Promoting the smart, sustainable and inclusive development of inner areas. What chances for Europe and East Asia? From remote wilderness to livable place. Evolution of an alpine park in the framework of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism

Protected areas are considered to be on-site and on-going workshops for testing sustainable development strategies. The Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe (EUROPARC) promotes the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (ECST, 2010) with the motto “Good for Parks, Good for People!”. The ECST is a label which can be obtained thanks to a participatory process focused on defining, implementing and monitoring an Action Plan. The Val Grande National Park (Piedmont, Italy) is highly engaged in sustainable development strategies. In 2013, joining the ECST gave momentum and a model. This paper will discuss how the Park took this new pathway of sustainable development, changing a long-lasting paradigm, in particular, adopting the “protected landscape approach” (Brown, Mitchell, Beresford 2005; Philips 2003), and so shifting its goal from being a mere “nature sanctuary” to becoming a place to live.