the surveying of geomorphological aspects of the coastal territory, so as to identify suitable solutions to reduce the risk of accidents and to remove access barriers, respecting the natural environment while promoting the tourist and economic development of the areas. The project aimed at developing accessibility, usability and security of coastal areas in the cross-border territories of IT-FR Maritime cooperation project partners. This was achieved by joint actions directed to increase and standardize the offer of tourist services, including innovative ones using advanced IC systems/technologies. All citizens, tourists, exposed groups of the population and disabled people are thus considered as beneficiaries. Activities increased the knowledge on the coastal strip and services currently available, and fostered actions to improve the overall offer, reduce pressure on overcrowded stronger areas, enhancing and protecting the coastal system, in particular: - support tourist promotion - expand the information network - increase usability of coasts and bathing areas in safety conditions while respecting natural environment - expand local public transport supply by dedicated services, cycle and pedestrian services, intermodal transit services - remove architectural barriers to favour sustainable mobility

Euro 850,188: Italy-France Maritime INTERREG Programme (2007-2013) = € 637.641 Partner co-financing = € 212.547
n. 7 Upper-level technical school (IGECO network) students in field survey work with GPs and other tools.
Data processing by an externally recruited ICT company. WebGIS platform

A follow-up project - PERLA II - implemented.
Successful network established among technical schools, with school activities carried out in a coordinated manner at partnership level.
Effective transfer of knowledge and skills from Institute of Livorno Buontalenti to other schools (teacher training).
Cooperative synergy established with civil/environmental protection organisations & health institutions.
Earmarked as a Good Practice by the EU Commission (InfoRegio).
Streamlined LPT services

Established signaling standards at national level for beach use were not available. The solution was offered by adopting ISO international standards, suitably adjusted to local context.
Sustainability of innovative local public transport LPT was ensured by yearly recurrent budgetary allocation

A risk-display and alert system, drawing from ISO guidelines and practices adopted in other European countries, can be gradually introduced in other Italian areas and eventually established as a possible standard at national level for coastal risk-signalling and related basic information system. Survey methodology, developed by involving upper-level schools as testers, constitutes a shareable product, together with the survey-data recording system and the various templates suitably designed to process all collected geo-referenced data accompanied by photographic documentation. The comprehensive approach can suit field-reconnaissance practices (for an improved knowledge of local conditions in different contexts) not restricted to coastal strips only. Prevalent use of suitable graphics rather than word texts in local language makes the display information system more easily readable by foreign visitors, more versatile for other applications and replicable with lesser effort and costs