FUNDACION SANTA MARIA LA REAL DEL PATRIMONIO HISTORICO

Their core work

Fundación Santa María la Real is a Spanish heritage foundation based in Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) that specializes in using cultural heritage as a driver for rural regeneration and sustainable development. They develop participative cultural tourism strategies, community engagement methodologies, and digital tools (such as online decision support systems and rural atlases) to revitalize rural areas. More recently, they have expanded into energy-efficient building renovation, applying retrofit solutions to historic and residential buildings. Their work sits at the intersection of heritage preservation, social innovation, and sustainable rural economies.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2018–2020) centered squarely on rural heritage — regeneration strategies, landscape management, food production, pilgrimage routes, and migration patterns in rural communities. From 2020 onward, they branched into two new directions: energy-efficient building renovation (bio-aerogel insulation, solar energy, near-zero-energy retrofits via Surefit) and formalized social innovation frameworks (quintuple helix models, collaborative methodologies via TExTOUR). The shift suggests a foundation moving from purely cultural heritage preservation toward practical sustainability applications — energy and buildings — while retaining their core identity in community-driven rural development.

They are expanding from heritage preservation into energy efficiency and sustainable buildings, positioning themselves as a bridge between cultural heritage sites and green renovation technologies.

How they like to work

They operate flexibly — coordinating one project (TExTOUR, their largest grant at EUR 395,750), participating in two others, and contributing as a third party in one. With 73 unique consortium partners across 25 countries from just 4 projects, they join large, diverse consortia rather than working in tight, repeated partnerships. This suggests they are well-connected and adaptable, comfortable both leading and contributing specialist knowledge to large European teams.

Despite only 4 projects, they have built a remarkably wide network of 73 partners across 25 countries, indicating participation in large pan-European consortia. Their reach spans well beyond Iberia into a truly European collaboration footprint.

What sets them apart

They occupy a rare niche: a heritage foundation that credibly operates in both cultural tourism and energy-efficient building renovation. This dual competence makes them valuable for projects that need to address the energy performance of historic or rural buildings without losing cultural sensitivity. Their deep roots in rural Spain and community engagement experience give them authentic grassroots credibility that purely technical partners cannot offer.

Highlights from their portfolio

• TExTOUR
  Their only coordinated project and largest grant (EUR 395,750), focused on social innovation in participative cultural tourism — demonstrates leadership capacity.
• Surefit
  Marks a strategic pivot into energy efficiency and building retrofit, with the second-largest funding (EUR 280,500) and a 5-year timeline running to 2025.
• RURITAGE
  Their entry into H2020, tackling rural regeneration through heritage across multiple dimensions (food, migration, landscape) — established their core identity in EU research.