Craft, Rural Areas and Sustainable Tourism: Insights from Good Practices Identified within the CULTURALITY Project

This article presents the findings of a study on the potential of craft to revitalise rural areas within the framework of the European CULTURALITY project, funded under Horizon Europe and running from 2024 to 2028. It is based on a theoretical and methodological approach that conceives of craft as a relational practice linked to the territory, integrating local knowledge, materials, ecological cycles and community dynamics. Using an interdisciplinary approach, a catalogue of good practices is developed based on variables such as sustainability, innovation, social impact and replicability, which guide the selection and analysis of some initiatives. The results show that craft can contribute to rural development and sustainable tourism when it is underpinned by community participation, collaborative governance, and the preservation of interdependencies between community, environment and local knowledge. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of integrating tradition and innovation, diversifying economic activities, and strengthening intergenerational transmission. Taken together, craft emerges as a territorial epistemology that supports resilient economies and ways of life rooted in local areas.