On 23 October, a new volume will be launched that compiles ten years of work from the COSTA Observatory, an independent laboratory dedicated to rethinking tourism. Researchers from the Critical Geographies of Urbanisation, Sustainability and Touristification (CRIGUST) and the Interdisciplinary Research on Socioecological Crisis (GRICCS) groups at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) will participate in the third meeting of the Sustainable Culture and Tourism Observatory (COSTA), taking place from 22 to 25 October in Palma, organised by the Casa Planas Foundation.
Designed as a collective and independent laboratory for research, creation, and critical thought, COSTA examines how tourism transforms our perceptions, interactions, and relationships with the territory. The programme, which activates the Planas Archive—specialising in tourism imaginaries—brings together artists, researchers, archive professionals, social sciences specialists, and local communities to engage in dialogue, challenge dominant narratives of tourism, and address its social, cultural, and territorial impacts.
The congress will feature presentations, discussions, guided tours, exhibitions, and artistic practices that connect memory with the present, theoretical knowledge with situated experience, to explore tourism from a different perspective.
During the congress, the volume titled Observatorio COSTA will be presented, published by Casa Planas with support from the CRIGUST research group, as part of the project “Chronic Emergencies and Ecosocial Transformations in Touristified Coastal Spaces” (PID2022-137648OB-C21), funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIU), the State Research Agency (AEI), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The launch event will take place at 18:15 on 23 October at the Casa Planas Foundation. Attendees will include Dr Víctor Homar, Vice-Rector for Scientific Policy and Research at UIB; Aránzazu Mier from the General Subdirectorate of Visual Arts and Contemporary Creation of the Ministry of Culture; Alelí Mirelman, Director of the Casa Planas Foundation; and Dr Macià Blàzquez, Professor in the Department of Geography at UIB.
The presentation will detail the editorial process behind the Observatorio COSTA publication, which was made possible through the support of the Daniel and Ninna Carasso Foundation, the CRIGUST research group at UIB, and the Ministry of Culture. This book encapsulates the journey of the past decade and Marina Planas' vision to reactivate the Casa Planas Archive as a vibrant space for encounter, thought, and contemporary creation. It includes contributions from research group members, such as Professors Ivan Murray and Ernest Cañada.
