The students of the University of Trento accepted the challenge launched by the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation which had asked them to develop innovative projects for the sustainable development of the region as part of the “Samsung Innovation Camp”.
An app for limiting over-tourism
The “VisitDolomites” project – which takes its name from the portal that the Foundation has continued to develop over the years with more and more information helpful for visits to the World Heritage – was developed by Jenni Appoloni, Michela Trapè, Amir Gheser, Diego Piccinin and Stefano Dal Mas, students from the departments of Interfaces and Communication Technologies, International Studies and Computer Science. In a competition involving some 2,000 students, the young people from the University of Trento won second place. But what is their project about? To help reduce the problem of over-tourism, i.e. the overcrowding of certain locations, while encouraging the promotion of sites that are less frequented, the app offers users suggestions on activities and places to visit according to their level of attendance and redirects them to locations that may be less popular but are equally interesting, with the aim of standardising the influx of tourists and reducing the environmental impact. The app also provides access to information about local events and traditions.
Innovation serving the environment and culture
The “Samsung Innovation Camp” was developed by Samsung Electronics Italy in cooperation with a select group of Italian universities and local authorities. To date, it has supported over thirty thousand students in devising innovative digital solutions serving, for this edition, the natural, artistic and cultural heritage. The University of Trento has been collaborating on this project for a few years now and offers the service to all its students at all levels and in all courses of study. First place went to the project entitled, “Missione G.I.G.G. – Giovani in Galleria Giannoni [Youth in the Giannoni Gallery]” by the University of Eastern Piedmont in collaboration with the Municipality of Novara, which focused on social communication to create promotional events in the areas frequented by young people. In third place was “Muddika”, from the University of Catania in collaboration with the Municipality of Catania, which aimed at making the cultural heritage of Catania accessible to children through games and virtual activities.