Tourism Designing VISIONS across the ADRION Multy-City

From Introductory lines by Pier Ugo Calzolari : "Furthermore, I am sure my audience will let me conclude this short introduction with a brief summary of the meeting "Culture as a Bridge", which was organised by our University in December 2000, that is just a few months after the signature of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative protocols. In that occasion, the UNIADRION Chart was agreed and subscribed by Universities and political Institutions belonging to the seven member countries of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative. The readiness of the Universities - and of the University of Bologna in particular - to be fully committed to the implementation of inter-University cooperation, was offered bearing in mind the necessity to take the first concrete steps towards higher education and scientific research as soon as possible. We had well in mind the strong interest of the EU towards the so called "Euroregion Project", focused to the step by-step aggregation of communities. Not to underestimate the problems, we declared our hope to contribute, through this cultural initiative, to favour the necessary conditions to create a new Euroregion, the Adriatic-Ionian one. Four years later, we have to admit that this target is not near the corner but we should appreciate a positive, not reversible trend towards a progressive integration. Either through the Euroregion approach or by a more direct adhesion process, in a few years from now the "white spot" of he Western Balkans will disappear from the European Union Map. By then, UniAdrion will be proud of having been a part of this modest but not negligible process. In this frame a clear merit should be recognised to the cultural tourism related activities too.
Actually, I would also like to express my gratefulnes and appreciation to the colleagues who offered their professional expertise and convinced commitment to the implemenation of this programmatic line, and who were fully convinced of the necessity of carrying on with further developments. The focus of these developments should be to consolidate and further develop the important results which have already been reached and of which this book represents a significant account."