Meeting on feasibility study of historical outports

At the meeting coastal municipalities from Agder met with other key stakeholder such as the regional network for tourism development and University of Agder in order to discuss how to improve management of cultural environments and increase regional value creation. Total of 20 participants.
At the meeting the following subjects was on the agenda:
• Presentation of the regional tourism network by Heidi Sørvig, Chief of USUS.
• Presentation of Hericoast and the regional outports by Hege Martinsen, Vest-Agder County Council.
• Presentation of University of Agder and research projects on public management by Hans-Kjetil Lysgaard.
• Presentation of Lindesnes Lighthouse and Coastlight.net by Knut Baar and Jan Rober Jore, Lindesnes Lighthouse Museum.
After the presentation a series of working groups were organised. The working groups discussed the following questions:
• What role could the historical outports play for regional tourism?
• How can tourism activity take place without compromising the private house owners and historical heritage values?
• How can the municipalities plan for better management of historical environments?
The discussion were summed up in the following conclusion: in order to better manage the historical outports the municipalities would need a i) better understanding of what sustainability is for each of the outports; ii) a better mapping of the existing public infrastructure; and iii) a better understanding of the tourism demand and supply.
Some of these questions will be taken on board, as the county council will continue their work with the development of the regional action plan to be finalised in 2018.