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How can cities leverage their industrial heritage to promote sustainable tourism? What can other cities learn from Bilbao’s transformation through strategic planning, collective governance, and collaborative action? And how can industrial heritage inspire new tourism products rooted in local identity?
These questions guided the Experience Prato Industrial Culture (EPIC) partnership’s study visit to Bilbao, Spain, on 16–17 June 2026.
Funded by the European Urban Initiative, and led by the Municipality of Prato, visited Bilbao, Spain for a collaborative and productive two day study visit devoted to exploring industrial tourism, co-learning, and collaborative discussions on how cities can leverage their industrial heritage to promote sustainable tourism.
The EPIC project is dedicated to sustainable industrial tourism, weaving together the Prato’s industrial past with digital innovation, community involvement, and meaningful partnerships across business and culture.
As a project partner, Eutropian supports knowledge exchange and transfer activities across the consortium, fostering collaboration and helping partners develop innovative governance approaches and sustainable tourism strategies.
Hosted by project partner Bilbao Turismo, the EPIC consortium study visit brought together project partners, including Eutropian, the two transfer cities of Miskolc and Pilsen, and the lead implementation city of Prato.
The objective of this study visit was to bring together EPIC transfer partners to strengthen cooperation, explore local industrial tourism initiatives, and deepen understanding of the host city’s ambitions and challenges.
The two days followed a similar format. Mornings were spent at the wonderful and hospitable Itasmuseum, Bilbao’s maritime museum situated in the former Euskalduna industrial docks and along the estuary which runs through Bilbao, while the afternoons were spent on tours and site visits of Bilbao.
This study visit was an opportunity for collaborative learning and exploration of tourism strategy and effective initiatives to shepherd sustainable industrial tourism.
Lead partner Prato Municipality shared its recent developments and challenges, allowing transfer partners to reflect on which elements are transferable to their contexts.
The partners also learned about Bilbao’s industrial history, the impact of the flood of 1983, and the ways in which Bilbao recovered from the flood’s impact through strategic planning, collective governance, environmental clean up, and innovative collaborative financial models. This allowed us to consider the factors of their development beyond the “Guggenheim effect”.
Insightful study visits included a boat tour up Bilbao’s estuary which highlighted its industrial past and present as well as a tour of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
On the boat tour, participants learned about Bilbao’s industrial heritage along the estuary in which active and dormant boat-yards scattered the shores. This heritage is a foundational component of Bilbao’s proud identity and is felt in other parts of the city with some of the city’s architecture marvels resembling boats, masts, or sails. Further, participants were invited to ‘be Basque’ and dive into local customs and experiences.
Both visits reinforced a central tenet of the EPIC project, that heritage and active presence of industry in our cities is interwoven into our cities ecosystems and therefore can be leveraged to promote sustainable tourism which moves tourists outside central and common nodes of tourism to explore diverse areas of the city.
Further, the collaborative and innovative governance models and collective action required to re-construct Bilbao harbours the institutional and local knowledge necessary to shepherd new initiatives and collaborate with stakeholders to actively take part in co-designing new tourism products related to Bilbao’s proud industrial heritage.
A Transfer Workshop facilitated by the Transfer Expert Adele Bucella, allowed transfer cities to reflect on their experience in Bilbao, the learning points, and share ideas with Bilbao. Additionally, each city developed potential actions related to one or all of the three EPIC transfer pillars: Industrial Tourism products, Immersive Digital Experiences, Collaborative Destination Management Organisation (DMO).
The partner study visit allowed partners to collectively engage with Bilbao’s current tourism industry and strategy to collaboratively discuss how EPIC can lead towards sustainable and industrial tourism which marries local identity with innovative experiences and deepen connections to the city.
We look forward to the next partner study visit in Miskolc, Hungary from September 17-18, 2026.
