Chair of Tourism and Heritage Development

The Chair is a collaboration between the Communauté d'Agglomération de la Porte du Hainaut and the Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France. The study territory is still little invested by research but in full mutation, rich in a varied and plural heritage and ideally located in the Region, in France and at the European level. The achievements in the short, medium and long term, are carried by international specialists and the territory together.

La Porte du Hainaut is a Communauté d'Agglomération (CAPH) located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region. It is composed of 47 municipalities spread over three geographical areas: the Amandinois, the Denaisis and part of the Ostrevent.

It is headquartered in Wallers, where the premises of Arenberg Creative-Mine are also located, which houses, among other things the DeVisu department of the UPHF. It has a physical border with Belgium and is adjacent to the Valenciennes Métropole agglomeration community, on whose territory the UPHF's main facilities are located. It was therefore only natural that collaboration between the CAPH and the UPHF should be established. The CAPH is currently chaired by Aymeric Robin.

It is a vast territory that abounds in various points of interest and is has a rich cultural, historical, artistic but also natural and industrial heritage. This makes it a research ground conducive to discoveries, innovations and creations.

At the heart of the Chair's approach is a key concept  that of sustainable tourism, which is based on three main interdependent pillars :

The social pillar

• Ownership of CAPH's heritage enhancement initiatives
• Participation of the CAPH population
• Reconstruction of collective memory
• Decreasing inequality

The economic pillar

• Permanent job creation
• Maximization of tourism revenues

The environmental pillar

• Sustainability and renewal of resources
• Minimizing the negative impacts of tourism use
• Research and development around ecology and environmental protection

The Chair Tourism and Heritage Valorization is carried by international and territorial specialists gathered, the contribution of UPHF students (through, in particular, specific training or related Masters), communities and citizens of the CAPH, as well as other actors of the territory such as the Mission Bassin Minier Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the Commitment for the renewal of the mining basin of Nord and Pas-de-Calais (ERBM), Around the Louvre-Lens (ALL) or even Rev3.

The chair is organized around four interrelated and complementary axes, with the objective of developing sustainable tourism :

• Tourism, heritage & digital
• Destination Diagnostics
• Heritage analysis and tourism development
• Writings & visions of heritage

These axes group and intersect many disciplines with the desire for strong interdisciplinarity : Economics, Regional planning, Contemporary history, Art history, Literature, Sociology, Communication, Digital, Artistic creation, Urban geography, Literary creation, Civilization.