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Cuenca’s Historic Center, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999, faces a critical challenge: managing a thriving tourism industry without displacing its local residents. 🏘️ Researchers at the University of Cuenca  (via the CPM and PREIT-Tour research groups) have developed a cutting-edge technical solution: a system of 48 "glocal" indicators  designed to bridge the gap between global standards and local realities. ⚖️📍 🔬 Methodology: Merging Data with Community Voices Thi

The rapid expansion of digital platforms such as Airbnb has transformed the structure of urban tourism and the accommodation sector in cities around the world. In historic urban environments, especially those recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, this transformation introduces new opportunities as well as complex challenges related to housing markets, heritage conservation, urban governance, and community life. This research project examines the dynamics of short-term re

In Cuenca, tourism represents an important driver of the local economy, while the historic centre, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, embodies a cultural landscape that requires careful protection and responsible management. The project therefore explores how different forms of tourism activity interact with heritage conservation and urban life in the historic city.

The ICP initiative aims to promote intercultural learning and strengthen both academic and personal competencies through mobility and collaboration between institutions and participants from diverse cultural and geographic contexts. The project is embedded within the broader framework of international academic cooperation supported by VLIR-UOS, which fosters partnerships between universities in the Global South and institutions in Europe.

This project aimed to characterize the profiles of the different actors who use and shape selected public spaces in the Historic Centre of Cuenca, Ecuador, and to analyze their perceptions regarding cultural heritage, leisure, and tourism.

Warmi VivaMente is a social outreach initiative designed to support female students from outside the city who pursue their studies at the Universidad de Cuenca while living independently.

Sustainable tourism, research-based education, innovation, and knowledge transfer applied to UNESCO-designated territories, with an emphasis on territorial governance, stakeholder participation, and capacity building in the Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve, in southern Ecuador.

The PREIT-tour  research group, in collaboration with World Heritage City , has been awarded 🏆 the 22nd Call of the Vice-Rectorate for Research  with the project: “Unveiling the dynamics of short-term rental accommodation through digital platforms (Airbnb) from a multi-actor perspective in World Heritage intermediate cities: an approach to the Historic Centre of Cuenca.” The project will run from March 2026 to February 2027  📅 and will focus on analyzing the impact of short