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1 Article 2 Smart Dashboard and Slow Tourism. A Case Study of 3 Santa Barbara Walk (Sulcis – Iglesiente, Sardinia, 4 Italy)

5 Ginevra Balletto 1, Alessandra Milesi 1, Mara Ladu 1 and Giuseppe Borruso 2*

6 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Via 7 Marengo 2, 09123 Cagliari, Italy; [email protected]; [email protected]; 8 [email protected]; [email protected] 9 2 Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics “Bruno de Finetti” - University of Trieste, 10 Via Tigor 22, 34127 Trieste, Italy; [email protected] 11 * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-040-558-7008 12

13 Abstract: Information and communication technologies play an increasingly important role in the 14 process of acquiring knowledge from a territory and managing it at different scales. ICTs allow a 15 rapid diffusion of data not only through institutional channels but also through social networks 16 where the smart community share experiences and perceptions. In this sense, ICTs become strategic 17 to support the promotion of sustainable tourism development of territories. An important tool to 18 implement it, can be a circular smart dashboard, a decision support system in which the digital data 19 are organized and processed to produce an information output, to be used, after the evaluation by 20 the decision makers, as a new input for the system. The present paper deals with a wider research 21 the authors are involved in, related to the reconversion and valorization of a former mining area 22 towards slow tourism, as the Santa Barbara Walk (SBW), an ancient mining route in the Sulcis 23 Iglesiente area (Sardinia, Italy)1. In particular, we here focus on the design proposal of a dashboard, 24 capable of organizing information concerning the main features of the walk, in order to facilitate a 25 shared governance for an effective tourism promotion. The paper is based on a thorough recognition 26 of the main characteristics of the Walk, both the material ones and the digital, immaterial ones. The 27 SBW represents in fact a network connecting the main points of interest along the Walk. On the 28 contrary, its digital network – consisting of intangible infrastructure and flows - is however 29 fragmented in terms of policies and contents Also a state of disorganization in slow tourism 30 promotion activities can be observed. The goal of this paper is to present and analysis of the area, 31 and to propose an evaluation and planning tool as the design of a circular dashboard of the SBW.

32 Keywords: smart dashboard; smart governance; slow tourism; Santa Barbara Walk; Sulcis - 33 Iglesiente; Sardinia; Italy 34

35 1. Introduction 36 Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play an increasingly important role in the 37 process of acquiring awareness and knowledge from a territory, as well as of its management, 38 enhancement and promotion at different scales [1-4]. Information is no longer managed only by a 39 few institutional subjects through official portals but built to a significant extent by smart

1 This paper is based on the Research project TSULKI - Tourism and Sustainability in the Sulcis (Sardinia- Italy) and on the agreement protocol between DICAAR Department of Cagliari University and Foundation of the Santa Barbara Walk has been signed in December 2018.

© 2019 by the author(s). Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY license. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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40 communities that populate social networks and media, sharing experiences and perceptions. New 41 ICTs are tools to support the promotion of sustainable regeneration and development of the 42 territories, including tourism, especially if organized within the smart dashboard [5-13]. 43 The area of Sulcis - Iglesiente, located in the South-Western part of Sardinia (Italy), went through 44 a phase of economic conversion based on sustainable slow tourism development [14-17] referred to 45 abandoned mines [18, 19]. This is the part of cultural tourism that arises from the reinterpretation, 46 conservation and enhancement of the material and immaterial mining heritage [20]. 47 In Sulcis – Iglesiente this type of tourism is becoming a driving force for economic development 48 [20], responding to the recent trend to prefer trips for recreational and spiritual purposes [21], training 49 or work and slow and sustainable forms of mobility [22]. This is in line with the objectives of the 50 Historical Environmental Geo-mining Park of Sardinia, established in October 2001 to safeguard and 51 enhance the architectural and landscape heritage. In addition, it is also in line with the subsequent 52 establishment (2017) of the SBW [23] and the birth of the homonymous Foundation, that allowed 53 starting a new development phase based on the concept of slow tourism [24]. The risks and 54 opportunities of this process of economic and social transformation, both in terms of policy and 55 governance, led the authors to develop a specific research activity [24-27] which highlighted the 56 correlation between the fragmented nature of management - promotion of the territory and the 57 numerous public administrations. In the area of the Sulcis - Iglesiente, in fact, the presence of points 58 of historical-cultural and naturalistic interest, mining sites, reception and refreshment activities that 59 are not managed within a single network was detected. Many sites are equipped with portals and 60 dedicated web pages, but the promotion is not performing because of the disorganized materials and 61 poor management of the information. The website of the SBW Foundation deserves attention, it’s in 62 fact a first attempt at an institutional network of slow tourism [28]. 63 This paper is aimed at systematizing the information coming from institutions and from the 64 users’ communities - as those using social networks and media when interacting with a territory - in 65 order to strengthen smart governance initiatives related to tourism development [29]. In the 66 information age, the Smart Community [30] represents a significant part of our contemporary society 67 that makes use or extensive use of the available technological tools, services and devices to promote 68 organization and efficiency, to improve the quality of life but also to share personal knowledge, 69 opinions and interests [31]. For these reasons, it gradually became an extraordinary source of data for 70 policy makers [32]. The 'heritage and new technologies' binomial contains an immense material and 71 immaterial heritage of historical, cultural and artistic values " enhanced through the most recent 72 forms of fruition of the Tourist Experience Design [33], according to which it becomes fundamental 73 to offer each user personalized information and unique emotions, influencing both the cognitive and 74 the emotional sphere. 75 The goal is to provide content and define the layout for a circular smart dashboard. It is based 76 on the simultaneous management of data from different sources (e.g. meteorological services, social 77 network streams, geographic data, etc.) which makes it a tool gathering data and information to be 78 used and managed for taking decisions and therefore influencing input data for the further step. 79 Some scholars [6] define the circular dashboard as “the process of data gathering, processing and 80 organization of decision makers and users for planning purposes. In this domain the information 81 obtained from the dashboard is used to evaluate urban performances and calibrate further and future 82 city actions". In this sense, the dashboard of the SBW organizes the characteristics and information of 83 the path: 84 ● Intrinsic characteristics - length (km), "difficulty" and duration (hours); 85 ● Extrinsic characteristics - sites of historical-cultural and natural interest located in a 1 km 86 buffer; 87 ● Smart, user generated data and information. 88 Furthermore, the dynamism of the data of the proposed dashboard allows to elaborate coherent 89 outputs with the institutional objectives and the comments and notes of the smart community. In the 90 first section – Introduction, after having framed the recent literature of new technologies for slow 91 tourism development, the authors have articulated the contribution in three sections: the second Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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92 section - Materials and Methods explores the case study of the SBW and develops the methodology 93 for elaboration of the framework and design - of the SBW Dashboard; the third section - Results 94 reports and discusses the main research results carried out; in the fourth section - Conclusions, we 95 summarize the conclusions of the study and anticipate the future developments .

96 2. Materials and Methods of the case study: Santa Barbara Walk 97 2.1. The Santa Barbara Walk towards the Smart Community 98 SBW (Figure 1) traces the ancient mining routes of the Sulcis Iglesiente, in South-Western 99 Sardinia, brought to new life in sustainable slow tourism. 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 (a) (b) 125 Figure 1. Territorial framework and the SBW 126 127 This historical region has been for several decades the most important center for international 128 mining, as the main Sardinian economic source. The following crisis hitting the sector, followed by 129 the mines dismantling in the 1990s required rethinking the territory also through a form of tourism 130 linked to industrial archeology in a particularly beautiful coastal landscape. 131 Within this context, in October 2001, the Historical and Environmental Geo-mining Park of 132 Sardinia (Geopark) was established [34], divided into 8 areas covering 81 Municipalities of Sardinia, 133 for a total area of approximately 3800 Km2, which since 2007 is part of the "Global Geoparks 134 Network" of UNESCO [35]. The SBW is located within the “area 8” of the Park of Sulcis - Iglesiente 135 which, other than being the largest, it is the one most characterized by the presence of ancient mining 136 activities. 137 Today the SBW is included in the regional register of historical-religious paths of Sardinia and 138 in the year 2017 it was included in the Atlas walk of Italy of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and 139 Activities [36]. The walk extends along a 400 km ring, organized in 24 tracks. It can be traveled 140 walking, cycling and on horseback [23, 28]. The landscape of the SBW is characterized by the presence 141 of numerous points of historical, cultural and natural interest, enriching the already evocative mining Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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142 landscape [24, 26]. However, to date the challenges are still many and constantly call for new policies 143 to manage and enhance the SBW and cultural, natural and landscape resources. 144 As we described above, the main use of the SBW is inscribed within the recent slow tourism, 145 characterized by the presence of innovative users which we consider as a relevant part of the so called 146 “Smart Community”. We mean both the “community” providing user-generated contents, as, in this 147 case, tourists or hikers actually enjoying the Walk and its points of interests, sharing their impressions 148 and activities on social networks. In this particular context, the smart community correspond to those 149 actors which contribute to the awareness on the SBW by means of their activity on social networks 150 and media and, therefore, they are potential players for its development and growth. 151 The set of social network and media users, from Wikiloc paths collectors, to social networks and 152 media users - both tourists and operators, becomes pioneer of this SBW smart community. As a 153 matter of fact, a true smart community is not yet existing, but a network of users willing to share their 154 experiences is present. The data coming from this community is a significant input in this work. In 155 the concept of the proposed dashboard there is the primary object of helping the integration of the 156 top-down management and the bottom up approach of the users. We assume that using the data and 157 information this community provides, we can build a bottom up participation process, in which the 158 dashboard will represent the extent in which a true smart community set up, linking together users 159 and decision makers. 160 In this framework, the contribution of the dashboard proposed by the authors is inserted. 161 162 2.2. Methodology 163 After describing the case study of the SBW and the role of its Smart Community, the authors 164 decided to plan the realization of a dashboard to gather information and indicators on the walk. This 165 required to develop a methodology for designing the dashboard, articulated in the following phases, 166 consisting of: 167 1. definition of the conceptual framework to organize the contents of the dashboard, consisting in 168 the collection, analysis and classification of the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of the Way 169 (paragraph 2.2.1), and of the user-generated ones from the smart community these latter aimed 170 at the production of internal reports for SBW managers (paragraph 2.2.2); 171 2. definition of the design to organize the contents of the SWB circular dashboard (paragraph 2.2.3). 172 This methodology reflects the conceptual framework of the dashboard proposed by the authors 173 (Figure 2), which is thought as a collector capable of organizing a comprehensive data set - 174 characteristics and user generated - respectively elaborated by the authors and collected by the main 175 social networks, as discussed below. 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 Figure 2. The Dashboard conceptual framework. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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193 2.2.1. Survey and analysis of the Intrinsic and extrinsic features of the walk 194 The data concerning the intrinsic characteristics of the route, which describe the physical 195 conformation of each of the 24 tracks, were obtained from the SBW Foundation official website : 196 length (km), "difficulty" and duration (hours) (Figure 3) . 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 Figure 3. Intrinsic features of each of the 24 tracks: length (km), "difficulty" and duration (hours). 224 Source: [15,20]. 225 226 The extrinsic characteristics refer to the points of interest included in a 1 km buffer from the 227 SBW’s tracks. These contribute to increasing the attractiveness of the SBW, and, among them, we 228 consider also urban areas, as qualifying factors for tourism activities, as well as dynamically linked 229 to the context. The points of interest are classified according to the following categories (Figure 4): 230 1. Abandoned mining sites (distribution areas and nodes): villages and mining plants, industrial 231 archeology facilities; 232 2. Sites of historical and cultural interest (areas and nodes) rural and archaeological villages, 233 churches, museums and historic buildings; 234 3. Sites of naturalistic interest (areas and nodes): natural parks, salt marshes, waterfalls and 235 springs, caves, lakes, beaches, natural monuments; 236 4. Urban areas. 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 Figure 4. Points of interest (areas and nodes) within the 1 km buffer from the walk. 278 279 In organizing the extrinsic features we used also the open source data from the Sardinia Region 280 in shapefile format [37, 38]. Then we proceeded to classify the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics, 281 assigning specific score indexes referring to an average evaluation of difficulties2: 282 1. Intrinsic characteristics - a maximum weight has been assigned for the stages of shorter length, 283 difficulty and travel time. 284 2. Extrinsic characteristics - a maximum weight has been assigned for the stages with the greatest 285 number of points of proximity interest, including accommodation facilities and refreshment 286 points. 287 288 Below is reported the classification of intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics (Table 1). 289 290 291

2 As it happens in the case of hiking maps, a value of difficulty will be given to these tracks. A set of expert users will be selected to evaluate the difficulties of the tracks. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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292 Table 1. Score index - Intrinsic and Extrinsic characteristics of each SBW tracks.

Features of the track Type Range Weight 0-10 3 length (Km) 10-20 2 20-30 1 Low 3 Intrinsic1 difficulty medium 2 High 1 0-5 2 travel time (h) 5-10 1 0-20 1 n. of points of interest 21-40 2 (buffer 1 km) 41-60 3 61-80 4 n. of tourist 0-10 1 accommodation 11-20 2 Extrinsic2 facilities 21-30 3 (buffer 1 km) 31-40 4 0-10 1 n. of food and 11-20 2 beverage points 21-30 3 31-40 4 293 1 Data source: https://www.camminominerariodisantabarbara.org/

294 2 Data source: http://webgis2.regione.sardegna.it/catalogodati/card.jsp?uuid=ae5a776b-ef08-417b-acf3- 295 752478f0d0b1

296 This classification then allowed the authors to elaborate two indexes for each stage: the 297 walkability index (WI) and the attractiveness index (AI). 298 Within the debate on urban walkability [39, 18], according to Blečić et al. (2015) [40], the authors 299 have rethought the definition of walkability adapting it to the peculiarities of the SBW, inserted in a 300 extra-urban environment, marked by elements from the former industrial processes of considerable 301 landscape value, together with the physical properties of the path and the reference context. 302 We therefore proposed the walkability index (WI), given by the sum of the weights attributed to 303 the individual intrinsic characteristics (Wi), which can vary from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 8 304 (1); and the attractiveness index (AI), understood as the sum of the weights attributed to the 305 individual extrinsic characteristics (We), which can vary from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 12 306 (2). To standardize the indexes to the more known and used Tripadvisor classification, WI is given 307 by the product between the summation of Wi and the ratio of 5/8; while AI is given by the product 308 between the summation of Wi and the ratio of 5/12. 309 8 5 푊퐼 = ∑ 푊푖 (1) 8 푊=3 310 12 5 퐴퐼 = ∑ 푊푒 (2) 12 푊=3 Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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311 The following is an example of the tracks No. 02, 06, 07 and 21, selected for the application of the 312 methodology because they are characterized by a significant landscape heritage and industrial 313 archeology that makes them among the most attractive of the walk (Figure 5). 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 Figure 5. Walkability index (WI) and Attractiveness index (AI) of the No. 02, 06, 07 and 21 SBW 337 tracks.

338 2.2.2. Survey and analysis of the data provided by social network 339 The second component of data necessary for the development of the dashboard concerns the 340 user-generated characteristics of the Walk, provided by the smart community. They were found 341 through the main social websites such as Facebook, Instagram and Tripadvisor, for the main point of 342 interest of the 24 trackss, with reference to the abandoned mining sites. In fact, from the analysis of 343 GPS tracks related to walking and / or cycling routes downloaded from the Wikiloc platform3 [24-26], 344 these sites were found to be the most frequented by the smart community [27], as is shown from 345 Figure 6. Furthermore, the disused mining sites were selected by the authors as a survey category to 346 evaluate the approval rating of the smart community, which required the following analysis: 347 1. active Websites for each abandoned mining site: (Figure 7) 348 2. profiles in the main social web (Facebook, Instagram and Tripadvisor) (Figures 8, 9 and 10). 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358

3 SBW’s tracks have been downloaded between 20 and 29 January 2018; bike tracks have been downloaded between 21 January and 3 February 2019. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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359

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366 367 368 369 (a) (b) 370 Figure 6. Comparison between the concentration of disused mining sites and the location of 371 digital tracks (source Wikiloc) from the smart community. 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 Figure 7. Web Site Map of the mining sites in the SBW. Period of investigation: 1-31 July 2019. 401 Author: Michele Pinna. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 Figure 8. Mining sites with Facebook profile (left) and Facebook Social Rating (right). Period of 424 investigation: 1-31 July 2019. Author: Michele Pinna 425

426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 Figure 9. Mining sites with Instagram profile (left) and Instagram followers (right). Period of 449 investigation: 1-31 July 2019. Author: Michele Pinna 450 Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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451

452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 Figure 10. Mining sites with a Tripadvisor profile (left) and Tripadvisor Social Rating (right). 473 Period of investigation: 1-31 July 2019. Author: Michele Pinna 474 475 From the analysis it emerged that only a minimal part of the abandoned mining sites is equipped 476 with an official web page and a Facebook and / or Instagram profile to support the management and 477 promotion activity (Figures 7, 8, 9). 478 In particular, it can be stated that the most important mining sites have a webpage and social 479 profiles, while in some cases the social profile is preferred to the website. The analysis confirms that 480 the most significant mining complexes, such as Montevecchio and Serbariu, collect the greatest 481 number of likes on Facebook (Figure 8b), while the Museum of Mining Art in Iglesias reaches the 482 greatest number of followers on Instagram, followed by the Mine Rosas (Figure 9b). 483 The Tripadvisor platform, the main one currently in use at international level, also provides the 484 satisfaction index associated with the type of user according to its own classification, shared by the 485 authors and adopted in Figure 10 and Table 2.In this case, Piscinas and Porto Flavia are the sites that 486 have collected the highest number of reviews, and therefore are also the most visited ones. 487 An analysis of the data provided implied the organization of the data from social web platforms 488 in a matrix for each individual abandoned mining site. However, here we report the only matrix of 489 social media analysis of the Montevecchio Mine Complex as it is one of the most appreciated and best 490 managed (Table 2). In fact, the Complex, in addition to having a well-structured and content-rich 491 website, has also Facebook and Instagram profiles, other than being reviewed on Tripadvisor. 492 Montevecchio has a high rating on both Facebook (4.6 / 5) and Tripadvisor (4.5 / 5). The data 493 provided by Tripadvisor shows that the site is visited mainly during the summer (June-August) and 494 mainly by couples. 495 All these data reveal the state-of-the-art in terms of tourist promotion activities carried out by 496 each mining sites. At the same time, they are useful to inform future management and promoting 497 policies of the several points of interest. 498 In particular, while Instagram informs about the number of followers, Facebook provides also 499 the rating manifested by the smart community, along with comments and opinions, which reveal 500 strengths and weaknesses of each point of interest and therefore guide specific actions. 501 Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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502 Table 2. Matrix of the data provided by the social network (Facebook, Instagram, Tripadvisor) for 503 the Montevecchio Mine Complex. Period of investigation: 1-31 May 2019. Author: Michele Pinna.

504 MONTEVECCHIO www.minieramontevecchio.it

Social Web Type of Data No. Download Date Like 5891 Follower 6013 Facebook May 2019 Review 200 Rating 4,6 / 5 Post 56 Instagram Follower 423 May 2019 No. profile 49 No. review 360 Valuation Rating 4,5 / 5 Family 64 Couple 135 Type of visitor Group 66 Tripadvisor (Period 2014 – May Single 5 May 2019 2019) Businessman 1 March-May 81 No. visitors/ June-August 149 trimester September-November 74 December-February 16 505 506 507 Going beyond the data provided by social networks, Tripadvisor describes each site in terms of 508 community satisfaction, type of visitors and the visiting period. These data allow to inform, in 509 different cases, about the types of visitors attracted, as well as to encourage their presence throughout 510 the year in order to guarantee an extension of the seasonal tourism [25].

511 2.2.3. The SBW circular Dashboard design 512 The classification of the intrinsic, extrinsic characteristics () and user generated data of the SBW, 513 as well as the definition of the walkability index (WI) and attractiveness index (AI) for each track, 514 allowed us to develop the design of the SBW circular dashboard. After having framed the recent 515 literature about data, techniques and platforms of existing Dashboards [41] and Big data dashboards 516 as decision support tools [42], we decided to use the open source Google Sites tools as a framework 517 for developing the dashboard, as compatible with the SBW Foundation website, so that the project 518 presented here can be easily implemented and developed in the future. Moreover, we have 519 considered the digital platform dedicated to the Regional Bicycle Mobility Plan of Sardinia [43], from 520 which we extracted the tracks of the walk organized in biking tracks; furthermore, we selected the 521 SBW Foundation website [28] for the walk and horse riding tracks. The dashboard framework 522 proposed (Figure 2) [44] is thought as a collector capable of organizing a comprehensive data - set 523 elaborated by the authors and collected by the main social networks, as discussed in this study. It is 524 not yet fully integrated and linked to the existing Foundation website. In the present stage of the 525 research, we did focus on the design of a dashboard which will support both potential tourists and 526 planners in future decisions for the area and for the Region of Sulcis Iglesiente. So, from the design 527 and style point of view, we decided to maintain the general layout of the existing website, in order to 528 allow, once the dashboard is implemented, an easy integration with the existing material. In our 529 vision, the dashboard consists of a homepage of general information of the SBW, and of specific Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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530 several web pages dedicated to the characteristics of each of the 24 tracks. In the following figures we 531 present the dashboard’s proposed structure and a mock-up of the set of data and information for one 532 selected segment of the walk as a demo of the possible contents to be collected, gathered and shared. 533 The homepage (Figure 11) allows users to select each track and go to the next page (Figure 12). The 534 web page dedicated to the track No. 06 Piscinas - Montevecchio (Figure 12), provides four types of 535 geospatial information: 536 1. Track and points of interest georeferenced in Google Maps (down on the left); 537 2. Physical profile of the track, and its Walkability Index (WI) and Attractiveness Index (AI) (on the 538 top); 539 3. Rating provided by the main social networks analyzed (down on the right)4. 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562

563 Figure 11. SBW Dashboard design. 564 The system here proposed can be defined as a smart dashboard because it is structured so to 565 provide a constant update on performance indicators, with reference to dynamic information such as 566 the weather, the Attractiveness Index (AI) and the rating provided by the main social networks. This 567 is also a circular dashboard because supports public institution to observe and monitor what happens 568 along the Walk and the data provided are fundamental to inform future policies. 569 570 571 572 573

4 This will be implemented by means of RESTful API's as made available by the main social media portals : Facebook - https://developers.facebook.com/docs Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/developer/ Tripadvisor - https://developer-tripadvisor.com/content-api/documentation/ Instagram does not have ratings, but it has Likes and Followers. Real time photo can be shared on the profile. The construction of the dashboard was supported by Iulia Tatomir, Sr. Analyst at Avanade Cagliari, Italy _ https://www.avanade.com/en-gb Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 Figure 12. The web page of the track No. 06 Piscinas – Montevecchio. 599

600 3. Results and discussion 601 The result of this paper is the proposal of a dashboard design and the first result of a broader 602 research project named “TSulki” (Tourism and Sustainability in Sulcis-Iglesiente area), currently in 603 progress, regarding the sustainable tourism of the Sulcis - Iglesiente area. 604 We can point out different results in this paper that can be summarized as in the following 605 paragraphs. The preliminary analysis helped in understanding the characters of the area. It is a 606 territory characterized by the presence of a well defined and identified Walk, in terms of tracks, 607 walkable and “bikeable”, the points of interest on the same SBW and in its proximity, as well as by a 608 network of users – as tourists and sport practitioners. Such a situation presents high potentials but 609 still lacks in terms of organization and integration in structured policies. However, it can be 610 resembled that a smart community is slowly emerging by the main social networks and media, as the 611 people involved in the ‘digital’ component of the SBW represents a niche of users that can be involved 612 in a bottom-up contribution to planning tourism – sport. 613 We derived two indexes from the analysis of the characteristics of the SBW in terms of the tracks 614 available: WI – Walkability Index, based on intrinsic characteristics (as length, difficulty, travel time) 615 - and AI – Attractiveness Index, based on extrinsic characteristics (points of interest, tourism facilities, 616 food and beverage points) - that represent the context of SBW. In addition, the degree of interest was 617 based on the comments and opinions from the community of users for each track coming from the 618 main social networks – Instagram’s followers, Facebook’s and TripAdvisor’s ratings. Finally, the 619 design of the SBW Dashboard was organized, with both users and decision makers in mind. 620 The results obtained are in terms of a wider knowledge of the SBW, in terms of its intrinsic and 621 extrinsic characteristics, as well as in terms of the perception of a particular subset of the users, as 622 those leaving traces over the social networks and media. The analytical synthesis of these elements 623 represent valuable contents for decisions makers to target policies of slow tourism. 624 These elements represent the main data to be summarized and used into the dashboard. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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625 From the design point of view, as Table 3 summarizes, the dashboard is structured so to be fed 626 by a combination of data and information. Some main components deal with the fundamental and 627 characterizing elements of the dashboard itself. As suggested above, the WI and AI indexes represent 628 one of the important sources of added value of the project. Their presence at the present stage of 629 development is thought as a periodical update from the analysts and scholars involved in the SBW 630 project, in the process of constant observation, maintenance and update of the SBW. Further data 631 after a synthetic extraction through API from social network and media contents, assigned to the 632 different tracks of the SBW. A further level of data input come from different websites linkable to the 633 dashboard itself: the SBW websites; weather forecast widgets, etc. An extendable set of sources can 634 be thought in the further evolutions of the dashboards: further reports generated by experts; other 635 social networks and media contents and synthesis; links to external websites for information on 636 tourism. 637

638 Table 3. SBW Dashboard frame components (authors’ elaboration)

Contents Connectors Main Extendable Periodical expert user Periodical Reports on Analyzed update WI; AI SBW User generated API Social media and Bot; Social walls; etc. networks ratings Weather forecast Civil protection Web generated API & Frames information; Tourist SBW Website information

639

640 4. Conclusions and future development 641 The paper was aimed at designing a dashboard for the slow tourism promotion and 642 management of the Santa Barbara Walk (SBW) in the Sulcis – Iglesiente area (Sardinia, Italy). Different 643 phases were followed before designing the dashboard and reaching some first, partial conclusions. 644 Through the material and immaterial networks and the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics 645 organized in the SBW Dashboard, the aim is to transform the condition of periphery of disused 646 contexts making them emerge as a new tourist destination. 647 In particular, a preliminary activity implied a thorough analysis of the SBW in terms of its 648 network structure and of the features related to the Walk. That consisted of a study of the area, based 649 on the physical features as well as of the social network presence. That allowed us to obtain an image 650 of the SBW as a network perfectly integrated into the surrounding area. It emerged that it is 651 characterized not only by its physical features, but also by a set of several points of interest in its 652 proximity - those located within a 1 km buffer from the different segments of the walk. Such first 653 results have been expressed in terms of indexes and maps helping a description and understanding 654 the new slow tourism and the potentials of further development in the area. Such preliminary phase 655 represented a starting point for developing the research methodology, consisting of three main 656 phases. 657 The first phase was dedicated to the collection, analysis and classification of the intrinsic and 658 extrinsic characteristics of the walk that allowed developing a Walkability Index (WI) and an 659 Attractiveness Index (AI) for each of the 24 tracks. Both of these two indexes are considered useful to 660 describe the different parts of the walk and, therefore, to guide the users' choice. 661 The second phase was dedicated to the collection, analysis and classification of the user- 662 generated characteristics of the points of interest located along the SBW. These data, provided by the 663 SBW’s users through the main social networks (Facebook, Instagram and Tripadvisor), reveal the 664 state-of-the-art in terms of tourist promotion activities. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 December 2019 doi:10.20944/preprints201912.0210.v1

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665 The third phase appeared as that dedicated to the systematization of the web info data and the 666 team data analysis to develop a design and a user- friendly graphical interface for the SBW circular 667 smart dashboard. The analyses carried out revealed that a smart community is rising, from the SBW’s 668 users, contributing significantly to the affirmation of a new model of sustainable development based 669 on slow tourism. Awareness and knowledge of history are fundamental to the re-construction of the 670 past. Slow tourism is softly included in the Sulcis - Iglesiente area, free from compulsive mass 671 tourism. The future developments of this study will cover the implementation of the dashboard, also 672 for aspects linked to the safety of the place and the active role of the community of users, to be 673 involved more and more in a bottom up approach in a smart community. This implies the validation 674 of the data and information to be put into the same dashboard. In particular, we will select a set of 675 users, basing the analysis on ad hoc users, to test the design and the validity of the indicators used. 676 We will submit the dashboard to a selected group of users, expert and non-expert users, looking 677 forward to its inclusion on the SBW Foundation website and, therefore, usable for the public 678 consultation. We will then proceed with the physical realization of the fully operational dashboard, 679 taking care of the automatization of the process of data collection and gathering, particularly of those 680 coming from the social networks and media platforms involved, as well as of those feeding the 681 indicators considered in the dashboard itself. In this sense, the proposed dashboard, including 682 subsequent advances and possible implementations, represents a strategic tool to support the 683 governance and the policies to promote slow tourism in the territory, in order to overcome the deep 684 crisis left by the end of mining activities. The dashboard designed and presented here aims at 685 representing a data, information and report integrator, facilitating the decision process for both users 686 as tourists and sport practitioners, as they can cross data concerning the quality and characteristics 687 of the tracks, the environmental conditions as well as the comments from the other members of the 688 community of users. From the policy makers point of view, the dashboard is useful in providing such 689 information in a dynamic point of view. The frequent reports on the AI and WI indexes, as well as 690 the constant comments and evaluations through social networks and media, will help acquiring a 691 major awareness of the area and of its preferred parts, as well as to highlights those parts where an 692 intervention – of maintenance, major coordination between operators, municipality agreements, etc. 693 – is needed. 694

695 Author Contributions: The paper derives from the join reflections of authors. However, sections 1 can be 696 attributed to Balletto G., Milesi A., and Ladu M.; Section 2 to Balletto G., Milesi A., Ladu M. and Borruso G.; 697 Subsection 2.1 and 2.2 to Balletto G., Milesi A.; Subsection 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 to Balletto G., Milesi A. and Ladu M.; 698 Subsection 2.2.3 to Borruso G.; Section 3 to Balletto G., Milesi A., Ladu M. and Borruso G.; Section 4 to Balletto 699 G. and Borruso G.

700 Funding: This research was funded by Foundation of Sardinia (Grant CUP F72F16003160002) - Research project 701 RE-MINE - Restoration and rehabilitation of abandoned mining sites, and by Region of Sardinia, Fundamental 702 or basic research projects for implementation of interventions in the field of research for the ‘Sulcis Plan’ 703 (SULCIS-821319).- Research project TSULKI - Tourism and Sustainability in the Sulcis (Sardinia- Italy).

704 Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

705 References

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