European route of industrial heritage – three perspectives of sustainable development

ABSTRACT In this paper, the authors present the results of a survey conducted on the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH), whose goal was to evaluate how sustainable development is progressing from various perspectives, i.e. environmental, social, clients’ and partners’ perspectives. The study confirms that heritage authenticity is a key resource that builds the core of such cultural tourism sites. An observation was also made that only a few facilities within the ERIH association developed a sustainability agenda and that having such a document in place impacts how a site affects its environment and how it manages other developmental issues. In general, the majority of the researched sites does not consciously tackle sustainability problems (this is reflected in the managerial approach), but at the same time, their attitude towards the local society, as well as the clients and partners, is mostly aligned with sustainability goals.