Innovation, technology and user experience in museums: insights from scientific literature

Museums play an important role in preserving the heritage and cultural legacy of humanity, however, one of their main weaknesses in regards the user is their static nature. At present, and in the face of the development of diverse technologies and the ease of access to information, museums have upgraded their implementation of technologies aimed at improving the user experience, trying more and more to access younger audiences with a sensitivity and natural capacity for the management of new technologies. This work identifies trends in the use of technological tools by museums worldwide and the effect of these on the user or visitor experience through a review of scientific literature. To complete the work, we performed a search of the publications in the Scopus® referencing database, and downloaded, processed, and visualized the data using the VOSviewer® tool. The main trends identified in this context of analysis are related to the role of museums with the development and improvement of the user experience; orientation to young audiences and innovation driven by the user through Interactive Systems, digital games, QR Codes, apps, augmented reality, virtual reality and gamification, among others. The objective of the implementation of new technologies in the context of museums is to satisfy the needs of contemporary communication, for all types of content and aimed at an increasingly digital audience, in order to ensure positive interaction and feedback from ideas with social and cultural changes

GREEK FARMING IN NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN CONTEXT: THE ROLE OF DIGITAL IN AGRICULTURE TRANSFORMATION

This work reviews the present status of the agriculture in Greece both in national and European framework. Greece is a mountainous country with the agricultural land covering almost half of the total area of the country (arable, permanent crop and pastureland). The greater part of the agricultural land belongs to Northern Greece, with the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace being one of the most fertile areas. Most of the arable land is used for the cultivation of crops mainly for human and animal consumption, followed by the area covered by permanent grasslands and crops (olives, grapes, fruit and berry trees). Based on the database of the Statistical Office of the European Union, the cereal, fodder and industrial crops are the most abundant crops that are cultivated in Greece. Additionally, grapes, raisins, fresh vegetables, aromatic, and medical plants possess an important role in the agricultural production list of the country. However, the Greek agricultural output is much lower than in other European countries. Over the last two decades the agricultural land and the production of various products is declining in Greece. Even though the whole EU confronts a similar declining trend, Greece must deal with a more serious situation. Greek farmers daily face up to economic challenges such as high taxes and the rising costs of energy, fertilizers, and other raw materials, as well as to other environmental challenges like climate fluctuations (e.g., aridity) and soil erosion. Precision farming is the solution for innovative crop cultivation, production, and management with respect to the environment. By applying high-tech techniques and climate smart practices during the agriculture procedure, the efficiency of the agricultural production would be increased, while the consumed amount of money, energy, water and fertilizers would follow the opposite direction

Sustainable Ecotourism through Cutting-Edge Technologies

Tourism is a phenomenon that dates back to ancient times. Ancient Greek philosophers recognised, adopted, and promoted the concept of rest-based tourism. Ecotourism is a particular type of tourism that connects with activities that take place in nature, without harming it, along with the herbal and animal wealth. According to estimates, the global ecotourism industry is currently booming due to various reasons, and it is becoming an important factor of sustainable regional development. This article presents the vision, work, and outcomes of project AdVENt, a project focusing natively in sustainable ecotourism through natural science and technological innovation. AdVENt’s study area includes the National Parks of Oiti (or Oeta) and Parnassus in Central Greece, where there is a remarkable native flora with a high endemism rate integrated with areas of cultural value and national and European hiking routes and paths of varying difficulty. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland