On March 19th, nine experts came together for a one-day Co-Creation Workshop hosted by the Faculty of Economics in Split (FEBT), as part of the Interreg Capacity2Transform Building Bridges programme. The goal? To collaboratively design innovative solution to challenges in rural tourism – using creativity, technology, and a lot of teamwork.
From Problems to Prototypes in One Day
Led by certified design sprint facilitator Tomas Pinjušić, the workshop gathered nine experts from Dalmatia — professionals in rural tourism, creative individuals, and IT specialists. Although they came from different fields, they shared one mission: to tackle real-world problems in rural tourism that had been identified in earlier workshop sessions held in Sinj.
Out of nine submitted challenges, five were shortlisted at the beginning of the workshop. As discussions unfolded, one challenge stood out above the rest:
“Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age.”
It resonated with everyone — not only as a pressing issue but as a powerful opportunity for innovation.
Mapping, Ideating, Prototyping
The workshop followed a structured sprint methodology. We started by analyzing competitors, mapping out directions, and defining the ideal user persona and their customer journey. Everyone then created individual User Flows and began prototyping their ideas using AI tools like Lovable, Bolt, and v0.
Seeing ideas take visual form within hours was a highlight — and sparked genuine excitement and laughter in the room. They weren’t just imagining; they were building.
At the end of the session, everyone came together to consolidate the best features from all prototypes into a unified solution. A clear vision for a digital product was formed — one that bridges tradition with innovation and opens new doors for engaging with Croatian cultural heritage.
Why Co-Creation Matters
This experience was a vivid reminder that co-creation isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a future-proof approach. By bringing together diverse minds and working with real data, real users, and real needs, team managed to create something truly meaningful in just one day.
It also showed us how powerful AI and design thinking can be when placed in the hands of passionate people solving problems they care about.
What’s Next?
The workshop’s outcome won’t remain on a whiteboard. The agreed-upon concept will be further developed and tested, with the ultimate goal of being implemented in the real world — as a tool that revitalizes rural tourism by honoring heritage in a format that today’s users can connect with.
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