Abstract:

One of the challenges that faces modern Europe is the consolidation of the European identity and the understanding of its diversity and cultural ties. In this regard, the youths are a key stakeholder, since they are called to "build Europe", to reinforce the European common values and cultural links at the present and in the future.

The Interrail Pass that facilitates travelling by train across the continent is one of the proposals that works to favor this objective. This pass, very popular among young people, allows them to explore the European countries, learn about its culture, meet different people and discover diverse ways of life. They can not only experience it in the places of departure and destination of the train, but also they can look at the landscape while travelling for hours. However, maybe they don't fully understand what they see through the window.

The landscape reflects the society that inhabit in a territory, their culture, their ideas, their social dynamics and values. But usually the capacity of the observer to deeply understand what the landscape informs about the culture is limited because this is a complex skill and the message is not obvious or conspicuous. Frequently, landscape as a way to interpret the territory is not specifically integrated in the technical universities curriculums, nor it is a concept developed in deep and at length.

The Erasmus+ project "RAILtoLAND - Collective ideation platform to develop innovative tools to communicate the European Cultural Landscapes by train" address this need and opportunity. It aims to explore the social and educational role of the cultural landscape as a way to consolidate the European identity and to expand the training offer in this regard in an international and intercultural context. The proposed educational schedule results in a series of intellectual and didactic materials that are finally integrated in a mobile application, downloadable in iOs and Android, that works as a platform for the appreciation of cultural landscapes throughout Europe from a new perspective.

The application consists in a didactic guide (an audio and a series of videos, 3D modeling of landscapes, augmented reality and virtual mapping) that assists users to significantly look at the landscape and shows them the way to go beyond the apparent and interpret what the landscape transmits about the culture that shaped it, manage it and will define its future. It resorts in the geopositioning and navigation of the train along the route to adjust the discourse to the moment that any relevant aspect in the landscape units can be explained. This type of interpretative products that go with the user, offering information through different perceptual means, where and when the user is, shape a driving experience that accomplish a better comprehension of the contents and maintain the interest.

The pilot route is designed for the Oporto (Portugal)-Vigo (Spain) line, but the possibilities of transfer to other lines and different types of users are wide. The contents and the technical specifications of the application are featured by a multidisciplinary group: a set of teachers from engineering (UPM) and geography (UAM), a Centre for Computer Graphics and the two operating bodies of the international line, Comboios (Portugal) and Renfe (Spain).

Keywords:

European cultural landscapes, train, travel interpretation, App, didactic guide.