Building Stakeholder Networks for Sustainable Cultural Tourism in Rural and Remote Areas: Methodology and Lessons from CULTURALITY

Stakeholder engagement is widely recognised as essential for sustainable cultural tourism in rural and remote areas, yet its operationalisation remains challenging. This article presents the stakeholder engagement methodology developed within the Horizon Europe project CULTURALITY, tested across thirteen European pilot sites. Grounded in stakeholder theory and participatory typologies, the methodology follows a four-phase process to build a robust, ethically compliant stakeholder database, including stakeholder identification and categorisation, multilingual outreach with GDPR-compliant registration and the establishment of mechanisms for long-term engagement. Building on this foundation, RuralSpots were operationalised as the first participatory tool to translate the database into active engagement. Fifteen RuralSpots were organised across five countries, enabling horizontal exchange and collaboration among stakeholders. Overall, the approach mapped 4,572 potential stakeholders and engaged over 472 participants in the RuralSpots, providing a replicable framework for participatory network building in rural cultural tourism.