SECRETARIA REGIONAL DE TURISMO, AMBIENTE E CULTURA

Their core work

The Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Environment and Culture of Madeira (Funchal) is a Portuguese regional government authority responsible for tourism policy, environmental governance, and cultural affairs across the Madeira archipelago. In H2020, they contributed as a public authority partner bringing real-world deployment capacity: in CIVITAS DESTINATIONS they provided the island tourism context for piloting smart mobility solutions for visitor-heavy destinations, and in Smart4Health they connected occupational health and worker wellness policy to a pan-European electronic health record platform. Their core value in EU consortia is institutional access — they can enable public pilots, gather citizen and visitor data, and translate research outputs into regional policy or service rollout. They represent island and peripheral region governance, a niche perspective that diversifies consortium geography and anchors implementation in non-metropolitan settings.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 engagement (2016–2019) was firmly rooted in transport and tourism policy: smart mobility, shared economy business models, ITS data collection, and the specific challenge of managing visitor flows sustainably in island destinations. After 2019 their focus shifted markedly toward digital health infrastructure — EHR interoperability, occupational health, worker protection, and EU-US health data cooperation — suggesting the Secretariat's remit expanded or that regional leadership deliberately sought to diversify their EU project portfolio. The trajectory moves from place-specific transport governance toward citizen-centred digital services, which may reflect Madeira's broader ambition to position itself as a smart island region beyond tourism.

This organisation is moving from transport/tourism policy into digital health and citizen data infrastructure, suggesting growing interest in smart island governance that spans multiple service domains rather than tourism alone.

How they like to work

They participate exclusively as consortium partners and have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for regional public authorities that contribute governance access and deployment territory rather than research leadership. Their two projects sit in large consortia — CIVITAS DESTINATIONS alone had 26 partners across multiple European cities — indicating they are comfortable operating within complex, multi-actor frameworks. Working with them means gaining an institutional gateway into Madeira's public administration, regulatory environment, and resident and visitor populations, but they are unlikely to drive the scientific agenda.

Across two projects they engaged 52 unique consortium partners spanning 16 countries, a broad network for an organisation with only two participations. Their reach is genuinely European rather than Portugal-specific, reflecting the multinational nature of the CIVITAS and Smart4Health consortia they joined.

What sets them apart

They are one of very few EU project participants representing island and ultra-peripheral region governance, giving them a distinctive deployment context that mainland authorities cannot replicate — seasonal tourism peaks, mobility constraints, and a population that is both resident and heavily visitor-augmented. For consortia needing geographic diversity or a real-world island pilot site with institutional backing, they offer something most Portuguese public bodies do not. Their dual coverage of tourism and health policy also means they can bridge two normally separate EU funding communities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DESTINATIONS
  The largest of their two projects (EUR 600,440 in EC funding, 2016–2021) and the most thematically aligned with their core mandate — piloting smart urban mobility solutions specifically designed for tourist-destination cities, with Funchal/Madeira as one of the living-lab sites.
• Smart4Health
  Marks a strategic pivot into digital health infrastructure and EU-US health data interoperability, demonstrating the Secretariat's willingness to engage EU innovation agendas well outside their traditional tourism-and-environment remit.